These chocolatey, nutrient dense smoothies are gentle enough for my recent GI issues and taste like a dream. I’ve been eating these twice a day on. repeat. Ripe frozen bananas for natural sweetness and potassium. Hemp powder and nut butter for protein. Fair trade cacao for tons of flavonoids (decreases inflammation in the whole body, increases blood flow to the brain and heart, lowers blood pressure, and more). Coconut cream for luxuriousness. Because we could all use a little luxury in our days. But also: coconut cream is a nutrient powerhouse – antioxidants, phosphorus, magnesium, folate, choline, potassium and healthy fats (MCTs). Simply pop the can of coconut cream in the fridge for a few hours and the cream rises to the top in solid form.
Most of these ingredients can also be sourced plastic free – hooray! It makes me sad that most non-dairy milk is packaged in Tetra Paks (a heated blend of paper, plastic and aluminum making them almost impossible to recycle). Aluminum cans are one of the easiest things to recycle and can be infinitely recycled! When you add your nut butter and coconut cream to this smoothie it acts as a non-dairy milk concentrate. Blend it up with the water and it gives you a creamy milk consistency without all the additives that come in packaged milk. If you don’t want to blend your own non dairy milk for smoothies, this is a quick and inexpensive swap. A win for the earth, your health, and your budget.
Now onto the recipe!
Ingredients
- 1 frozen banana
- 1 T hemp protein powder
- 1 T fair trade cacao
- 2 T nut butter
- 3 T coconut cream (chill can in the fridge and the coconut cream will rise to the top)
- 3/4 C cold water (or 1/4 C coconut liquid from bottom of can + 1/2 C water)
Blend it all up and enjoy!
*Do your own research about the health benefits of these ingredients. I am not a nutritionist, just a foodie who loves the healing power of food!
The Sustainable Hearth 