Healthy Peanut Butter & Strawberry 'Jelly' Smoothie

Be honest now, how many of you actually make the recipes you've saved on Pinterest, let alone give them a second look after you've pinned them? Myself included, probably not many, am I right?

I've recently made it a point, a mental resolution if you will, to go through all my saved pins on my Pinterest boards and actually get myself to try out some of the recipes. For the past month or so, when I sit down to prepare my shopping list I set aside a few minutes to go through my boards and pick out a recipe or three, which I can then recreate during the course of the week. Most of the times its in the form of salads for lunch, but whether or not I stick to the recipe exactly, I like that it gets me thinking about why I pinned a certain recipe and that I can then say I've actually tried it. 

That's pretty much how the inspiration for this smoothie came about. I came across the gorgeous image of this Mashed Berries and Peanut Butter Shake on my Breakfast board and knew it was right up my ally for morning breakfast. 

It literally takes two minutes to prepare, and although the original recipe uses sugar, salt and vanilla extract I decided to leave these out to make it more palatable and guilt-free as my morning fuel. I also added chia seeds into the mix to give it a little extra health kick. I have to admit the Brit in me has never been a fan of 'PB and jelly' as a combo so I was a little skeptical at first 'coz I personally think peanut butter and berries shouldn't really go together. And yet the reality is I actually couldn't believe how good this was. Every spoonful was addictive and it really was as good as eating an indulgent and moresome dessert, if not better. Creamy and salty, sweet and juicy all in one, and just so, so good. 

Needless to say I'm definitely glad I went through my pins!

Healthy Peanut Butter & Strawberry 'Jelly' Smoothie

Inspired and adapted from Kiran Tarun

Serves 1

8-10 strawberries

1 tbsp chia seeds

1 banana

1 cup of milk (I used unsweetened coconut milk)

3 tbsp smooth peanut butter

Strawberry and crushed roasted peanuts to garnish

1. Blitz the strawberries together with the chia seeds in a blender for about 3-5 seconds, so that there are still chunks of strawberry left.

2. Empty into a large glass, and give the blender a quick rinse with water.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients into the same blender and blend until smooth.

4. Pour over the strawberry mixture, and garnish with the strawberry and crushed peanuts before serving with a spoon.