Universe Drink

Before moving down south to sunnier  Sarasota, Florida, we lived in Ponte Vedra and often ate at a wonderful little organic, raw food cafe in St Augustine called The Present Moment. On my last visit there I decided to grab a copy of their cookbook so that I could attempt to recreate some of their deliciousness myself. While I haven't yet mustered the courage to make the Chicago-Ian Style Pizza or the Pad Thai, I have fallen victim to the weekly (or tri-weekly) Universe Drink. It takes all of about 3 minutes to prepare in the morning and I love coming home to a mason jar full of it after a morning walk or yoga session.

They gave me permission to post one or two of their recipes when I was there, so I thought I would start with this one. It has antioxidant-rich raw cacao, the ancient Chinese superfruit goji powder, and hormone-balancing maca root powder.

One Serving

• 1 frozen banana
• 4 oz coconut water
• 4 oz almond milk (see alternate ideas below)
• 2 T cacao powder
• 1 tsp goji powder
• 1/2 tsp maca powder
• 1 drop vanilla extract
• 1 T agave (optional, using a ripe banana makes it plenty sweet to me)

Blend all ingredients and serve or refrigerate immediately

*I've used packaged almond milk (no carrageenan in this brand), coconut milk and various homemade nut/seed milks. So far, all have been good!