Strawberry Chia Coconut Smoothie

I've been looking for a strawberry coconut smoothie for a while and have tried a lot of different recipes this summer. And, oh sure, they've all been good. But none has been quite good enough to really knock my socks off so I post it on this blog. Until now. I took my kids (all my kids) shopping on my last shopping trip. Which means we usually wind up with some impulse food buys. I can't even say I discourage this; when picky kids pick up a new food and say that want to try it; nay, beg you to buy it so they can try it, sometimes you just give in. So I wound up with half a gallon of almond milk and half a gallon of coconut milk. The almond milk was a huge hit (too huge--I don't want to buy almond milk for the rest of my life). But the coconut milk was met with less love. Even I didn't love it. Since coconut is used so often in perfumes and tanning oils, the pungent smell was just too perfumed for me, though I liked the taste. But in a smoothie, oh man, in a smoothie.

I found the basis for this recipe at the blog Oh She Glows. It's delicious. I mean, truly, it's perfect. I worried about the sugar content of coconut milk, though in reality the sugars are less than in cows milk (yes, they're added sugars in coconut milk as opposed to the natural sugars in milk, but only 9-ish grams in coconut milk compared to 13-ish grams of sugars in cow's milk).

I also wondered if it would be super banana-y. Sometimes banana just takes over and there's a lot of it in this. But it's very subtle and nice in this so fear not if you don't love banana.

Also, I love chia seeds, but if you don't or can't find them or the thought of them (or finding them) seems scary to you, you can totally make this without them. However, if you want to give them a try, they're loaded with omega-3's, fiber, calcium, phosphorus, and other good things. And this is a really easy, safe way to try them.

Strawberry Chia Coconut Smoothie
adapted from Oh She Glows
Makes 2-4 servings
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cost: $1.90 (or just under .50/serving)
bananas: .25, strawberries: .75, coconut milk: .75, chia seeds: .15

Note: This is not the canned coconut milk. It's the kind you'd find in 1/2 gallons of quart containers in the refrigerator section. However, you could probably use the canned stuff thinned just a wee bit if that's what you've got and you want to avoid those added sweeteners. Also, you could totally use a different type of milk (almond, rice, even dairy), but the coconut is pure bliss and a super good pairing with strawberries.

2 frozen bananas
3/4 C frozen strawberries
2 C coconut milk (or any other milk; I bet even cows milk would work)
1 Tbsp chia seeds

Put in blender and blend.

PRINTABLE RECIPE