Creamy Coconut Strawberry Smoothie (THM S)

This coconut strawberry smoothie is so creamy and luscious, it’s addicting.  I’ve had it twice today.  So far.

coconut strawberry smoothie

I was inspired by these strawberries and cream popsicles on Coconut Mama’s Blog.  They are amazing, and if you love strawberries, you should make them. Everyone in my family gave these two thumbs up. 

strawberries-n-cream-pop

Mine looked a little different than hers, but the ingredients are identical.  I just mixed everything together to get it into the popsicle molds.  I think hers look nicer, but I was in a rush to get it done!

I’m definitely beginning to see a trend in the recipes I share.  They seem to involve my blender a lot.  I’m very much in the honeymoon stage with my new Vitamix.  I’m completely in love with it.  And I love to tell the story about how we came together, because it was a totally unexpected blessing.

One day I was on Facebook and saw a link to a contest to win a Vitamix.  I’ve wanted one for years.  But the hefty price tag has just been more than I could justify.  I had never taken one for a test drive, so it was pretty easy to control myself.  Well, one of the ways to get an entry to this contest was to share it on my FB wall.  That was easy enough!  I just shared the link and commented that I would love to have one of these.  Now, I enter quite a few contests, and I will say in the past I’ve had a pretty good results.  When I was in college I won a huge TV from the gym I worked out at.  It was so enormous we had a hard time getting it into the back seat of my 1980 Honda Accord to get it home.  Then, not too long after that, I won a home stair stepping machine.  I think that was from the grocery store I shopped at.  And there have been other little things here and there.  But as far as this online contest went, I knew my odds were pretty slim because I could see there were thousands of entries.

It turns out, none of that mattered.  Someone I know, who has chosen to remain anonymous,  must have seen that post on my Facebook wall, because about 2 or 3 days after I posted it, I ran a super quick errand.  I was gone for maybe 15 minutes.  When I got back home, this is what I saw on the table we have out in front of our house.

vitamix_benderIt was the exact Vitamix Blender I had posted on my Facebook wall.  In fact, that is the actual picture I took when I found it there.  I was thrilled then, and I’m still thrilled now.  It was complete – blender, tamper, recipe book, all the paperwork that came with it, including the DVD in the recipe book.  I was giddy.

Whoever gave this amazing gift to me has never ‘fessed up.  I’m ok with that.  I posted a heartfelt thank-you on my Facebook wall along with that picture.  I hope I can do something like this for someone else down the road.

So this explains my current love of all things blended.  And it’s been so handy this week, as my husband had all 4 of his wisdom teeth extracted.  “You want food?  I can turn pretty much anything into soup.  Give me two minutes.”

So lets get back to the Creamy Coconut Strawberry Smoothie.  It’s really good.  Have I already said that?  It’s not non-dairy, like the popsicles on Coconut Mama’s blog, but if you want to remove the cottage cheese and swap in your own non-dairy protein source, go for it.  And comment below and let me know how you changed it up!

A few things to note about this recipe – I’ve shared the recipe exactly how I make this for myself.  It’s got a very mellow, creamy, lightly strawberry flavor, with the texture of a creamy milkshake.  I’m following the Trim Healthy Mama way of eating, so I wanted to keep this as a Satisfying (a.k.a. “S”) smoothie.  If I were to make this for my kids or husband, I’d probably double the amount of strawberries, which would take it out of the “S” category.  I’d also use honey to sweeten it for my kids, as they aren’t needing to watch their weight.

coconut strawberry smoothie

Creamy Coconut Strawberry Smoothie

Serving Size: 1

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
  • 1/2 cup 1% cottage cheese
  • 2 Tbsp coconut butter
  • 1/4 Tsp natural vanilla extract
  • 4 medium sized strawberries
  • Sweetener to taste (I used KAL Pure Stevia Extract powder)
  • 5-7 ice cubes
  • 1/2 Tsp glucomannan powder

Instructions

  1. Into your blender, put the almond milk and cottage cheese. Blend them together until the lumps are completely gone from the cottage cheese.
  2. Next, add in your coconut butter and vanilla extract. Blend it together.
  3. Add in your strawberries and blend until they are fully chopped to bits.
  4. Next, add sweetener to taste.
  5. Once it's sweetened to your liking, add in the ice cubes. Blend until they are completely chopped.
  6. With the blender still running on low, slowly sprinkle in the glucomannan powder.
  7. Let it sit for a couple minutes and it will thicken up nicely.
  8. Pour into a glass and enjoy!
http://debbielundphoto.com/blog/creamy-coconut-strawberry-smoothie/

Here are some affiliate links to products used in this recipe.
 

 

Have you ever used coconut butter in a smoothie before?  I think it makes a great addition!

Creamy Coconut Strawberry Smoothie is linked up!
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