October 8, 2012

Chocolate No-Milk Shake Redux


I've been reading a fantastic book by Dr. Joel Fuhrman called Disease-Proof Your Child: Feeding Kids Right. I have underlined, starred, and dog-eared at least 80% of what I've read so far. Tons of great information!
I'm bringing this up because when I was reading this morning, I was particularly struck (stricken?) by the following passage:

"Raw nuts, seeds, and avocados are also foods rich in fat, but they contain healthy fats, important for normal growth and development, and they are rich in nutrients as well. Consumption of these foods has been shown to have powerful protective effects against disease. The results are so striking that in one study men who ate raw nuts had half the heart attack rate compared to men who did not eat nuts. Furthermore, eating raw nuts and seeds has been shown to decrease the death rate from all causes, extending life-span... Eating nuts and seeds makes us live a lot longer and prevents both heart disease and cancer. Eating walnuts, almonds, pistachio nuts, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, and many more varieties is the best way for us and especially our children, to get the healthy fats we need from nature's tasty and unpolluted source...
When children obtain most of their essential fats from raw nuts and seeds, they not only get the healthier fats, but they also receive lots of beneficial minerals and antioxidants in the process."

This got me thinking about the amount of nuts and seeds I eat. Not many! Nuts and seeds are expensive, and I can only get them when they are on sale or I find them at the salvage store, which happens but is rare. So, basically, I'll just have to give up something less essential (perhaps chocolate chips, for example) so that I can afford the dang nuts. And, even more importantly, I need to find ways for my daughter (who hates nuts) to do it too. And that reminded me of a no-milk shake recipe that I posted on here almost two years ago.

Here's the link to the original post: Chocolate No-Milk Shake

This no-milk "milkshake" is comprised primarily of raw cashews, and it truly does taste like a bona fide chocolate milkshake. I remember in the summer of 2010, right after I discovered how to make these, my daughter and I drank them daily. She had no idea she was chug-a-luggin' a bunch of raw nuts. So, it made me feel great because I was giving her something healthy, and she felt great because she thought she was having chocolate. Win-win! I'm definitely going to start making these again.

1 cup raw, unsalted cashews
1 tray of ice cubes (about 3 cups)
1/8 cup powdered unsweetened cocoa
1 cup soy or nut milk
1/4 cup agave nectar or maple syrup
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
  • Toss all ingredients, except the ice, into a strong blender and blend until smooth. 
  • Add ice cubes through the hole in the lid one at a time, and continue to blend until nice and creamy.
  • Try substituting maple or mint flavoring for the vanilla sometime. Both are equally yummy!
  • Makes two large servings, or four small ones.
  • Enjoy!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I have all the ingredients for this in my kitchen and I just might have to make it. Ever since I discovered cashew cream, I have been in love with putting creamy nuts into my food. Yay nuts!