At this time of year, there are a number of things you can always bet will be on hand in this house. Two of our favourite fruits, which happen to just go beautifully together, exist in droves as their seasons collide together from their respective countries of origin.

I recall posting a similar smoothie to this last year, when I hadn't yet discovered the simple fact that adding coconut milk to smoothies was just about the best thing I'd done in many many moons (well, not quite the best, but definitely one of them). Lately I've been suspecting there might be a nut sensitivity lurking in my body somewhere, though as someone with much experience in these matters, I haven't gone looking too far for fear I might mind something real there. I'm a giant believer that the body goes through what I call cycles of sensitivity, and that taking breaks from foods can be of huge benefit to allowing the body to re-strengthen itself. It's a practice I've used for almost my whole adult life and has always produced results.

So I've been careful with the nut intake, taking a break briefly in Hawaii to enjoy one of the most perfect foods ever created in my mind: macadamia nuts.

Hence the obsession of late with adding equal parts coconut milk & water to my fruit smoothies. As I mentioned earlier, strawberries and mangoes are both in season, and thus, tend to be rather affordable and too ripe Ataulfo (yellow fleshed) mangoes are often available as castoffs in my local grocery store at a fraction of the normal cost. This means loads of ripe mangoes at really cheap prices which are perfect for freezing. And as we are about to learn, this means smoothie excellence with yes, just 3 ingredients.

We used this as our base with our NSF kids in one of our classes recently, and they, of course, loved it. They certainly were not as keen on the spinach we brought to add in (lol), but hey, my 15-year-old is only just starting to get into it, so we'll give those guys a little break.

Strawberry, Mango & Coconut Smoothie

• 5-6 strawberries, frozen or fresh
• 1.5 cup mangoes, frozen or fresh (about 2 medium yellow mangoes)
• (1/2) cup coconut milk, from the can (make sure to shake well before opening the can)
• up to (1/2) cup water

Combine all ingredients in your blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Feel free to play with the ratios here. As a tip, I recommend using one of the fruit ingredients frozen only and using the other one fresh. The first time I made this I used frozen mango, and the next time, it was strawberries. Both items being frozen could be a lot of work for your blender not to mention rather cold for you!

Enjoy as an afternoon pick me up before a run, or in the morning on the go. This recipe will serve 2-3 as an add-on to other breakfast items or as a light snack, or 1 if you are planning to fuel up for lunch.

Spring is here and in full swing now, and it's awesome! The time of year we can finally have the back door open (it's still a little cold for that but we do it anyway), and the little kid and I went for our first run/ride yesterday...I run and she rides her bike beside me. This is one of my favorite things about being a mom, and favourite things about spring.