Want A Treat But Don't Want To Cheat?

The other day I wanted a treat but didn't want to cheat. The only ingredients I had to make a sweet treat were fruit and I wasn't in the mood for a smoothie. It just wasn't enough. I wanted chocolate. That's when I remembered I had cacao powder! I took stock of my frozen fruits and saw I had cherries. I decided to make a Chocolate Cherry Smoothie! And it was delicious!!

Here's what I did:
(Sorry I don't have exact measurements but I never measure when making smoothies.)

3 huge fistfuls of Kale (you won't taste it)
1 frozen banana
A large handful of frozen whole cherries
Cacao powder - maybe 1,5-2 tablespoons (you can use cocoa powder)
Soymilk to cover

Blend together! Pour in a large cup and add a straw :)

I put cacao nibs on top (bad idea, they stuck in the straw).

This was soooooo good! You can add greens to any smoothie and you won't taste it. It can change the color to a greenish brown color. If the color grosses you out just add blueberries or put it in a cup you can't see through. I switch up the greens depending on what I have. I encourage you to try it- greens are super important to your heart health! I will post about that another time. You can also use any type of milk you normally buy. I usually have both soy and unsweetened almond milk.

What is Cacao Powder?

I bought mine at a local, healthy grocery store.

No, I didn't spell cacao powder wrong-lol! Raw cacao powder is comes from the cacao bean. Cacao beans are the source of chocolate and cocoa powder. All that good stuff you hear about dark chocolate- cacao has all that an even more of the good stuff and less of the bad stuff! And because it's not processed at high temperatures, all the nutritious goodies stay intact! It is loaded with anti-oxidants, fiber!, flavanols (good for your blood vessels) and polyphenols (gobble up free radicals).