Everything But The Kitchen Sink

My morning smoothie is built of what's in the house. Some days it's a two item deal, cantaloupe and spinach, for instance, and other days it takes on a whole new persona with a myriad of ingredients that is only limited by my imagination.

Take today, I started with a store bought 12 oz container of coconut water (shhhh). Then my standard daily potassium dose — a frozen banana. The freezer provided a handful of mango chunks and a generous handful of sweet black cherries. Blend away.

I turned to get the container of aloe vera flakes and the package of cacao nibs caught my eye. Chocolate and cherry sure sounded like a winner to me. If you've used raw cacao nibs, you know they need a little sweetener to boost the flavor, so I added about a tablespoon of raw agave nectar and gave the concoction a final vigorous blend.

Now I sip and chew. The nibs are adding a whole new experience to my morning meal. I drink my smoothies through a straw - fortunately the straw is large enough to accommodate the nibs and I'm getting a small serving with each slurp. This is a combo that would do well to be tossed in the ice cream maker to be frozen and served as dessert. Guess I'll work on that one.