Low Calorie Pina Colada Like Smoothie Recipe

I absolutely love the taste of coconut! So, when I found a open can of light coconut milk in my refrigerator today (leftover from a Thai stir-fry that I still need to post about!), I just had to make something with it. So, I decided to use it to make a non-alcoholic "Pina Colada-like" Smoothie (leveraging frozen banana instead of frozen pineapple, although either would work). The smoothie turned out really delicious -- I actually thought it was much better than a regular pina colada which tend to be much more icy in consistency. So, I thought I'd share the recipe here!

Ingredients:
- One cup almond milk (you can substitute reduced fat or non-fat milk if you prefer)
- One quarter cup of light coconut milk (I'll blog specifically about this in the future)
- One frozen banana
- Half a teaspoon of vanilla extract

Instructions:
- Measure and pour one cup of almond milk into your blender
- Add one quarter of a cup of light coconut milk (it is available in cans in the Asian aisle -- make sure you buy the light kind)
- Add a small frozen banana broken into several pieces to your blender
Note: Here are instructions for creating your own frozen bananas. You might want to cut them into several pieces depending on how powerful your blender is. Also, if you prefer pineapple you can substitute frozen pineapple for the banana, or half a serving of each.
- Add half a teaspoon of vanilla extract
- (Optional) Add some crushed ice if you want an icy texture
- Blend, transfer to cup, drink and enjoy!

In terms of calories, it is variable (so make sure you check based on your ingredients), but if you use almond milk, a small-ish banana, and light coconut milk, it comes out to approximately 170 calories, 6 grams of fat (primarily from the coconut), and 3 grams of fiber -- so 3 weight watchers points.

I hope you enjoy the smoothie!

Here are some other coconut filled foods I've posted about: Coconut Milk Yogurt, So Delicious Ice Cream Sandwiches, Coconut Ginger Soup, and Nada Moo Ice Cream.


Juliet