Chunky Monkey Moringa Smoothie + A Giveaway
Happy Friday everybody! We’ve got some exciting stuff happening here today. For one, it involves chocolate and for two, there’s a chance for you to win free stuff.
Do I have your attention yet?
Okay, so a few weeks ago Kuli Kuli Foods reached out to me and asked if I would be interested in sampling a few of their products that are made with a nutritious green powder known as moringa.
Intrigued by this new-to-me superfood, I did a little research to investigate exactly what moringa is and discovered that it’s sourced from the Moringa oleifera tree which is native to South Asia.
The leaves were once eaten by the ancient Romans, Greeks and Egyptians, and they have been used in traditional medicine for centuries among various cultures. In the Ayurvedic system of medicine, moringa is thought to cure or prevent up to 300 diseases, and more recently the findings from over 1300 different modern scientific studies have begun to validate these claims.
The company Kuli Kuli was founded by Lisa Curtis, a volunteer for the Peace Corps, along with the help of three of her friends in her hometown of Alameda, California. Lisa’s time spent volunteering in West Africa ignited her passion to help the natives find a way out of the devastating poverty that they faced.
As a result, she has partnered with 120 women from Nigeria, Chad and Ghana to cultivate and harvest moringa leaves, which are dried and turned into powder before they are shipped to the United States. Her company is currently buying 40% of the West African women’s crops at $12 a pound and Curtis claims that the women involved in the operation are making up to $300 a month, which is five to ten times the average income of their area.
On the nutrition side of things, Lisa and the founders of Kuli Kuli have teamed up with a raw-food chef and several nutritionists to develop protein bars made with moringa, dates, and dried fruit, as well as some with dark chocolate. <I ate the chocolate one before I had a chance to take a picture- woops!
The bars were absolutely delicious and the moringa powder tastes surprisingly similar to matcha powder (like green tea).
I blended a tablespoon into my chunky monkey smoothie and it didn’t alter the flavor at all. It just tasted like chocolate, peanut butter, and banana deliciousness with some added protein, vitamins and minerals. :)
Ingredients
2 frozen bananas
3 tablespoons peanut butter
3 tablespoons raw cacao powder
2 tablespoons moringa powder
4 ice cubes
2 pitted dates
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a blender and blend on high until smooth. Add more almond milk as needed until desired consistency is reached.
I was so happy with Kuli Kuli’s product and what the company is trying to achieve that I asked if they would be willing to sponsor a giveaway for my readers and they were generous enough to offer up two Magic of Moringa gift packs which includes moringa powder and a 6 bar sampler pack (valued at $60 each)!
To enter the giveaway, simply log in below using your email and I will notify the winners one week from today! Good luck and have a safe and happy holiday weekend!!
This new product has me fascinated. The health benefits are outstanding. I recently purchased Spirulina which has many health benefits as well.
I find Kale a agreat superfood and find its versitility so beneficial. I like making salads with it where I message avocado and lemon juice into it. It also makes a great frittata. You had a recent posting for a wonderful frittata!
I am eager to try this new product!
I can never really keep up with what’s considered a super food and what’s just normal food … but I enjoy trying new foods! Whether they’re nutritional superheroes or not ;-)
Soooo interested to try the powder (and the bar for that matter). Thanks for the info! Never heard of this before
No freaking way! How have I not heard of moringa?! My body needs this to counterbalance all the wines I drink all the time. It’s like matcha? Sign me the eff up! I want that chocolatey smoothie like it’s the last thing I’ll ever drink <- I'm still not caffeinated enough to know whether or not that's a weird thing to say.
Have a fab weekend, love!
I guess my favorite is the tried and true chia seeds. Plenty of nutrients, lots of fun ways to use them, and they fill me up!
I’m not usually all that into superfoods because there are so many different kinds out there to use, but this looks pretty good! The smoothie makes it look even more appealing ;)
I love this! Not only is it great to learn about moringa, but there’s a great backing behind this particular company. I love chia seeds, while I hardly taste them, I can put them in everything!
My favorite superfood is spinach!
I have been adding chia seeds to my jams and smoothies, but I would love to try the moringa!!
I use spirulina in my smoothies every morning but the moringa sounds like it’d be great to add too!
I would love to try some!
This looks very interesting — I would love to give it a try!
I’m intrigued! I’d love to try moringa in my morning protein shake.
Very interesting! I’d love to try these products!
My favorite superfood is coconut oil!
What a cool product! Love the health and humanitarian benefits, can’t wait to check it out! Thanks
It’s always nice finding something that packs a lot of punch!
Right now my favorite superfood is chia seeds!
I do love Chia Seeds!
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for introducing me to Moringa – I’d never heard of it before!? Currently I add Matcha or Lucuma to my smoothies, and I really like the flavor and the health benefits of both, but Moringa sounds like a great alternative!
I love Spirulina. :)
My favorite super food is chia seeds.
My favorite superfood is sweet potatoes :)
Spinach! So versatile!
Soooo for the first time this last week I added cocoa powder to my smoothie – mind blown. How have I never done this before??? This looks awesome! Especially since I now must make up for all my lost time. haha I keep meaning to buy raw cacao powder … I need to write it down so I stop forgetting!
spirulina and chia seeds are my favorites at the moment!
This is definitely something that I would love to try! :)
You had me at Chunky Monkey! :) I definitively want to try this smoothie (sound dee-lish!) and this Moringa powder! I love that it is so high in Calcium! I am always searching for new and intriguing superfood! Currently my favorite superfood powders are chlorella and spirulina – I’ve been adding both to my morning smoothie every day and feel great :)
I just learned about Moringa this morning and now I see this! A sign, perhaps? I always try to add superfoods to my daily routine! Gogi berries are probably my most frequently consumed… maybe blueberries if they count. I am very interested to try Moringa now!
Such a funny hilarious smoothie name!! Never tried this protein powder before but I am convinced!
Currently, my favorite super food is hemp seeds!
I’m a big fan of spirulina in my smoothies! Thanks for the giveaway, this stuff sounds great!
Favorite superfood? I’d probably have to go with any of the ones I could practically live off of and eat every day–spinach, asparagus (grilled? yes please), and dark chocolate!
Looove the way this smoothie sounds – so yummy!!
My favorite superfood at the moment has got to be spinach or chia seeds. Love ’em both!
My fave super food- blueberries!
My favorite is dark chocolate.
raw chocolate :D
My favorite superfood is AVOCADO
Blueberries are my favorite super food.
I love kale!
acai berries
My favorite super food is kale. I love it in green smoothies
Hmmm….I would say that chia seeds are my fave superfood so far.
So many foods go in and out of the “superfood” category that I really don’t have one. This moringa powder really looks like a super-super food, though! I love the amounts of protein and iron in just 1 Tbsp!
I love quinoa!!
Moringa… never heard of! I like that whoever cultivates these leaves is rewarded with a respectable pay. As consumers we should prefer companies such as Kuli Kuli over those ones that bring to the market cheaper products after underpaying the producers.
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Hi there, I’d like to say that the origin of moringa is not ONLY from Southeast Asia but also from India, Africa, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America.
Also, the name Kuli Kuli is derived from Nigeria: the Hausa’s. It’s a snack from what we call groundnut, which means peanut. It’s comprised of spices and deep fried until it hardens. Kuli kuli is a crunchy snack. I hope this helps your blog to be more concise.
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