Coconut Strawberry Smoothie

If you love strawberries and peanut butter then you are going to fall in love with this smoothie. I don’t usually pick favorites when it comes to smoothies, but if I had to choose I would say this was it. This smoothie is bursting with flavor as well as so many nutritional benefits.

Berries are one type of produce that is always available and always in the shopping cart. Most of us know of the large amount of free radical fighting antioxidants that berries have, but most of us don’t know about the other qualities.

Strawberries are bursting with Vitamin C. Large amounts of Vitamin C from whole plant source can have enormous benefits for immune health as well as skin health. They also contains large amounts of manganese which helps the body to form connective tissue, promotes bone health, reduces inflammation, regulates blood sugar and more. If you aren’t into taking a collagen supplement, try adding more strawberries into your diet. They don’t have the amino acid profile of collagen, however it is a plant based way to increase the growth of connective tissue (which is basically collagen).

Ingredients:

8 oz. of a plant based milk (I used macadamia nut milk)
1 scoop of vanilla protein powder (I use this one here)
1 tsp chia seeds
1 tsp flax seeds
1 tsp pumpkin seeds
1 tsp hemp seeds
1 tbsp peanut butter (unsweetened and unsalted is best)
1/2 frozen banana
1/4 cup frozen coconut flesh
1/3 cup frozen strawberries

Directions:

Blend all ingredients together in a blender, pour in a cup and enjoy!

How to customize this drink for dietary restrictions:

• Use water or coconut water in place of nut/seed milk

• Skip the coconut (great for any nut allergies)

• Skip the protein powder if it is unavailable (chia, flax and hemp seeds provide enough protein, just add 2 tsp more of each)