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Put used rooibos tea bags in the fridge or freezer and use on your tired or red eyes to sooth and relax.

ALMOND-BUTTERED BANANA FREEZE

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

This refreshingly light, smooth almond mylk is made by blending bananas with almond butter and a hint of cinnamon. Almonds provide calcium, protein, and vitamin E, and bananas are loaded with potassium. This easy smoothie is a great postworkout fuel—it helps increase circulation and blood flow to stressed muscles, while building lean muscle tissue. The drink is sweetened with yacón syrup, a low-calorie, low-glycemic sweetener that tastes like caramel and molasses. If you don’t have yacón handy, you can use agave syrup.

2 bananas, sliced

¼ cup almond butter

2 tablespoons yacón or agave syrup

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 cups filtered water

1 cup ice

Combine the banana, almond butter, yacón syrup, cinnamon, and water in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth. Add the ice and blend to mix well.

Best served immediately, but will keep for a couple of days in the fridge.

Yacón Power

YACÓN, A perennial plant grown in the Andes, is used as a concentrated sweetener among native Andes populations. The plant’s sweet-tasting tuberous root has antiaging properties and is high in protein, fiber, and vitamins A and C; and is also a good source of calcium, iron, phosphorus, and potassium. A valuable health food and alternative sweetener, yacón contains inulin, a complex sugar that improves the health of our lower intestines by feeding healthy bifidobacteria, which are probiotics, in the intestine. Inulin is a probiotic that helps with mineral absorption, combats cancer, and keeps our skin clear and healthy. Inulin can’t be broken down by digestive enzymes in the stomach. It passes through the upper digestive tract intact, has almost no usable calories, and almost no impact on blood sugar.

Yacón syrup is dark in color, tastes like a blend of caramel and molasses, and is a low-calorie, low-glycemic sweetener with only 40 calories per two-tablespoon serving. It has half the sugar and only a third of the calories of agave syrup. Use it as you would agave or maple syrup in any recipe. Although yacón syrup is flash-pasteurized to kill bacteria, it has been found to retain most of its enzymes and nutritional benefits. It is available at natural food stores, online, and my Web site, www.AniPhyo.com/store.

SUPER CACAO-COCONUT ENERGIZER

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

When you’re craving a caffeine bump, this creamy, rich, dark chocolate drink is a healthy way to get a superjazzy buzz. Made with cacao for zing and sweetened with dates and banana for energy, it is also full of omegas and potassium to make you glow. I leave the blender going for a minute or more to heat up this delight.

1 banana

¼ cup cacao nibs

¼ cup almonds

2 tablespoons tan or brown flaxseed

2 tablespoons shredded coconut

2 tablespoons pitted Medjool dates

1 tablespoon liquid coconut oil

2 teaspoons maca powder (optional)

3 cups filtered water

Place all the ingredients in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth. If you don’t have a high-speed blender, you may want to first grind the almonds, flaxseed, and coconut into a meal for a smoother consistency.

SERVING OPTION: Place in a pot and heat on the stove until warm.

MYLKS AND SHAKES

My dairy-free mylks are made by blending nuts or seeds with water. Agave or dates can be added as a sweetener. Just as with dairy milk, nut mylks are thin in consistency, and delicious with cereals and added to smoothies.

I don’t bother straining the nut fiber from my mylks because fiber is good for me. You can strain your mylks through a strainer or nut mylk bag (available at most health food stores or online—search for “nut milk bag”) if you prefer. You can use the pulp in place of nut meals in dehydration recipes such as those for cookies and crackers. Or you can feed it to your dog (avoid giving your dog macadamias, though, as they are poisonous to pets), or compost it.

BASIC NUT MYLK