It was hot in SoCal this weekend. Perfect weather for hanging out in our newly landscaped backyard. The only problem was that my husband and I still hadn’t assembled the patio furniture we’d recently bought at Home Depot. So yesterday we dragged the boxes in from the garage and got to work.
Putting the chairs together wasn’t hard, but since we don’t have air conditioning we were sweating and exhausted by the time we finished. Needed something to cool us down, I thought about making Skinny Chocolate Shakes.
Instead, however; I did some food experimentation. This is always a gamble, but this time it paid off. The chocolate, almond, coconut shakes I created turned out so sweet and rich that my husband was shocked when I told him they were healthy and sugar-free. Here’s the recipe:
Almond Joy Milkshake (vegan)
1 cup almond milk or coconut milk
1/3 cup raw almonds
2 ripe bananas, frozen in chunks
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon coconut extract
1 tablespoon flaked coconut (an optional addition my mom suggested)
Directions
Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend for 45 seconds or until desired consistency is reached.
Note: This recipe works best in a high-speed blender like a Vitamix.
AÂ Confession
Now a confession – the photo above is not of my Almond Joy Shake. It’s a photo by Babble of a Grab & Go Chocolate Power Shake (this recipe also looks good, by the way). I used this photo because the pictures I took of my Almond Joy Shake didn’t do it justice. It wouldn’t have enticed anyone to try this recipe.
I really need to improve my food photography skills – the photos I take now are embarrassing! If anyone has tips or suggestions on how I can improve my food photography skills, please share. I need help!!
Honk If You're Vegan 
I totally have all these ingredients and might try to make this for breakfast tomorrow. A great book on food photography is by Helene Dujardin and it is called “From Plate to Pixel”. I’ve been learning some things from that, though my food photos are still a long way from professional 🙂
I hope you do make the shake – you won’t be sorry! And thanks so much for the food photography book suggestion – I appreciate it! I think your blog photos are really good, so if you learned from this book I bet it’s a winner! Thanks! Celeste:)
Yum, this looks delicious Celeste!
I am also by no means a professional food photographer, but I did invest in a good DSLR and did some research online for tips on food photography. I also get inspiration from other’s photos and I try to recreate the same effects by practicing over and over again! I play around as much as possible with my camera, in different lighting, different angles, etc. Eventually, I see something I like! Props are lots of fun and add colour and liveliness to your food photos as well! Keep at it and have fun doing it :).
Sophia
Hi Sophia!
I love your attitude! You get inspired by looking at other people’s photos, and I just feel bad about myself. You’re right, I should be having more fun with this. Great reminder – thanks! And having a good camera would probably help. Right now I’m using my iphone, so maybe I need to invest in a good camera too! Thanks so much for your comment – I appreciate it! Celeste:)
Thank you, Celeste 🙂
I highly recommend investing in a DSLR, the difference is HUGE! I really like my Canon Rebel t3i, because although it has a gazillion features, it is really made for beginners and easy to figure out! Good luck, and remember to PLAY! I love your blog, even if the photos aren’t yours right now 🙂
You’ve convinced me to get a new camera, and my husband is even on board with this. I know very little about cameras, so I’m going to check out what Consumer Reports has to say about them. I’ll definitely see what they have to say about the Canon Rebel t3i. If it’s made for beginners, then it might be a good pick for me. I really, really appreciate your thoughtful comments!! Celeste:)
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That’s great! Good luck!
Sophia
Your photo definitely enticed me to click on your link! So borrowed or not, it is certainly doing the trick. Looks like a great recipe!
More proof about how important the photo is! It’s my goal to become a better food photographer. I know I can improve! Thanks so much for stopping by. Celeste:)
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To make your photo look better, you could use instagram app ( on a smart phone / tablet) for editing it. That’s what I do 🙂 btw, awesome recipe. Thanks for sharing
There’s an app that can make your photos look better? Wow, how cool is that!! Thanks for sharing – I’ll definitely check that out. I really appreciate this!! Celeste:)
You are welcome Celeste 🙂 Instagram lets you edit and share photos but if you don’t want to share, you could delete the uploaded image 🙂
🙂
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This does look delicious. I printed this out for mommy to make one day this week 🙂
Come look at my blog in a bit. I left you something there 🙂 XOXO – Bacon
Hey Bacon!! I sure hope your mommy makes this for you – you’ll be one happy pig. Thanks so much for stopping by! Celeste:)
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I so wish I could drink bananas in smoothies, this sounds like the perfect thing for a hot day!
You can’t have bananas? I would go bananas if I couldn’t have bananas – haha! I eat bananas everyday, usually in a smoothie. They make smoothies, or shakes, so dreamy creamy. Thanks so much for your comment – I appreciate it!! Celeste:)
No raw nanners for me! Although I can eat cooked ones, weird right? It sucks but I’ve found some smoothie alternatives that get me by 🙂
So sorry girl! I knew someone who couldn’t eat any raw fruit – some sort of allergy. Anyway, it sounds like you’ve found good alternatives. Celeste:)
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I am going to make this today! Sounds so good! Thanks for sharing.
Yea! I know you’ll love it!! Celeste:)
You got me when you mentioned this yummy looking beverage is sugar-free. I was thinking “no way!” BTW – all the photo suggestions are great. I would add that digital memory is cheap, so take lots of shots to provide a wide selection and delete the others later. A DSLR will give you lots of features for which you will probably need a book to learn. And you don’t need to buy software to enhance your photos. MS Office Picture Manager and several other free photo editing software programs do just fine. When you figure it all out you can teach me! 🙂 – Mike
You can always add coffee to this milkshake Mike – as I know how much you LOVE your coffee!! Thanks for your photography suggestions – I really appreciate them. And, by the way, I think you’re a great photographer Mike. You certainly don’t need any lessons from me. Celeste:)
Mmm – coffee in the milkshake… I like it!
BTW – Florence gets the credit for the photos on my blog. That was my other suggestion – have someone else shoot the photos for you. 🙂
Having someone else take my photos is a great suggestion. Maybe Florence wants to spend some time with me taking photos in SoCal? Kidding! I don’t really have anyone else who can take the photos. My husband is a better photographer than I am, but he doesn’t have any experience taking food photographs. Oh well – I guess I’ll just have to learn to be a better photographer. Celeste:)
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Celeste this looks like a treat! I love anything with almonds 🙂
Hey there Poppy!! Give this shake a try – it’s REALLY good. Celeste:)
I’m trying a new breakfast resolution as I’m terrible at skipping breakfast! I’m going to try this next week after I finish wading through a batch of breakfast muffins!
You had me at ‘almond’ so I probably would’ve been sold without the picture!! 🙂
By the way Poppy, Mambo is now a vegan dog! Thanks for all of your support with this. I’ll post about this soon!! Celeste:)
That’s so funny, after I sent that last message I thought to ask about Mambo so thought I’d ask in next message! You must have been sensing my wonder!
That’s fab news, how is he doing? Any more sickness or anything? Poppy 🙂
Hey Poppy! Mambo’s made the transition beautifully! He hasn’t been sick at all and he loves his new food. I got the Vegedog supplement that you suggested and have been using their recipes to make his food. It couldn’t have gone more smoothly!! Celeste:)
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Celeste that is fab news! Give him a ruffle from me! 🙂
Will do! 🙂
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🙂
Awesome idea for a milkshake! You definitely can’t go wrong with the almond/coconut combination. 🙂
Hey Allison! Yea, it’s a wonderful combo!! Celeste:)
Oh my goodness this looks and sounds so delicious, I can’t wait to try it out!
Thanks so much for stopping by Missy! I’m really proud of this recipe – it’s a good one. Celeste:)
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Yum!! Adding this to my to-make list!
Wonderful! I love all the chocolate shakes I make, but this is probably my favorite. I hope you like it. Celeste 🙂
You really can’t go wrong with almonds, coconut and chocolate!
Haha – so true!!
Okay, so I tried this, and honestly…SO GOOD!
I’m so glad you liked it! Thanks for letting me know, it’s always nice to hear that someone appreciates one of my recipes. Celeste 🙂
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