Chocolate banana smoothie

Do you smoothie?  I mean...do you make/drink smoothies regularly?  It's not something I've gotten on the bandwagon of though I've seen many tempting versions of them.  But today, I'm tiptoeing into the smoothie world with this 3-ingredient chocolate banana smoothie that's right up my alley.

It doesn't get any simpler, easier than this so this smoothie is perfect for a beginner like me.  Three ingredients: a banana, a tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder, and skim milk.  Just blend it up!

I was inspired to make this when I flipped through the current issue of Food Network magazine and saw it mentioned in the January calendar.  Something that doesn't even require a recipe - just a basic instruction to blend 3 ingredients up - totally appealed to me.  Since I eat a banana essentially everyday as a mid-morning snack, I thought I could change things up, swap out my morning frappuccino, and use my blender for this instead.

Can I tell you...I'm a little surprised by how much I liked this!  I literally whipped it up this very morning for breakfast with some toast (that's how fast this is - you can make and blog about it instantly).  It really tasted like a treat.  The one tablespoon of cocoa powder added so much chocolate flavor and the banana provides the natural sweetener you need.  Yes, you can taste banana but the texture is so velvety - kind of pudding like - and the flavor so rich that I really felt like I was having a milkshake. It's great just like this and surely, you could build onto it, maybe adding a spoonful of almond/peanut butter or oats and expanding it to include other fruits, if you like. 

Once again, I've determined that bananas rule.  I think I now have one more thing I have to keep in the freezer...sliced bananas, so I can whip up a smoothie whenever I want.

Chocolate-covered almond pralines

It's so much fun to make simple candies and confections during the holidays. They take us out of the norm of mixing cookie dough and hovering over our stand mixer, and we find ourselves at the stove-top, stirring and mixing a different kind of edible gift for our friends and family.

Last Christmas season, I whipped up a batch of candied almonds.  It was simple, tasty, and made great little gifts (at least I think so).  This year, I was tempted to step it up a bit and make praline (or candied) almonds coated with dark chocolate and then dusted with cocoa powder.  I think everything's better with chocolate!  And what better time to go the extra mile and dress things up a bit than right now at Christmastime.

These are easy to make and one of those crunchy snacks you keep nibbling and nibbling on.  I love that you don't need to refrigerate these pralines once they're done.  I always find it a little tricky gifting things that need to be refrigerated to friends and neighbors.

I made a batch of these chocolate covered almond pralines, packed most of it up as little gifts to go with our Christmas card, and kept a small handful for ourselves to munch on.  I kept them in a tight tin at room temperature and they should stay in good condition (i.e., the way they were when they were first made) for a couple of weeks. That dusting of cocoa makes them a bit more fuss-free and rustic somehow, which I really like.

I'm whipping up a second batch of these later this week for more gifts.  They're fun to make and to share for the holidays!