Apple Pie Smoothie (and a word on peanuts).

By Amy Crawford

I had much fun throwing these ingredients into my blender, trying to recreate a drinkable apple pie. That's the beauty of smoothies - anything goes (within reason). You simply need to be comfortable with risk...and the odd smoothie fail, which is rare if you add ingredients slowly and taste as you go.

A rare choice in my smoothies, I decided to use peanuts as a way of mixing up my nut consumption. Many of you may have noticed that peanuts tend to get a bad rap (as far as nuts go), so today I'm going to share my thoughts on peanut consumption.

Firstly, peanut butter is one of those foods that you should always purchase organic (and the same can be said for peanuts, if you intend to make your own butter). Peanut shells are porous and quite soft, meaning that any chemical or pesticide sprayed onto the ground is easily absorbed into the meat of the nut. The high fat content of peanuts also allows for easy absorption (and retention) of these chemicals. Just think of a peanut as a tiny sponge just waiting to soak all those nasty chemicals up.

The reason for the heavy chemical spraying is that peanuts easily attract fungus and mold (they are grown underground), the most problematic being a fungus called aflatoxin. This is a nasty fungus, which has carcinogenic and liver damaging effects, so must be eliminated before human consumption. It is therefore standard for non organic farmers to drench peanut crops in chemicals to ensure their crop yields are high and their peanuts are safe. Non-organic peanut butters are therefore high in chemicals that we simply do not need in our bodies, and studies show these chemical residues can have carcinogenic and endocrine (hormonal) disrupting effects.

Good news for us Aussies though, the organic peanut industry in Australia has an excellent track record of reducing aflatoxin in peanuts through more natural means. It is important to note here however that organic farmed peanut butters may contain more aflatoxin than non organic based brands (within reasonable amounts for human consumption - all peanuts must be tested for aflatoxin levels). But don't be discouraged. To eliminate any concern around this subject, please be sure to refrigerate your organic peanut butter to prevent aflatoxin proliferating.

Don't forget to look for peanut butter in glass jars too, to eliminate your exposure to the chemicals found in plastic packaging.

Serves 1
1 sweet apple, quartered, not peeled
1 cup almond or sesame milk
1/3 cup natural or coconut yoghurt
1 scoop natural protein powder (we used Think Vitality Nutrition cinnamon protein powder)
1 large tablespoon chia seeds
1 tablespoon organic peanut butter*
1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (if not using above protein powder)
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in a blender and pour into a tall glass to serve. Easy as apple pie.

Think Vitality Nutrition are offering all THI readers a 10% discount off products purchased via their online store! Just follow the link above. Read our thoughts on the TVN line of protein powders (and find another apple and spice inspired recipe) here.

What's your favourite way to incorporate peanuts into your diet, if at all?

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