One of my favorite youth memories resides at the Olive Garden chain restaurant. After gobbling up as many breadsticks, “Olive Garden Salad” and minestrone soup that my tummy could handle, I’d top it off with as many of the Andes mints I could snatch, then somehow manage to pocket away more on the way out for some mint-chocolate medley later on.

What can I say? I love chocolate. I love mint. I love chocolate mint.

When I started using smoothies in 2011 to start the process of healing my gut and giving my child great nutrition, I used homemade smoothies with cacao to feed that chocolate craving that I always get from time to time.  Since chocolate mint forever remained a top favorite combination, I eventually learned how to create a delicious and refreshing mint chocolate smoothie. The best part of this recipe, like almost all recipes I share, is the simplicity of ingredients used and the ease of preparation.