Pineapple and kale smoothie

Kick start the New Year with a health boost, perfect for those detox days

I'm already a lover of fresh spinach in smoothies (just add a handful to any kind and it shouldn't taste too different but is really good for you) and only recently tried adding kale. I've always heard how good it is for you - calcium, B vitamins (folic acid), anti-oxidants (lutein), vitamin A, vitamin C and vitamin K, so decided to give it a try. I now love adding it (even though it makes the smoothie a horrible brown colour) and have come up with a recipe below that I hope everyone else can enjoy too!

Makes 1
- 2 spoonfuls of low fat natural yogurt
- handful of frozen berries
- half a tin of chopped pineapple (or fresh)
- handful of raw, curly leaf kale
- pumpkin seeds or other seeds (optional)
- dash of ice cold water

Simply blend all together until smooth!

Enjoy :)

Smoothie & pumpkin seed hype

So I am a massive fan of making smoothies and although they're not always super 'healthy' since they are loaded with sugar from fruit, they are still a great way to get some good nutrients in and I love that you can put absolutely anything you want in them!

Below I have linked two smoothie recipes I have posted before, the pineapple and spinach one I particularly love and it is nearly always the one I go for when making a smoothie. It has such great, tangy flavour from the pineapple and you get all the goodness from the spinach and oooof just is too good.
http://eatrainbowlove.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/pineapple-and-spinach-smoothie.html
http://eatrainbowlove.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/peach-and-raspberry-smoothie.html

My boyfriend has got a new blender recently which he is obsessed with so we've been making a lot of great smoothies. One of our favourites has had pumpkin seeds in which I've recently discovered and love (what have I been doing this whole time!?) - they make smoothies more filling and add a new dimension of flavour. Plus they are a great source of fibre so you can't really go wrong. I also expected them to be quite pricey since nuts and seeds tend to be, but I got these from Lidl and they weren't bad at all and they seem to last ages so I would definitely pick some up. You can also use them in baking, add them to cereal or yogurt etc.

Makes 2
- 2 bananas, broken into smaller pieces,
- big glug of almond (or soya) milk 
- 4 heaped tbsp of low fat natural yogurt
- big handful of frozen berries
- big handful of pumpkin seeds
- big handful of spinach (optional)

(Sorry nothing is very specific - the good thing about smoothies is you can add as much of anything as you want)

Another one we tried was a garlic smoothie which was a shock to the taste buds as you can imagine. Lets just say it kept the vampires away... But, garlic is really good for the immune system as well as many other things, so eating it raw is the best way to benefit from it. We used the same recipe as above but just added two cloves of garlic (one each) and a bit of honey as well. It was so strong! So I wouldn't recommend it if you want to sit back and enjoy your smoothie, but if you want a good detox, health-kick smoothie then that is the one!

I also made a garlic smoothie recently but replaced banana with pineapple hoping it would mast some of the garlic flavour but I was very wrong...

Hope you try out some of these ideas and jump on the pumpkin seed bandwagon! Just to prove how much I love them, here is a picture of the breakfasts I've been having

It's bran flakes, dried fruit (raisins, sultanas and cranberries), pumpkin seeds and soya milk - so delicious!

Enjoy :)

Summer smoothies

It's been such a lovely sunny, hot day here today even though it's September now, woo, so these cold smoothies were perfect for today. I have also had a really bad cold these last few days (surprise surprise) so although I haven't had much of an appetite, I've been trying to eat as healthy as possible. I really wanted to make the pineapple and spinach smoothie that I've posted on here about before because it has lots of yummy and nutritious ingredients in, and in the end I made two different smoothies. The purple (and more attractive) one is exactly the same as the pineapple and spinach one, just without the spinach! They are both really delicious, I had the spinach one with my lunch and am going to have the sweeter one after dinner later!

You can find the recipe for the smoothie here - it is low fat natural yogurt, frozen berries, fresh pineapple, fresh spinach leaves and some water.
This time I added a little more of everything (particularly yogurt) so it made two drinks rather than just one. I also added some fresh blueberries as well as the frozen berries. Add everything but the spinach into the blender then pour half of it into a glass.

Add the spinach to the remaining smoothie in the blender, continue to blend, then pour that one into a glass too!

Enjoy :)

Peach and raspberry smoothie

 It can be really difficult to get your 5-a-day - I know that I've noticed that most days I'm only reaching 3 and some days none at all! I used to be really focussed on eating lots of fruit & veg, but recently it has slipped my mind. I was really craving a sweet, fruity drink and since we didn't have any fresh fruit in the house I had to improvise. So there was no banana, no natural yogurt, no fruit juice - all the ingredients that always make up the base of my smoothies. Instead, I used an Activia fig yogurt, some milk, frozen raspberries and tinned peaches, and I'm glad I did, because it was scrummy! Really thick and sweet. It wasn't the healthiest of smoothies, since the Activia yogurt wasn't low fat, but you can use low fat yogurt if you choose. This only contained 2 of my 5-a-day, but with sweetcorn at lunch and two different veg with dinner I am there! And I will try to keep this up, will keep you all updated...

Makes 1 large smoothie
- dash of milk
- 100-150g frozen raspberries (not entirely sure of quantities!)
- 1 Activia fig yogurt (or any flavour, any brand etc.)
- 1/3 tin of peach halves


Simply blend everything together in a food processor, and pour into a glass! Drink, or use a spoon.

You can blend the raspberries from frozen, but I let them defrost for about 20 minutes first so there weren't bits of ice in my drink. Using frozen is perfect for getting the smoothie refreshingly cold.
Taste the smoothie as you make it, and stir to check the consistency - this way you can add any other ingredients to change the flavour or texture. For example, if you have plain natural yogurt you may need to sweeten the smoothie with some honey, or if it is too thick add some water or juice!

Enjoy :)

Berry smoothie

Smoothies are so simple to make at home, deliciously healthy, and so much cheaper than buying cartons from the supermarket like Innocent Smoothies.

They are perfect for breakfast, a snack/drink, or for dessert!

Ingredients:
- Skimmed milk
- Natural yogurt
- Banana
- Fresh berries (I used strawberries)
- Frozen berries (I used blueberries, raspberries and strawberries)
- Honey
- Oats

Tips:
- Make sure you add the wet ingredients to the blender first (milk and yogurt) so nothing gets stuck. I will usually add milk, yogurt and banana, and blend until mixed, then add the berries and mix, then add honey to taste until it is sweet enough.
- Oats can be added to make the smoothie more filling and thick, but can often change the flavour so they are optional depending on what you like.
- The good thing about smoothies is you don't need exact quantities - you can add as much of each ingredient as you like depending on the texture or flavour that you want! I usually use 1 medium-large banana and then work the other quantities around it. That should make 2 smoothies - like in the picture.
- If you aren't using any frozen berries then add some crushed ice so it's nice and cold!

Other smoothie ideas:
- To alter the flavours, most ingredients can be kept the same (banana, milk and yogurt) and you can just change the fruit, for example using kiwis or pineapple etc.
- You can also buy flavoured yogurt, which I try and stay away from as it tends to be higher in sugar/sweeteners, but it is good occasionally. I used Onken peach yogurt once which was delicious with strawberries!
- Pretty much anything can be blended - all fruits which is obviously the healthy option, but other ingredients like chocolate and nuts could work, and try adding different things to change the sweetness/flavours like jam.