Maca, Maca, Maca!!

Maca, Maca, Maca!
I feel lucky to live near a great restaurant called The Source, because it can be hard to find a healthy eating establishment that has organic food, fresh and ready to go when you are on the move. It’s in Hermosa Beach, CA on the North side of Pier Avenue between PCH and Hermosa Ave. I love lots of items on the menu but the beet and farro salads are my regular dishes. So yummy! They also have a variety of delicious dips and shakes. One of the shakes is called Bonanza and this was the topic of conversation when my friend Erin told me about The Source. It’s a revitalizing shake made with coconut milk, almond butter, banana, dates, chia seeds, maca and sea salt.

First time in, looking at the Bonanza shake ingredients on the menu, I pondered to myself, “what is Maca”? With the line being unusually long that day, I decided to hurry to Wholefoods to see if I could pick up the ingredients. Once there I asked the gentleman attending the veggie about Maca and he told me that they had the powder and pointed me in its direction. I picked up a bag of Maca Powder by Navitas Naturals, checked out, and headed home to make the shake. I was lucky that I had picked up a bag of Chia seeds at Trader Joes over the weekend and I always keep Madjool dates and banana chunks frozen and ready. I learned that maca is a root cultivated on a plateau in the Peruvian Andes—Peruvians have a history of using this root for healing properties. Navitas Naturals makes it in a gelatinized powder form that is organic, kosher and vegan. The powder allegedly boasts all types of benefits from nourishment of the endocrine system to stress management and energy perks positively effecting stamina and libido too. I do not know how The Source makes the Bonanza in regards to ingredient amounts but this is how I make made my version that day and have since renamed it to suit. I chose to leave out the sea salt and added raw honey and blueberries…delish! By the way, I have to say I have felt great since consuming this shake regularly. I have experienced more energy and have even cut back my coffee intake by half!
Nutty Funky Blue Monkey –just pile ingredients into blender in the order listed below and blend until desired thickness.
• 1.5 bananas freshly frozen in ice cube sized chunks
• Rounded handful of freshly frozen blue berries
• 4 Madjool Dates pitted
• Rounded teaspoon of raw honey
• Rounded tablespoon of raw almond butter (unsweetened)
• Rounded teaspoon of maca powder
• Shake in the desired amount of chia seed
• Pour in organic coconut milk until it covers 2/3 of the ingredients
• Blend
Enjoy!