Almond Oat Strawberry Banana Smoothie and a Giveaway

A deliciously, thick, gluten free smoothie flavored with strawberries, bananas and almond flour.

One of my favorite bloggers, Nicole from Prevention RD, has a new cookbook out called Prevention RD’s Cooking and Baking with Almond Flour. I am thrilled that I was asked to review the book and given the opportunity to give one lucky winner a free copy. What I have always liked about Nicole’s blog is that it is healthy real food. She is a registered dietician and makes real food for real people. In this cookbook, she takes it a step further and makes the recipes gluten free by using almond flour. I have to admit, gluten free foods, are something I know very little about. We don’t have gluten allergies so it isn’t something I’ve studied. I was really thrilled to learn more and work with almond flour.

The first step was to try some recipes. I knew I wanted to do a breakfast recipe. For some reason, I seem to make fewer breakfast recipes than anything else. Figuring out which one was not easy. I had originally planned on making Baked Egg Cups. I am really intrigued by the almond flour crust that cradles the egg. One problem, I forgot to buy eggs. I remembered on the way home from the grocery store. Ugh! Since I was starving after my gym workout, I decided to switch courses and make her Almond Oat Strawberry Banana Smoothie. While I love smoothies, I have texture issues with them. I don’t like ice in mine which can make it rather runny. I loved the idea of thickening a smoothie with almond flour. I did skip the ice in the recipe and used frozen strawberries and it turned out perfectly for my texture preference. It wasn’t gritty or taste like flour. It was thick and delicious and oh so satisfying. Brilliant idea, Nicole. I would have never thought of it. I have got to make her Chocolate Cherry Biscotti for Christmas. I just know it is going to be a fabulous Christmas cookie for our family, and I cannot wait to use almond flour in more preparations.

There aren’t just breakfast recipes in this cookbook. There are starters, sides, dinner, dessert and more. One of my favorite things about this cookbook is the icon keys. Each recipe has little icons which tell you if a recipe is sugar-free, paleo, vegetarian, low carb, etc. No matter what your dietary restrictions are, you know immediatley if this recipe will fit. No more guess work about a recipe. So one lucky person will win a copy of Prevention RD’s Cooking and Baking with Almond Flour. This contest is open to USA residents only. See below to enter to win.