A little love in unexpected places (hint: it's in a smoothie!)

Do you ever find it hard to buy that perfect gift for one of your parents?  I mean, my dad....yikes!  He's the hardest to shop for.  I think because he's so easily happy with nothing!  Never really NEEDS anything!  And my mom, well, she might be a little easier, but still takes a whole lot of energy to think through what she'd REALLY love!

 

Well, a couple of years ago now, we came up with the brilliant idea to buy her a Vita-mix blender.  It

ended up being a group gift from all of us. 

We nailed it!  :)

She LOVED it!

And if I'm completely honest, so did I!  For I got to try out her fun new gadget too!  And as we live next door to my parents, I got to try it out often!  Actually, I ended up using it so often that eventually the blender started staying at our house for longer and longer visits.  Honestly, I didn't mean to do this!  Really!  And then the (glorious!) day came when my mom said "Beth, why don't you just keep it as your house?  You use it more.  I know where to find it, when I need it."

I was torn!  Secretly, overjoyed....but, wait....this was HER gift!

Moms can be hard to budge, and well....the delightful Vita-mix is presently residing on our countertop.  And she is well used.  Daily she is enjoyed, and cleaned!  (thankfully she's easy to clean!  All we do is throw in warm water and a little soap in the blender & turn her on.  Rinse and done!)

My go-to for a healthy, yummy snack is almost always a smoothie.  Kurt, I would say, thinks it's a lot of work to do that when you can just grab an apple or a cookie.  (cookie, healthy?  Oh right, they were OATMEAL chocolate chip!)  lol!  :)

So, a recent smoothie obsession has been the following recipe.  It's so good and so healthy, it's just crazy!  I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.  (BTW, it's not the one in the photo!)

Chocolate Smoothie Bliss

1 c. almond milk (or any kind)

1/2 avocado

3 T cocoa powder

2 T agave

10 ice cubes

Mix and enjoy!  If it's too thick, call it ice cream! :)  We add mini chocolate chips on top for added pleasure!

When I make this for Kurt just because, he sighs....is reminded of how much I love him....and we both are so thankful that we bought that Vita-mix blender for us.....I mean, for my mom, many moons ago!