Pineapple Coconut Smoothies

I enjoy food. I enthusiastically enjoy food. My colleague, Paul, likes to say he’s surprised I don’t weigh a few hundred pounds given how much I love and talk about food. During our breaks at work, we often talk about food. We talk about food as we eat it, usually about which foods we are going to eat for our next meal.

One of the foods which I am an extra enthusiastic about is the creamy, yet refreshing coconut. On my trips to Vietnam, my grandmother always buys me fresh young coconuts from the market. The sellers lop off the tops and I get to slurp the perfectly sweet juice while scraping the tender meat from the shell by the spoonful. YUM.

This past summer I decided to incorporate more fruit and vegetables in my diet. I tried several different smoothie recipes, some of which made me gag and then cry about all the money I wasted on pricey, organic greens. *sniffle* I soon realized that most of the recipes I tried had too many random ingredients for my taste so I decided to simplify. I had a random craving for fresh pineapple one day so I bought a few Gold Pineapples from the neighborhood grocery store. I waited impatiently until they were ripe and tossed them in a blender with Silk Coconut Milk. Et voilà! Deliciousness in a glass! And only two ingredients, at that.

I felt quite accomplished with my new smoothie recipe. And because I may or may not have slight hoarding tendencies, I quickly started a pineapple stash. I was filled with an intense fear that I would not have access to my new pineapple coconut smoothies during the cold, winter months. Not willing to use canned pineapple as a substitute, I purchased two to three pineapples at a time, ripened them on my counter, then cut and froze them in single layers. Once frozen, I tossed the pineapple slices into Glad storage containers and stocked them in the freezer. A few rounds of this and I was finally able to relax.

Last weekend, my boyfriend surprised me with two more pineapples. They’ll most likely be the last two of the season. Here is the long and short of my smoothie-making process:

Cut the pineapple into 1/2 inch slices.

Freeze in layers using parchment paper.

Add approximately one cup of previously frozen pineapple into a blender. Use the “crush ice” mode and pulse a few times. This will make blending the smoothie a lot easier.

Add approximately 8 oz. of coconut milk and blend until smooth.

Enjoy!

And take pictures!

Now here’s Bailey.