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Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Cherry Bomb!

I used to hate cherries! Can you believe that? Well, at least I thought I hated cherries. Turns out I really only hated sickly sweet marischino cherries. I tried my first real, fresh cherry (cherry pie doesn't count) a couple of years ago, and turns out, I adore their tart, sweet taste. When asked if I'd like to review some Cheribundi brand cherry juice, of course I jumped at the opportunity.

A couple weeks ago, a sample box arrived with two eight-ounce bottles of Cheribundi Tru Cherry and two bottles of Skinny Cherry. The Tru Cherry packs 50 cherries into that tiny bottle, and it's naturally sweetened with apple juice. And that's all — just cherry juice and apple juice. No artificial colors or flavors or other crap. My only issue with the Tru Cherry — each eight-ounce bottle is 130 calories! That's a lot for small glass of juice.

But that's okay because Cheribundi also makes Skinny Cherry, a slimmer version of their cherry juice with only 90 calories per bottle. How do they do it? Skinny contains 40 cherries instead of 50, and it's sweetened with calorie-free stevia instead of apple juice. After trying both, I really can't tell a difference in taste. I see no reason to drink Tru Cherry when Skinny is available ... unless you need extra calories (god, I wish I had that problem!).

I drank a couple of bottles on their own, and I gave the boyfriend a Tru Cherry because he could care less about calories. I used my last Skinny Cherry to make the most delicious smoothie I've had in awhile — Cherry Berry Banana Smoothie:

I enjoyed this tart smoothie before hopping on the elliptical machine at my gym this afternoon. Here's the recipe. Buy yourself some Cheribundi (or any cherry juice would work) and make one!

Cherry Berry Banana Smoothie
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1 frozen banana, broken into about five pieces
8 ounces cherry juice (like Cheribundi Skinny Cherry)
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1 Tbsp. hemp protein powder, optional (I use Nutiva brand)

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

By the way, I promise to post about food tomorrow night! I haven't had much time for cooking in the past couple of days ... Also testers, I've posted a new recipe on the cookbook testing site. Check it out!

10 comments:

  1. Sounds yummy. I like your fancy glass straw!

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  2. SO TASTY! You know, I think I hate cherries, too....but now that you mention it....I don't know if I've ever had a fresh one, only those overly sweet candy kinds. I need to fix that and see if I like fresh cherries!

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  3. i really like the idea of a light cherry juice sweetened with stevia. your cherry berry banana smoothie looks absolutely awesome! i love the glass straw too, Bianca - yay! i haven't had cherries yet this year and i'm gonna have to make a grocery store run now as you've got me craving them. we've got some organic bananas already, hemp protein from a few months ago in the freezer, and frozen blueberries, too. sweet awesomeness - i'm gonna make this smoothie tomorrow for my breakfast. thanks, Bianca!

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  4. I love cherries, the smoothie sounds yummy. And this post has made me sing Cherry Bomb by Ash, one of my favourite songs of theirs. YAY.

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  5. Isn't it funny how we have these little food prejudices, and then once we try the item in question freshly picked or lightly steamed, a light goes on?

    This looks incredible! And I imagine so good for summer. Yum.

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  6. Welcome to the wonderful world of cherries! Preserved cherries, blah!

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  7. Too funny--I thought I hated cherries til about 6 or 7 years ago too, lol! Like you, I really only disliked the gross sickly sweet marischino cherries--ugh. Now I can't get enough of the real ones!

    Off to check the new tester recipe--yay!

    Courtney

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  8. i can't stand those mushy sweet cherries. AT ALL. every once in a while i'll have a couple fresh ones, but i must admit, i don't LOVE them. i'll just sub strawberries. :)

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  9. I'm waiting for all the sour cherries to come into season. Sooo much granola am I going to make! And frozen cherry smoothies as well!

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