Eggnog Smoothie

Eggs are such a powerful super-food. If your kids (or you) don’t enjoy eating them with toast (and there are no existing allergies or sensitivities), you might want to try getting in a few a week this way:

1 ripe banana
1/2 cup whole milk (or coconut milk)
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 TBSP (more or less) pure maple syrup (optional)
pinch or 2 of ground nutmeg or cinnamon (optional)

• Puree all ingredients in blender.

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SIDE NOTES:

~ This old “egg yolk trick” in the milk shake is one of the best ways to get solid nutrition into finicky eaters (or to simply add extra protein when needed).

~ Keep in mind, an egg yolk or two can be blended into any smoothie for extra protein and nutrition (and no one will even know it’s there). You don’t have to try to make it taste like eggnog. Add berries, yogurt, coconut oil, whatever you typically like in a smoothie. This is just one idea.

~ Some people may worry, but personally, I don’t think twice about eating raw eggs because I’m confident in my source (clean, healthy chickens lay clean, healthy eggs). Believe it or not, raw is actually the healthiest way to eat them, next best would be poached, soft-boiled, or over easy (yolk still runny), but of course, even fully cooked eggs – hard-boiled, scrambled, over hard (etc) offer significant nutrition – so eat them however you like them! The only thing I’d avoid is something like scrambled eggs that have sat out at a breakfast buffet for an unknown period of time. The longer the egg yolk is exposed to air, the more it becomes oxidized, and it then becomes something detrimental to our health and best avoided. Another reason to shy away from the buffet scramble is the fact that sometimes, it’s not real egg, but some sort of powdered egg substitute that has been boiled in giant batches – right in a plastic bag (a friend of mine who used to be in the catering business had shared that unappealing piece of information with me). Boiled plastic residue is not something I want as part of my breakfast (let alone powdered eggs)! Ok – back to the issue at hand – eating raw eggs – When all is said and done, there’s still always a chance raw eggs can carry bacteria, but keep in mind this risk is virtually non-existent if using high-quality, farm fresh eggs from healthy, free-range chickens. FYI, in the event there is bacteria, it would be in the egg white (not the yolk). This is why I recommend using yolks only when consuming raw eggs. If you’re not confident in your source, I don’t recommend eating raw eggs at all.

~ If using coconut milk, you may prefer to add a bit of water if the smoothie consistency seems too thick for you (depending on how you like it). Alternately, you can use COCONUT-MILK-TONIC as a substitute (which is simply coconut milk and water at a ratio of 1:1), or any other milk you prefer.

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