shake your nanas

I love food, love to cook, and love to eat…if you get a glimpse of my hips you’ll know I’m not telling a lie. When I lost my taste buds during my recent illness, I thought I would at least be able to suck down a chocolate shake of my creation and savor the flavor. That did not happen. The only thing I felt was the soothing comfort of cold liquid passing over my raw esophagus. Nice but no cigar! I so wanted to take a sip of my healthy potion, have my mouth light up with hints of chocolate, almond, banana followed by a kick of pepper and feel satiated. When would I once again be able to eat anything besides Chuckles candy and experience its real flavor?

A creative chick in the kitchen, I have been able to alter some recipes to make them healthy yet still yummy. One of my favorites is a twist on the thick chocolate shake that incorporates several nutrients. I actually made another one just this morning and thankfully it did more than soothe my throat, it made my taste buds do a little jig!

choc-O-mega 3 shake

2 medium bananas
2 Tbsp. ground flax seed
Handful of unsalted roasted almonds
Honey (about a tsp.)
Silk Soy chocolate milk (or your favorite)
Red pepper (black or white will also do)
Cinnamon
Almond extract (if you have it)

Before you get in the shower, slice the bananas and put them in the freezer so they can get really cold, if they freeze that’s fine. Put the almonds in the blender; grind into very fine pieces. Add the bananas, ground flax, honey (my grandmother always put a pinch of sugar in just about everything, a squirt of honey is my thing), a heavy shake of cinnamon, a nice shake of red pepper, a splash of almond extract if you have it. Pour just a little of the Silk Soy into the blender, cover and blend until the mixture thickens (of course I would gravitate towards a product that has “silk” in the title, I am a tactile girl…not only does it appeal to my taste buds but in a strange sort of way to my sense of touch). Open the cap on the top of the blender and add milk until the mixture loosens up and takes on the appearance of a thick creamy shake. Pour into a glass that holds at least 2 cups and pop in a straw! Obviously, I’m not keen on measuring things, so play with the spices and amount of milk until it’s to your taste. Keep in mind this is a textured drink, so the flax and almonds will be noted. Now I have no idea about calories or anything, perhaps my friend at http://www.thatskinnylittlebitch.blogspot.com/ could assess this for me. In the meantime…

keep your peepers open!®