Cacao Banana Shake

A few years back, I was fortunate enough to go on a trip to St.Lucia and stay at the Body Holiday Resort. Along with several other co-workers and their significant others, my smarty pants husband was awarded a quick winter escape by the company he had been working for. Life had been throwing me a few extra curve balls at the time, so this this couldn't have come at a better time and was a perfect getaway to help me decompress, even if it was only for a few days. It had been a while since I pampered myself so I appreciated everything this healthy retreat had to offer!  Aside from the massages, the powerful crystal chakra treatment and the yoga and meditation classes, the food and drinks were delicious!  The Smoothie Bar was open most of the day and there was one that I had tried, and was instantly hooked.  Unfortunately, when I got back home, it was life as usual and the short lived peace and serenity that the Body Holiday had provided, instantly vanished.  I'm working on getting that back and finding that peace again for my mind and body but no one said it would be easy in this messed up world. I guess that's why places like this exist, to give you a taste of that mind and body restfulness. 

The one thing that I did continue with was that smoothie!  I couldn't get the taste of it out of my busy mind so I recreated it when I got home and have enjoyed since.  

Now if I can only get my busy mind to quiet 💬  

This is a pretty simple smoothie. I have a freezer full of bananas so I always have the 5 ingredient needed to make this on the fly.  I love the crunch of the chocolate nibs but if you find it strange, puree this smoothie on high, or in a super powerful blender.  Better yet, pre-grind the nibs in a spice grinder before you add them to the shake. But yeah, the crunch is pretty great if you wanna give it a try! 

A little something about Raw Cacao Nibs... It's a Superfood!! 

It's basically crushed and broken up little pieces of cacao beans.  They're packed full of antioxidants, even more so than blueberries and green tea, and they're loaded with fibre, iron and magnesium. They taste a lot like bitter super dark chocolate but are the unprocessed version with no additives, sugars or extra ingredients so you get the full benefit that cacao has to offer.

Here it is!  

Ingredients : 

 This makes one good healthy sized portion :) 
1 frozen (peeled) Banana - cut into chunks

1 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk (or any non-dairy milk of choice)

1/4 cup Almond Butter (or any nut butter)

2 tsp Raw Cacao Nibs

1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon

How To : 

1. Place Bananas, Nut Butter, Nut Milk, & Ground Cinnamon into a blender and blend for a minute or so until all the banana chunks are blended. Add Cacao Nibs and blend for another 30 seconds of so.  
2. Drink. 

* if you don't like the cacao nib pieces, just grind nibs in spice grinder until a fine powder and then add to blender. 

* If you want a little jolt, add a shot of chilled espresso! 

Enjoy!