Today, I’m excited to introduce to you my new blog friend, Keisha! She’s super sweet, optimistic, and fun. And, guess what, our kids are really close in age!
We “met” this month through BlogPal. BlogPal is fun little swap where you get paired up with another blogger and together you brainstorm topics to post about. It puts you a little out of your comfort zone and gets you thinking. Plus, it’s just plain fun!
This week Keisha and I were given the topics: advice, fall, or guilty pleasures. We decided on the topic of guilty pleasures.
When I was brainstorming my “guilty pleasures” my mind kept going to chocolate. Chocolate is by far my most guilty pleasure. Always has been. Always will be.
As a kid, I’d sneak into the pantry and come out with a mouthful of milk chocolate chips. Hopefully no one would talk to me for the next ten minutes, during which my chocolaty breath would give me away. (Mom, you’re not reading this, are you?)
Now as an adult, you’d think I’d be over doing that sort of thing, right?
Nope.
Now I’m sneaking chocolate…from my kids!
I think Tim Hawkins illustrates it best. You can check in at about 9:00 or just watch the whole thing. It’s stinking hilarious!
What I have to share with you today is a chocolaty pleasure that you don’t have to feel guilty about.
This chocolate milkshake recipe is thick, chocolaty, good for you, and absolutely heavenly.
I love it, my kids love it, and my husband, who normally hates chocolate, loves it. (It’s true. My husband does not like chocolate. I gave up trying to understand this phenomenon. He totally needs to get checked out, right!?)
For this recipe, you’ll need:
3 frozen bananas
1 13.5oz can coconut milk
1/4 cup honey
1-2 tablespoons raw cacao powder
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Combine all of the ingredients into a blender and blend on high until smooth.
In my recipe experimentation, I definitely preferred using 2 tablespoons of raw cacao powder. I feel like I can’t taste the chocolate above the banana without adding that second tablespoon of cacao. My husband, on the other hand, disagrees with me. He likes it much better with only 1 tablespoon of cacao.
(Ahem, seeing how my husband doesn’t like chocolate in the first place, I fail to see how he is qualified to make this sort of judgement call. I think you’ll agree with me that the more chocolaty goodness you add, the better.)
Wondering what the difference is between cacao and cocoa, besides the spelling?
According to ehow.com – “Broken down, cacao refers to either the tree, beans or pods of the cacao tree that are raw and unprocessed, while cocoa powder is the processed and refined version of the exact same plant. Though they are not the same, they are also not mutually exclusive, as cocoa powder cannot be made without cacao.”
So basically cacao is the raw more nutrient rich form of cocoa.
If you are interested in the health benefits of cacao, check out this article by Sarah Wilson at I Quit Sugar. It’s interesting stuff!
- 3 frozen bananas
- 1 13.5oz can coconut milk
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1-2 tablespoons raw cacao powder
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla
- Combine all of the ingredients into a blender. Pulse and blend on high until smooth.
- Serve immediately!
This post is featured on Healing with Foods Friday!
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Hi Leah,
I am going to make this with the kids. I was laughing so hard about the chocolaty breath.
Thanks, Keisha! Hehee! Yes, I was a naughty kid… I hope you and the kids have fun making this tasty treat!