Introducing the Smorbet. It's F#ing Delicious.

Raise your hand if you like to eat food.

Great. I bet if I could stare out through my screen I would see a couple of hands from people like me.
I love eating food. I love chewing so much I realized I was wasting valuable precious chewing time by drinking smoothies- even a 3-banana smoothie would be down the hatch in a matter of minutes, usually less. What a waste. Aren't we supposed to savor the things we love?

What better way to slow down and enjoy the pleasure, I thought, the unfettered fruit-mazing JOY of smoothie consumption, than to stick a spoon in one? Oh, man. But straws be damned, I didn't stop there.

Plagued by the fear that I'd been over-indulging on the vanilla soy milks lately, I swapped in my latest obsession: Zico dark chocolate coconut water (cue angel choir). This stuff is packed with good stuff for athletes to hangover-havers and everyone in between. Potassium rocks! Chocolate-flavored potassium really, really rocks! And when you throw Zico in a blender with frozen fruit it turns into glittering Jesus kittens. I swear it.
The result is something between a smoothie and a sorbet, so I am calling it The Smorbet (pronounced "s'more-bay"). It racks in around 220 calories and packs a whopping Vitamin C punch to boot. This is an icy, summery treat you can sit and enjoy for awhile. With a spoon. Here's the first recipe, with more to come soon:

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Choco-Berry Smorbet:
-1 1/2 cups dark chocolate Zico coconut water
-1 cup organic frozen strawberries
-1/2 cup organic frozen blackberries

Blend completely, until a soft sorbet texture is achieved. Garnish with more fruit, shredded coconut, hemp seed, whatev. Mmm... tastes like summer!

Juice: Apple Mint Watermelon

This was a quickie to make!

My instagram: @veganlifeisgood

I recently wrote a post about how important it is to hydrate in the morning (here) and another about why watermelon makes a perfect breakfast (& not lunch or dessert) here. Well, here are those two ideas combined into one delicious meal!

Apple Mint Watermelon Hydrator:

• Half a watermelon
• 1-2 apples
• Fresh mint (the bigger leaves the better not to get stuck in your straw!)

When I took the picture above I had blended the first two ingredients together like a smoothie. After this picture I started drinking it and decided I didn't like the pulpy texture. An option would be just to juice them (with the mint), but I just poured what I had blended through a large strainer and suddenly had a beautiful pulp-free juice! I stuck a bunch of mint in the glass, shook it up, and sipped it through a straw to avoid getting mint leaves in my mouth.

Mmmm. Absolutely delicious. And sooooooooo healthy!

Raw Vegan Butterfinger Smoothie

You read that title right. Raw, vegan, plant-based, gluten-free, and pretty darn HEALTHY smoothie that tastes like a Butterfinger bar in your glass.  Winning.

My instagram: @veganlifeisgood

I originally found this recipe through @chilali13 's Instagram and then on her blog: http://chilali13.wordpress.com. She has amazing photos and recipes and I recommend following her!
The texture is not the thickest, and I had to tweak the amounts a little to my taste, so you might too:
Vegan Butterfinger Smoothie:
Blend:

•  2 cups carrot juice (through a juicer, or blended then strained if you only have a blender)
• 1 tbsp organic creamy organic peanut butter
• 1 tbsp raw cacao powder*
• 1-2 tsp raw maca powder*
• even less than a pinch of sea salt

 *If you are new to these ingredients and they sound intimidating, relax! They are in most markets now. Try the bulk, baking, health, or nuts sections. I use Divine Organics brand.
I'd like to call your attention to the nutrition info posted on the Butterfinger website vs. the nutrition info (calculated through MyFitnessPal app, which I love and use for everything!) for this smoothie:

If health were only about calorie counting, a Butterfinger would seem almost worth it. But candy has about zero nutrition and is a true reach-for-it-quickly-then-regret-it-all-day treat, whereas this smoothie takes 5 minutes to make and is packed with vitamins A and C, potassium, protein, and even a decent bit of calcium. There's no "sugar-slump" from the energizing carbs in this guy. The cacao is rich in minerals and gives you your chocolate fix, while maca is a powerful anti-oxidant that promotes stamina and mental clarity and is really pretty tasty, a lot like toffee.

This is one delicious treat! You're so welcome!!