Recipe of the Month Strawberry Banana Coconut Cream Pie Crust Ingredients: 1 cup finely shredded unsweetened dried coconut 1 cup almonds, preferably soaked and dehydrated 1/4 tsp. salt 1/2 cup pecans, preferably soaked and dehyrdated 1/2 cup pitted Medjool dates Topping Ingredients: 1 cup sliced strawberries 1 sliced banana shredded coconut Filling Ingredients: 2 sliced bananas 1 banana 2 cups strawberries 1/2 cup coconut butter 4 pitted Medjool dates 1/2 tsp. ground vanilla beans or vanilla extract 1/8 tsp. salt 1 tsp. sunflower lecithin Crust Directions Process the coconut, almonds and salt in a food processor until finely ground.  Add the pecans and process just until they are coarsely chopped. Add dates and process until mixture sticks together. Press into a glass or pottery pie dish. Filling Directions Place the two sliced bananas in a medium bowl and set aside. Put 1 banana, 2 cups of whole strawberries, the coconut butter, dates, vanilla, and salt in a blender and blend until smooth. Add the lecithin and blend until it is incorporated. Pour the mixture over the sliced bananas and stir well. Spread the strawberry banana coconut filling in the pie crust. Decorate the top with banana slices, strawberry slices and coconut flakes. Chill at least 4 hours before serving.

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Service Opportunity If you have the opportunity to watch the Netflix film "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee", I highly recommend it. It chronicles events in the 1800's that affected the Lakota Sioux tribe. This is one of the worst attrocities committed by the government against indigenous people. The Pine Ridge Reservation continues to experience substandard housing, high unemployment, poor diets, and life expectancies under 50 years. Every winter people die on Pine Ridge because they are unable to stay warm in their houses. The Lakota are very spiritual people who don't ask for anything. They continue to pray, not for themselves, but for the world. Since 1985, the organization Plenty International, based at The Farm in Summertown, Tennessee, has supported community projects, such as home gardens and fixing substandard housing. Please consider a donation to Plenty, specifying Pine Ridge as the recipient. www.plenty.org