The Groovy Momma Black Forest Smoothie; gluten-free, sugar-free, vegan and raw. Just measure and blend. Perfect as you run out the door or as a Mother’s Day breakfast idea from the kids – with love.
Kids love to do something special for Mom, but often their genius breakfast offerings resemble something just short of a kitchen disaster. Burnt on the outside raw on the inside pancakes, coffee complete with grounds. Awe. How adorable! We smile and thank the little snot monkeys, I mean how thoughtful are they making us breakfast?! (“No thank you Mommy’s not hungry right now Sweetie. Is there coffee, in the pot…?”) So this year I though I’d do Mom’s everywhere a solid with a couple of ideas for Mother’s Day that kids can really rock!
I’m a big believer in cooking with the kids we love. Cooking teaches children where food comes from, a respect for nature and reinforces math, basic science, creativity and healthy living. It’s a life skill. In our house cooking is as essential as learning to read. One feeds the mind, the other feeds the body, the mind and the soul.
This is a recipe prefect for kids aged 5 to 8. Largely it involves measuring, pouring, plugging in a small appliance, putting the lid on, and a pushing a button – under the watchful eye of adult supervision of course. Please don’t turn your five year old loose in your kitchen, as much for your sake as for theirs!
We use dates and a natural sweetening agent, you get a pop of protein from the chia – which thickens as it stands (holy science project Batman!), plus the soy or almond milk. Seriously, despite it’s chocolaty appearance it’s just shy of salad.
If you like, you can add a scoop of protein powder, and many recipes call for added kale or spinach. That would be kind of ‘Off-The-Grid Groovy Momma’, whereas I was going more for ‘Hot Yoga Groovy Momma’ with this one, but it could just as easily go for the ‘I-Wear-Lulu-Lemon-On-The-Weekends-To-Buy-Wine Groovy Momma’. I ask you, what Mom doesn’t want a chocolate smoothie for breakfast?! This is one tasty smoothie.
Perfect as a Mother’s Day offering for the Groovy Momma in your life. Grab the kids and break out the blender – it should probably get in a good test-run before margarita season anyway.
Black Forest Smoothie; gluten-free, sugar-free, vegan and raw loaded with chocolate-cherry flavour. So easy, just measure and blend. Perfect as you run out the door or as a Mother’s Day breakfast idea from the kids – with love.
Ingredients
Scale
1 cup frozen cherries 2 Medjool dates, seeded ¼ cup rolled oats (gluten free if needed) 1 tablespoon chia seeds 2 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder 1 cup unsweetened soy or vanilla almond milk
1 scoop of protein powder (optional) 1 –2 handfuls chopped kale or baby spinach (optional)
Instructions
Bang all the bits in a blender and blitz it on medium-high for about two minutes, until smooth. If you’re going to get all technical about it, start with the cherries, dates, oatmeal and chia in the blender first, this will help break up the solids better. Once blended, let stand for a couple of minutes, to allow the chia to help thicken slightly, so you can top off with a bit of chopped cherry and dark chocolate.
Cooking in her home kitchen just outside Ottawa, Canada; Cori Horton is a food photographer and recipe blogger. A Cordon Bleu-trained Chef, Cori spent five years as the owner of Nova Scotia's Dragonfly Inn and has been sharing all things delicious - right here - since 2010.
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