I don’t have the kind of sweet tooth that tolerates planning. Lots of people I know can get a tin of cookies on Sunday and save them until they get a craving later. Not me. My willpower is too consumed with recharging my mana.

Some of the best magic that we’ve learned in our plant-based adventures are simple illusion spells. I need something to convince myself I’m indulging that junk food craving while actually eating something very (or at least, reasonably) healthy. Since I’m also devoted to my research, I need as simple a spell as possible- few ingredients, little effort, and low cost.

Bananas are cheap, easy, and I use them for everything- green smoothies, milkshakes, sliced on top of oatmeal- so I always buy way more than we need. Any that I don’t eat, I just peel, break in half, and freeze in a freezer bag or container. Frozen bananas are wonderful for ice cream illusion spells, and there are plenty of ideas for banana “nice cream” or other things out there. Many of those sounds fun, but take much more time and precision blending than my craving will permit.

Feel free to start with the basic outline below, but experiment with different fruit or flavor additions and let me know what you love! I’ve had great luck with that dark chocolate almond milk, which is luxurious, but I usually have unsweetened vanilla around, so that’s what I’ll start with! The chocolate chips give this drink the impression of candy-blended indulgence, while masking that it’s just a couple bananas and some almond milk! The illusion is complete!

Banana Milkshake (+3 mana, +1 health, +3 stamina)

Ingredients

• 2 frozen bananas
• 1-1 ½ cup almond milk (any flavor)
• 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 Tablespoon vegan chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Add frozen bananas and a splash of the almond milk and the cocoa powder to blender or food processor, blend on low until large chunks have broken down, then raise the speed and add more almond milk until milkshake consistency is reached.
2. Add chocolate chips and blend a short time to break the chips into smaller pieces.
3. Pour into glasses and enjoy!