Is my cooking really that bad? Plus vegan superfood smoothie (by Susan)

After watching George nearly barf at dinner and seeing today that he had lost 8 pounds in the last week, I decided to try to make him some smoothies.  The nurse today told us that sometimes patients who do not want to eat anything will tolerate food if it is in smoothie form.  So, I trekked on over to Whole Foods (I made George wait in the car with his cell phone on) and got some smoothie ingredients.  I whipped up a truly tasty vegan smoothie that is packed with nutrients and also with calories, so don't drink this if you're trying to lose weight!

Here is the recipe:

Vegan Superfood Smoothie
1 banana
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 to 1 cup strawberries
1 scoop of soy protein powder
1/2 cup Almond Dream ice cream (I used Vanilla)
1/2 cup Almond Breeze milk
1 Tbsp coconut oil
1 Tbsp Agave nectar

This smoothie has potassium from the banana to help George's electrolytes, 23 grams of protein, and 530 calories.  The blueberries and strawberries add antioxidants and vitamin C.   I used Agave nectar instead of honey because George is not allowed to have honey on the neutropenic diet (it may have bugs in it from the bees).  If you have never tried it, agave nectar tastes really good and has a low glycemic index - that is, it won't raise your blood sugar excessively. I put in the coconut oil as it is supposed to strengthen the immune system, is antibacterial and antifungal, and it adds calories.   I added the soy protein because the doctors have told us that it is really important that George gets adequate protein to help his tissues recover from the chemo.

Here is a pointer to an article about the benefits of coconut oil from the Huffington post if you are interested:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/coconut-oil-benefits_b_821453.html

He seems to be able to tolerate drinking it, so maybe we can get some calories into that boy!