Sometimes, a girl just has to have her chocolate.

Especially when she's groggy, and tired, and it's the end of a long week, and why-is-it-so-bloody-cold-in-the-mornings-now-let-me-stay-in-bed-forever.

Chocolate.

Our daughter has always been a chocolate fiend.

Us: "Let's go for ice cream!"Her: "Ooo, I want to look at all the flavours!"*spends ten minutes looking at everything twenty-six times"Her: "I'll have chocolate, please."

Every time.

She knows what she likes. Birthday cake? Chocolate. Cookies? Chocolate.

Easter is pretty much heaven on earth for our sweet girl. SO many bunny butts to chomp off.

My grandma has a candy dish that my husband always excitedly dives into the moment we get there and where our daughter has figured out the chocolate is hiding. Those Lindor chocolate balls. Ya, GG packs the good stuff. It's an actual topic of conversation on the drive there as to what colours will be in the jar this time and how many the tiny person may procure if she behaves. She tries to barter as many as five. Spoiler: the answer is always one. And she rarely ever behaves that well. But grandparents' homes (and especially great-grandparent's homes) are special places, so one is usually had. Along with a baked good (my granny is the best) and whatever else the tiny scavenger finds in the fridge.

Question: Do your kids always go into other people's fridges as soon as they get into someone else's home? If we come to your house, I apologize in advance. You'll find my little turkey asking about that salad dressing in the back corner of your fridge that you completely forgot about and I'll be face-palming at the front door, still trying to take my shoes off.

But for all my beanie loves chocolate, she just can't have it everyday, all the time. As much as we'd all love to just live off of chocolate. So I created this smoothie for her when she was a year and a half old to satisfy her cravings, and let's be honest, mine as well.

She comes by her love of the stuff honestly.

And now that I've found a way to make it more nutritionally filling than a chocolate bunny, she can have chocolate pretty much whenever.

One of my favourite combinations is chocolate and almonds. If you are selling those for a fundraiser, our house is a sure sale. With that in mind, I played off of those flavours to create this drink. My sister-in-law and her husband describe it as "good for what it is" (a bean smoothie) but I love them, as does my nephew and daughter. So give it a try for yourself and your kids and let me know how it goes over in your home!

Chocolate Shake

1 frozen banana
1/2 to 3/4 of a cup of cooked beans*
1 tbsp. of almond butter (or peanut butter, for those inclined!)
1 tbsp. raw cacao powder (or cocoa if you can't get your hands on cacao)
Almond milk (or other milk**)

Blend all the ingredients together in a high power blender until smooth, adding in as much almond milk is needed for your preferred consistency.

*Originally, I wrote this recipe using white beans. If you use them, 1/2 cup of beans would suffice, as they have a stronger flavour. However, I now favour using black beans which adds to the chocolate-ly richness of the smoothie. I use 3/4 of a cup for black beans.
**I use almond milk for my smoothies, however, I have added cow's milk to my daughter's before. Be warned though: dairy froths in a blender, so only add half dairy and half water if you're using a single-serve blender like I do.

I always have a happy kid on my hands when a chocolate smoothie is for breakfast.

Also, I just want to say a very serious heart-felt "thank you" for all of the love and support I received after my last post. I am okay. Truly. I am feeling more like myself everyday and my happiness is increasing on an exponential scale. I still have hard days. Sometimes it feels like I've taken ten steps backwards, but then I'm able to get back to progressing a few days later. But those bad days are occuring less frequently now.

Anxiety sucks. It does. It ruins daily living.

But that's why I talk about it openly (now that I know what I had been staring head-on with as I've never dealt with it before) to get others to talk about it, too. We need to stop stigmatizing mental health problems. If we keep it taboo, if keep our own experiences hushed up, then we are all complicit in keeping it a secret in our society and continuing the false notion that it is something to be scorned and looked down upon.

Mental health affects us all. We all have health, we all have mental health. Good or bad. Some of us have aches and wounds and physical manifestations of suffering, some of us suffer silently in our own heads. They shouldn't be treated differently. Pain is pain. Be compassionate to every one you come across and never assume you know everything about another. Check in on people's real thoughts from time to time. And never be afraid to speak up. If you are suffering, reach out to a loved one, a friend, or a professional.

I'm always here if anyone needs an ear or a hug.

But thank you all again for the love.Support is the best thing you could ever give someone fighting a silent battle.

Much love to you all.

Now go enjoy that glorious sunshine, with a chocolate smoothie in hand.

My Daughter Drinks Chocolate for Breakfast.