A Simple Coconut Pineapple Ginger Smoothie

Last summer my second trimester craving was milkshakes. If an ice cream could be whipped together with milk and sucked through a straw I was game. You name the flavor, I wanted it! Of course, this summer there is nary a dairy shake in sight. I am halfway to my baby weight loss goal and I am not going to so much as sip an Awful, Awful until I am comfortably back in my skinny jeans. Until then, I am making myself milkshake-like smoothies that totally satisfy all my shake cravings without the unwanted calories.

I’ve taken to whipping up this tropical treat in the mid-afternoon when I am in the mood for an afternoon sweet fix. The coconut milk is so sweet and delicious on its own it really functions like vanilla ice cream. Then, I add some pineapple and a touch of ginger for some fruity and spice and voila, my “shake” is ready. As the days get hotter this is becoming quite the awesome refresher. I’ve experimented with a few different flavors, swapping ginger for basil, and adding a few chunks of watermelon. They all have some out well. My cardinal rule is to keep it simple. There is no point in making a smoothie if takes longer to assemble than it does to drink!

I’ll admit that I am still looking forward to my skinny jeans celebration milkshake. But, until then, it is the summer of smoothies all the way. I already know I’ll be sipping this at our annual 4th of July bash.

(Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Kraft. The opinion and recipes are my own. Thank you for supporting the sponsors that make The Naptime Chef possible.)