Nevertheless, when we moved in my mom and I discovered this fried pie shop down the street. It's actually the same fried pie shop that's nestled safely in the Arbuckle Mountains of Oklahoma. If you're driving up and down I-35 from Dallas to OKC then you've seen it and hopefully you've stopped in.
Mom and I decided to pop in before they left town so that we could enjoy a bite of our favorite flavors. For some reason I decided to steer clear of my favorite cherry flavor and even passed by on the delicious apricot flavor, another favorite. No, that day I went for the coconut and thus began the year long obsession with all things coconut.
I've posted dozens of coconut recipes on Pinterest hoping for the perfect occasion to arise when I could finally taste that sweet flavor again. I've always adored coconuts. I used to love the Sonic Coconut Cream Pie shake and I remember begging my mom as a kid to buy a coconut so I could have real coconut milk--it was not what a five year old would expect. Mostly I get my food obsessions from books. I'm sure that's where the coconut craze came from. Some character eats or makes something and it sounds so fabulous that I go on this food quest to recreate it. It's how I found the mozzarella and tomato panini from Panera, a grown up grilled cheese that I adore!
Back to coconuts! I just had to have something sweet and I'm trying really hard to be better this week with Barre3 menus. I've only got one week left of the challenge and ever since my birthday I've been struggling to get back on track with the menu and not grazing to the "off limit" items. Once you cheat it's nearly impossible to go back to where you were. It's truly been a case of me stating all over again, only much harder this time.
In a serious attempt not to cheat, I took a recipe I made earlier this week and changed it up a bit. The end product...
The Coconut Pie Smoothie
It's super simple and pretty dang close to the real thing. Here's the recipe:
1 medium/large banana
1/4 - 1/2 cup of almond butter
1/4 - 1/2 cup of shredded coconut
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups of coconut milk
Toss everything in the blender, mix it up really well, pour it in a glass, and enjoy. So. Dang. Good. It's also great to share it with someone cause this drink is RICH. Hindsight is 20/20 though...
Sure, I guess you can call it gluten free, vegetarian whatever. I just call it good! Now all I need is an umbrella, a beach, and a good book!
What's your favorite smoothie?