Ya'll might or might not know, but I have eight, yes, eight, grandchildren. And, I'm sure by the time everyone finishes growing their families, there will be close to a dozen! Having all these littl' monkeys running around the house when the come to visit means coming up with lots of ideas for picky palates and personal preferences. You know how kids are. Textures, shapes, flavors, combinations, and other things about food might or might not appeal to them. Sometimes getting good ingredients into the kids' mouths means getting creative. And, I'm doing that with this cherry chocolate smoothie.
Health Benefits
So, let's talking about what makes this 'Best Cherry Chocolate Smoothie' so nutritious. Maintaining that dark brown chocolate 'look' is important. Yes, it's a visual appeal thing that's so essential with food. I'm using dark red pitted frozen cherries. And, the best you can find, hands down, are Dole Packaged Foods cherries in the frozen food section. Cherries are full of anti-oxidants and are anti-inflammatory. If you're a big kid sipping on this drink and you have some aches and pains or even something like arthritis, then these cherries are for you. They also are full of fiber, protein and vitamins A and C.
Low fat and high fiber butternut squash is in there, as well as heart healthy anti-oxidant packed pumpkin seeds and almonds, known for their ability to lower blood sugar levels and help with blood pressure and cholesterol. Toss in some magical cinnamon, ground flax seeds and unsweetened cocoa and almond milk, and you have a super smoothie with dietary benefits that will fool you with each sip! And, if you want to toss in a tablespoon of maca root powder, then you'll have even more anti-oxidant and energy power.
As you can see,my littl' elves to are helping me with the pictures of this smoothie. They are most happy to oblige because after the shoot, they get the smoothie!! xoxo ~ally
Here are a couple of other smoothies that you can put in a bowl or make into a sipping smoothie that are also packed with goodliness!
Green Energy Smoothie Strawberry Watermelon Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup Dole Packaged Foods frozen dark red cherries
- ½ cup butternut squash, medium dice
- 2 bananas, frozen, then cut in several pieces
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds
- ½ cup almonds, sliced
- ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 Tbl. + 2 tsp. 100% unsweetened cocoa
- 2 Tbl. ground flax seeds
- ¼ cup Dole Packaged Foods pitted dates, diced
- 1 ½ cups almond milk, vanilla
- GARNISH:
- 2 Tbl. 70% cacao chips, crushed
Instructions
