Today was beautiful on so many levels. My baby, now five, spent all the hours after preschool as my sidekick in the yard. We assembled patio furniture, analyzed dead plant matter, cut fresh green landscaping grasses with a paper scissors, argued about who loved who more, and carried the "heaviest" dirty storage items together down the hill because mom's muscles weren't quite strong enough without her big man.
After a few hours of working outside, the ice cream craving hit. Good thing there are always better options--nutrient dense and plant rich--while also balanced enough to stabilize blood sugar. This shake was thought of for it's icy cold, creamy AND satisfying treat-like qualities, but easily justified as a healthy snack with all it's real, food-as-medicine tasty ingredients!
The two of us did our best to dig out the mini chocolate chips before allowing them to get caught in the straw. He gave up after slurping the shake glass dry, which, no complaints here--I may have snuck a few more with my spoon.
Creamy Cold Craving Vanilla Shake
By Audrey Byker, Health Coach
Serves 2
In a high speed blender, throw together:
-1/2 frozen banana(peel first, then freeze)
-2 dates
-2 cups unsweetened soy milk(non-GMO)
-1/2 c vegan vanilla nutritional shake mix ( I love Complete by Juice Plus)
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1 pinch sea salt
-Two heaping Tbls unsweetened sunflower seed butter
Blend on high until thick and creamy then pour into two glasses -A sprinkle of the darkest chocolate chips you can find(optional, depending on individual health goals)
