Vegan Chocolate Smoothie

For those chocolate lovers out there, this low starch recipe is for you. A healthy smoothie on the go to curb those chocolate cravings. This is the drink of choice for me during my Body Reboot when I want something with chocolate in it.

If you don't have the nut cream to put on top, it is also delicious without it, but it makes a lovely decoration for the top and its all about presentation. If it doesn't look good, people are less likely to try something new. Am I right? I know I'm right. It has been proven :) So let's get to the recipe.

Equipment:

- A blender

- A glass, of course

Smoothie Ingredients:

- 1/4 ripe avocado

- 2 tsp cocoa powder

- 1 medjool date

- 2 tsp chia seeds

- 1 cup of nut milk (I used almond milk)

- 1 handful of ice

The Nut Cream:

- 2 Tbsp of nut cream

- 1/2 tsp maple syrup

- 1 tsp coconut oil (melted but cool)

Method:

1. Place all smoothie ingredients, except the ice, into your blender. Blend until thoroughly mixed. The date can be a little stubborn when it comes to breaking up, so you may need to blend for a bit longer until this combines.

2. Taste mixture to determine whether or not you would like to add more cocoa or another date for a stronger/sweeter flavour.

3.Once mixture is to your liking, add the ice and blend, then pour into a glass.

4. For those including the nut cream, mix all ingredients together in a bowl, then use a spoon to roll it into a ball shape before placing on top of the smoothie. Make sure you haven't overfilled your glass or you will end up with the smoothie running down the sides of the glass when you drop the nut cream in.

**Optional Extra:

- Sprinkle with cocoa powder before serving.

Enjoy.

~AS Angel~

Home-made Nut Milk - Quick 'n' Easy

I remember the day I decided to remove dairy from my diet. I couldn't imagine any other milk that could go in smoothies or with tea and coffee. There weren't many options out there for me, already being grain free (no rice or oat milk) and soy free (no soy milk) so my only other option that I could see was nut milk, almond in particular. "How could someone actually make milk from an almond?", I remember thinking to myself. I ventured to the Supermarket in hopes of finding a suitable almond milk that would have no hidden extras. There aren't many out there. Most commercial nut milks have a sweetener of some kind or flavour to give it a little extra taste. It got me wondering how bad pure almond milk must taste if they have to add extra flavours to sell it. So I decided to make some myself and find out exactly what PURE almond milk tastes like. And I must admit, it tastes better than I expected. It actually tastes really good.

For this reason, I feel I need to share how I made almond milk, the quick and easy way, so we can all enjoy nut milk together.

For those on a No Starch Diet, it is advised that you use blanched almonds as the skin of almonds can be starchy. If you only have almonds with skin on, please see my "How to" article on blanching almonds before attempting this recipe.

Equipment:

- A blender
- A cheese cloth or nut milk bag (or a filter or some kind, like a coffee filter)
- Funnel
- Empty bottle approx. 1 Litre
- Large bowl

Ingredients:

- 1 cups of almonds
- 2-3 cups of water (depending on how strong you want the flavour)

Before starting this recipe:

Wash your Hands! Don't forget the soap.

Method:

1. Place your almonds and water into your blender.

2. Blend almonds and water at high speed for approximately 2 minutes, until all the almonds are sufficiently blended into the water. The liquid should now be frothy and white, similar to dairy milk.

3.Place your cloth/milk bag open into the bowl so that the bag is hanging over the sides of the bowl.

4. Pour your milk into the cloth/milk bag. You may need to do this in parts, depending on the size of your bag and/or bowl.

**For those without a cloth/milk bag, place your filter into your funnel and the funnel into your bottle. Pour your mixture through a sieve first to remove the large nut pulp then pour some of that mixture into the filter and allow the milk to drip through into the bottle. This will take time as the nut particles build up in the filter. You may need to scoop it out after a while and eventually use a new filter to speed up the process. If you have multiple filters and jars/bottles, I suggest setting up a few to speed up the process for you. But if you really can't be bothered, I highly recommend spending $10-15 on a nut milk bag.

5. Once the milk is in the cloth/nut milk bag, close the bag and hold it out of the bowl. Squeeze the milk through until no more milk is coming through into the bowl. This may get a bit messy as you will be using your hands to twist and squeeze the bag tight (hence why I reminded you to wash your hands).

6. Place your funnel into your bottle and pour the contents of the bowl into the bottle.

And it's as simple as that!! You can substitute the almonds for other nuts or seeds to create any kind of nut or seed milk. Experiment and find out which is your favourite.

Please be aware that the milk has a life of approximately 3 days. You will notice a tangy taste develop and this is the indication that it is no longer usable, so make sure you get drinking once you have made it to avoid wastage.

Note: Don't throw away the almond mixture in the bag. I call this "nut cream" and you can use this in other recipes, including my Vegan Chocolate Mousse recipe.

Happy Blending.

~AS Angel~