About Me

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I support people on their journey to wellness through nutrition and lifestyle coaching! I am passionate about teaching people how lifestyle choices can be fun, inspiring and positively affect all aspects of their lives. I love guiding people to wellness one meal at a time!! I am also a passionate mama, a yogi and I love to cook!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Banana Cherry Bomb Smoothie

I love starting my day with a refreshing smoothie when the weather is warmer. I use frozen fruit and enjoy a cooling drink that contains a ton of nutrition. For those of you who follow my blog and my fan page on FACEBOOK you know that I am a big fan of green smoothies. I add veggies such as kale, chard, spinach and zucchini to name a few to my smoothies often. I know it may sound crazy but as long as you have some fruit in there you don’t taste the veggies and it is a great way to boost health





There are sometimes that I just want a simple smooothie (still super nourishing though) and today was one of those mornings. That and I didn’t have any fresh greens on hand. Last summer I posted a recipe for cherry bomb ice cream (take frozen bananas and cherries and puree in a food processor until smooth..yes it is that simple) that is amazing so I decided to make a smoothie with similar flavour. Let me tell you this smoothie won’t disappoint.


Don’t you just love cherries?? They are one of my favourite fruits not only because they taste great, they also pack a whack of nutrition. Here are some of the nutritional benefits of cherries


• Low glycemic fruit – great fruit choice for diabetics, wont spike blood sugar
• Great source of vitamin C
• Anthocyanins – just a big fancy nutrition word for a powerful antioxidant that supports heart health
• Helps reduce pain and inflammation – studies show that the anthocyanins can help reduce inflammation in the body. Anthocyanins also promote muscle recovery post exercise by reducing inflammation and promoting healing of the muscle tissue. Therefore this smoothie would be a great post workout treat that will provide your body with optimal nourishment for muscle recovery.
• Very effective treatment for gout. If you are a gout sufferer talk to your health care practitioner about taking cherry extract in supplement form for optimal results to prevent attacks
• Contain 19 times more beta carotene than blueberries or strawberries
• Potassium, magnesium, folate, and iron are also found in cherries
• Ellagic Acid has antiproliferative and antioxidant properties. The antiproliferative properties of ellagic acid are due to its ability to directly inhibit the DNA binding of certain carcinogens = in simple words – it helps prevent many types of cancers.


Now don’t you just want to go and eat some cherries??? I bought some local Canadian frozen strawberries from my local market. Please note that cherries are on the dirty dozen list according to the Environmental Working Group, due to its pesticide residue; please purchase organic when possible.
Here is the simple, nourishing and delicious recipe!
½ banana, frozen
½ cup cherries, pitted and frozen
1 heaping tsp chia seeds
1 optional tsp of acai powder (Navitas Naturals)
1 cup unsweetened almond milk (homemade or store bought)
1 serving of high quality protein powder