Only the Best Smoothie Ever

Sunday is a good day for recipes. I don't know how many people out there are interested in healthy kids snacks (that are tasty enough for adults!) but here is our family's favorite smoothie. In the interest of full disclosure, it's really the only smoothie I make because I love it so much. With good reason: the few times I've ventured out and tried a different fruit combination the results were less than spectacular.

I already know what some of you are thinking. What in the Hell is that?!

It's a young coconut, also known as a Thai coconut. I buy mine at the store for about $1.50. You can find them for less than $1 at Asian markets, but I haven't taken the time to find one in my area. They are incredibly good for you for several reasons, but are primarily known for the electrolyte and mineral rich water inside. I first got hooked on these last summer during the dog days of August. I live in the desert, and just one smoothie a day was instrumental in keeping this not-so-good-at-drinking-water-girl hydrated. As you can see, you need some heavy artillery to open them. Nothing expensive, I think that knife cost $5 at Target, because you definitely want to avoid ruining your good knives on one of these bad boys. Stick with something cheap and relatively disposable.

I wasn't about to try and take pictures and open my coconut at the same time, so here is a good video to check out on proper technique (there are many different ways, but this is how I do it).

See how he/she puts the straw in to drink from the coconut? Not so much. Mikey hates the taste of coconut water, and so does The Mister. It has a nutty/sweet taste. I don't mind it at all--in fact, I always taste a tablespoon or so to make sure the coconut is fresh. But as far as drinking it from a straw? Meh. I'm not there, yet. I just open up the coconut and pour all the water into the blender.

OK, so the main attraction to the young coconut is the texture. As you can see from the video, it's very soft. A mature coconut, the kind we are all used to seeing, can be hard as a brick and impossible to process to a smooth texture in a smoothie.

You pretty much scoop out the coconut meat with a spoon and toss that into the blender with the water.

Then, you add two cups of frozen pineapple and 1 frozen banana. The banana doesn't have to be frozen, but it makes a difference in texture (it's thicker and creamier). Likewise with the pineapple. Plus, I like my smoothies ice cold.

Blend it all until thick and smooth. That's all it takes to make the best smoothie ever.

You even get to sport a cute little "Got Milk" mustache!