Chocolate Cherry Smoothie
Green Smoothie of the Week
The rain is torrential, and it is freezing cold. At this time of year it stays light all night long and the tent is leaking. Was it a good idea to take my baby camping for the first time last weekend?
I’m going to share my camping experience with you and let you know how I managed to keep drinking my green thickies while I was away. I also have a recipe for a chocolate cherry smoothie that has been so popular, people can’t help but share it with others.
Camping in Scotland: Wet, cold and very very light
We decided to try a camping trip with friends who also have a baby and 2 other children for the first time. We all had loved camping before having children but had never tried it with children yet. We booked the campsite a long time ago hoping it would actually be nice weather in summer. We live in the north of Scotland though and were being a bit optimistic. I can count the number of glorious sunny days in Inverness so far this year on both hands. Of course it was going to rain! It rained, and it rained and it rained some more.
On the way to the beach side location called Nairn (just 30 minutes away from our house) it rained so hard we couldn’t even see the road in front of us. We decided to camp anyway as we’d been packing for 2 days for this trip.
We finally got the tents up just as it was time for the kids to go to bed. We’d decided to go just for one night as an experiment to see how well the kids would handle it. The older kids were fine but the two babies didn’t like it at all. They didn’t like the cold, the strange environment of the tent and the fact it was still light even at 1am. It never really gets dark at this time of the year and both babies are used to a blacked out room to sleep in. So there were lots of tears, lots of warm cuddles and finally everyone settled down to sleep.
In the morning both of our families woke to little puddles of water in our tent and wet sleeping bags. Thankfully we were only staying one night and we could load all the soaking wet stuff into our cars and head back home.
Camping Food
It was actually very easy to eat vegan food for just the one night camping. We had a BBQ which amazingly, stayed alight in the rain. So I had a veggie burger for my dinner and I packed some fruit and other snacks for my baby. I did actually manage to still have my green thickies for breakfast as I’d made them at home and kept them cool with some freezer blocks and a cool bag. Although the temperature was so cold anyway I needn’t have bothered with the cool bag. In future posts I am going to share with you how to travel easily and still have your green thickies every morning, even with no electricity!
Chocolate Cherry Smoothie
Chocolate Cherry Smoothie: Make it with or without the greens but nobody would know the difference
I am so glad I discovered this Chocolate Cherry Smoothie on Kristen’s Raw blog. I don’t have much chocolate in my diet as it doesn’t really agree with me and I find it far too addictive but this is one smoothie I would allow myself to have on a special occasion because it’s still fairly healthy and tastes absolutely amazing. If you don’t want any caffeine in your smoothie, you could buy carob powder in a health food shop which will still give you that great chocolate taste.
The combination of the rich indulgent chocolate taste and the tart sweet fruitiness of the cherry is perfectly balanced. You can definitely taste both flavours at the same time which will make it a firm favourite with you as much as it is with me.
Although cherries are in season at this time of year, It can be hard work to manually pit enough cherries using a knife as you have to cut round the stone on each cherry. A great device I use for speeding up this job is a Cherry Pitter. This one actually pits 4 cherries at once so it saves you so much time. I wouldn’t be without a cherry pitter now as there means there is no waste, it only takes the stone out and nothing else.
If you want to speed it up even further you could use frozen cherries. You will have to have a look around all the stores where you live, and try the health food shops too. In the UK some Sainsbury’s and Asda’s sell frozen cherries. When I find frozen cherries I buy a few bags as I love them so much.
The best thing about this smoothie is the secret stash of greens that nobody would ever know is lurking behind this luxurious chocolate exterior. If you want your kids or your partner to gobble down 2 cups of spinach, this is the fastest and the tastiest way you’ll ever find. They probably wouldn’t believe you if you told them they were drinking spinach. It’s almost too good to be true.
So would I go camping again with a baby? Probably not in Scotland, not in the cold and not in the rain, but when she’s a bit older I’m sure she’ll love it just as much as I do. Are you a fan of camping? Do you manage to eat healthily while you are away? What is your favourite indulgent yet still healthy treat?
Suitable for Special Diets
Gluten free*, raw*, vegetarian, vegan, dairy free, egg free, sugar free, wheat free*, soya free*, salt free, nut free*
* If you want to check if you can drink green thickies on your special diet, please read this first. This will suggest some substitutions so you can still enjoy Green Thickies with ingredients you can tolerate.
If you are new to Green Thickies and have more questions about making the perfect green thickie, please read this guide on How to make a Green Thickie.
- 2 Cups Water
- 2 Bananas (fresh or frozen)
- 2 Cups of pitted Cherries (fresh or frozen, if you can’t get cherries, try strawberries instead)
- 1 Cup Spinach, tightly packed or 2 cups loosely packed. (Or Kale or any other mild greens)
- 2 Tablespoons Hemp seeds (or sunflower, flax or pumpkin seeds if they are easier to find)
- 2 Tablespoons of cocoa powder (or cacao or carob powder)
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla extract (Ground vanilla is the best by far)
- ½ Cup raisins (or any other dried fruit. Can also be pre-soaked for a smoother blend. Add soaking water to smoothie)
- 1 Cup Oats: Any type (If you don’t have a powerful blender and want the smoothie very smooth you can soak the oats for an hour before blending. Add the soaking water)
- Blend the ingredients in the order listed.
- Blend the ingredients a few at a time so that your blender can cope with the work, unless you’ve got a high powered blender, then you might be able to add them all in at once.
- If it gets too thick, add more water as necessary.
- If your blender has made the smoothie too warm, you can either cool it down in the fridge or freezer, or add some ice cubes or frozen fruit to it and blend it again. (You may need to add more water as this will thicken it further).
- If you want to make it look pretty, sprinkle some cocoa powder and place a cherry on the top of the smoothie.
I have shared this recipe on Allergy Free Wednesdays.
Comments always put a smile on my face, so please take a minute to say hello below. Many thanks and blessings to you.
I have added this recipe to the Seasonal Recipe roundup.
This post has been shared with these Fabulous blog hops.
Green Thickies also co-hosts a blog hop, Healthy Vegan Fridays so join us on Friday to find fabulous health related articles and healthy recipes..
The best type of blender to make Green Thickies is a Vitamix and you will get beautifully smooth Green Thickies, but you can use whatever type of blender you have or can afford. This blender
is reasonably priced and will easily make green thickies along with lots of other delicious food.
Comments always put a smile on my face, so please take a minute to say hello below. Many thanks.
If you have enjoyed this post please pin it to Pinterest, Tweet it or share it on facebook (below) so others can enjoy it. Many thanks.
Hi, I'm Katherine, thanks for stopping by. I healed myself of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and lost 56 pounds. I now have loads of energy for my baby girl and enjoy walks on the beach with my family. I am passionate about helping you improve your health and reach your ideal weight. I invented Green Thickies to provide a complete meal drink for busy people who care about their health.
