There’s a new butter in town folks, and it’s made with one of my most favorite things in the world – coconut. Coconut butter may not be all that new to some of you, but it’s new to me. I’ve seen it popping up around here and there and I finally broke down and bought some today. At first, I didn’t see much of a difference flavor wise or texture wise as coconut oil, and I felt confused. But as I dug my spoon in a little deeper into the jar I saw a slight change of color and I knew then that I had found gold. Holy cow, this stuff is good (if you love coconut that is).

What is coconut butter? Well, it’s basically just the flesh of the coconut ground up and processed until creamy – similar to nut butter. You get all the nutrition of eating pure raw coconut into a small amount that can be used as a spread or as a supplement to meals such as smoothies, granola bars or even oatmeal. Coconut is full of good stuff – lots of fiber, vitamins & minerals, along with a little protein and good for you fat.

When I got home with my jar of gold I immediately knew I wanted to add it to a smoothie. I love simple banana smoothies, especially right after a morning workout. This smoothie isn’t your typical thick smoothie – it’s light and refreshing and makes a perfect snack for those in between meal times. Enjoy!

So tell me, am I the last person on Earth to try coconut butter? If you’ve had it, tell me how you like it!

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There definitely was a time in my life, not long ago, that I was not very familiar with making smoothies at home. I would drink my smoothies out, BIG smoothies to be honest, and then was horrified to find out that the smoothie I was drinking had around 500-700 calories in it. Eek.

Sorry, but I’d rather eat pizza for those kind of calories. Or a bag of potato chips.

Of course, I could have always just ordered a smaller smoothie, but whatever…I just started making my own at home instead.

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My kids went back to school yesterday. I seriously can’t believe our summer break is officially over…though our summer surely isn’t. It’s still hotter than heck and not much is changing for a while other than our schedule.

One of the best parts of summer, other than the obviously fun activities that come along with it, is definitely the fruit. You can’t beat summer fruit. Especially peaches. Gosh, do I love peaches. My favorite are the ones that come from Georgia and the Carolinas…those are the ones I look for around this time of year, they smell so darn good. I love popping one in the fridge to chill for a couple of hours then slicing it up into a glass of red wine…that’s my grandpa’s version of dessert…and that’s another post for another day.

My kids and I have been playing with our new Blendtec the last few weeks. We are blending up everything in sight. One hot afternoon, my daughter and I made this juice. Just like most 4 year old girls, my daughter loves anything pink. When asked what ice cream flavor or smoothie flavor she wants, her response is always “pink”. Not strawberry, but pink.

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