Recipe: Third Trimester (Chocolate) Medjool Date Smoothie

(disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist or a medical professional, but you probably already knew that)

Have you read any studies about the affect of eating dates in late pregnancy? (here's one, here's another)   I'm all for a lower chance of induction and a potentially shorter labor, but I hate dates. So they've gotta be disguised.  Here's my solution.

Note: we have a Blendtec blender with the "Wildside" container (capacity = about 50 oz).   Smaller blenders might require you to half the ingredients.

My (almost) Daily Smoothie Recipe

Blend well:

-1-2 Bananas

-6-8 Medjool Dates (remove pits first!)

-BIG handful of Baby Spinach

-8-10 oz Milk

Add:

-Protein powder of your choice (I do 1.5 scoops of chocolate flavored Optimum Nutrition Performance Whey Isolate because that's what my husband has in the house, from Costco -- this is about 45g of protein)

-One conservative squeeze of Hershey's syrup

-Ice to fill up the blender to capacity

Blend on "ice crush" or "milkshake" setting. 
Enjoy.

I sip on this all morning and Penny (my 2-year-old) also drinks a glass.
It's nice and thick if you use plenty of ice, so these reusable smoothie straws are helpful.

Benefits:

-I have a noticed a decrease in my night-time leg cramps from all the potassium in the dates and bananas. 

-I feel better about my protein and iron intake for the day from the whey protein and the spinach. 

-I am hydrated from all the ice (makes about 50 ounces total)

-If the dates thing is true, I'm getting mine in! And I can't even taste them!
-I don't have to overthink what I'm going to make for breakfast.