Green Smoothie

Absolutely delicious and filled with goodness

There are hundreds of variations of the green smoothie but this is my favourite recipe.

Feel free to change it up and swap any ingredients you like - it's just important to use leafy greens like spinach or kale, with liquid like water or almond milk, and then any fruit of your choice.

Banana is probably essential since it makes it thick and smooth when blended.

Tip: Boost your smoothie by adding linseed mix, chia seeds, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, protein powder or whatever you wish!

I add Juice Plus complete vanilla powder to mine which makes it sweeter so perhaps add a little honey if it doesn't taste sweet enough for you.

Ice cubes are also essential - I find that the colder the smoothie, the better it tastes!

Makes 1 large smoothie

- 1 large handful of fresh spinach leaves

- 1 cup of cold water

- 1 small-medium banana, sliced

- 1 large handful of green grapes

- 1 large handful of chopped pineapple (fresh or tinned)

- 1 scoop of Juice Plus complete powder (or protein powder) - optional

- Ice cubes

1. Start by blending together the spinach and water until  smooth - it should just turn into green water!

2. Next, add all of the fruit (banana, grapes and pineapple) and powder (if using), and blend until completely smooth.

3. Place some ice cubes at the bottom of a large glass, then pour in the smoothie.

Enjoy :)

Delicious, nutritious smoothie

January is a great time to whack out the blender and detox with nutritious and delicious smoothies (but beware they do contain a lot of sugar) - and lucky for you, this one doesn't contain spinach or kale like my other recipes - although if you want a green kick then feel free to throw some in for extra nutrition!

I'm using Juice Plus Complete vanilla shake powder in mine as a nutritional supplement, so if you are a Juice Plus user then this is a great smoothie recipe for you, but most of you who don't have this, this smoothie is just as fab on its own and has a lovely sweet flavour - with four different fresh fruits, what could be a better way to start your day, or as a nutritious snack!?

Makes 1 large smoothie (about 500ml)

- 3-4 spoonfuls of low fat natural yogurt

- 1 banana, sliced

- 2 pineapple rings, chopped, plus some of the juice (use tinned pineapple)

- handful of blueberries (fresh or frozen)

- handful of raspberries (fresh or frozen)

- half a scoop of Juice Plus Complete vanilla flavour (optional)

- about 100ml of cold water (depending on how thick you like your smoothie)

1. Add the yogurt to the blender, then add the banana, pineapple (plus some of the juice) and the berries.

2. Add the Juice Plus powder if using (or any other supplement like protein etc.)

3. Top off with the cold water then blend for a minute, or until completely smooth!

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 :)

Pineapple and spinach smoothie

I know it doesn't sound or look particularly appetising (hence the snazzy bit of pineapple on the side trying to improve it...) but don't turn your nose up at it until you try it! It honestly does taste pretty good, although you have to like the texture of smoothies to enjoy this. I usually opt for really sweet, berry smoothies, and although this does contain berries, it isn't as sweet as I usually prefer. Having said that, I will definitely make this again as I love the tang the pineapple gives, and I love knowing how nutritious it is - perfect if you're having a detox day. It sounds weird, but you really can taste all the ingredients individually, yet they taste delicious together. I got the idea of putting pineapple and spinach together from Jordan's workout DVD, believe it or not - her nutritionist makes a juice with those 2 main ingredients, alongside tons of other fruit & veg.

Ingredients (makes 1 large glass)

- 2-3 heaped tbsp natural yogurt

- 80g frozen strawberries & blueberries (or any berries)

- 2 rings fresh pineapple, cut into chunks

- big handful of spinach

- few splashes of water (depending on how thick/runny you want it)

Put the yogurt into the blender first with the berries and blend. Add the pineapple, spinach and water and blend until smooth. Taste and add more of anything if necessary.

Enjoy :)

The perfect soft-boiled egg

As requested by my lovely friend Charlotte, here are some tips on how to cook an egg so that the white is cooked through, but the yolk is deliciously runny and creamy. I love soft-boiled eggs for breakfast, they are a great, nutritious way to start your day and as said before in a previous post, I love how the yolk tastes so creamy and rich even though they have been cooked in nothing but water. I way prefer them to any other way of cooking eggs, such as fried, although sometimes this is easier because you can tell exactly when the egg is cooked. Now I'm not saying that I'm an egg-boiling expert because it is quite rare that you get that perfect hard egg white and soft, oozing yolk - but here is how I cook my egg to try to achieve that... (it usually works!)

- First of all, make sure the egg is at room temperature - take it out of the fridge half an hour before cooking or run it under the hot tap for a bit. This is so that it reduces the chance of the shell cracking when you place it into the hot water.
- It would probably be wise to put the egg in luke-warm water and bring to the boil and cook that way, however, I never do this because who really has time to wait for some water to boil in the morning!? I nearly always just boil water from the kettle. I put a little bit of water in the pan, place the egg in and leave for a few seconds while it adjusts to the heat, then I add the rest of the boiling water to cover the egg. Now this is quite dangerous and every 1 in 4 times the egg cracks... but this depends on how fresh the egg is. So sorry if yours cracks!
- A large egg will need about 4 minutes to be soft-boiled once the water is at boiling point. I usually cook it for about 4 mins then take the pan off the heat and leave for another half a minute or so. It is a bit hit and miss but it's also quite fun peeling the egg and seeing the surprise of whether it is done to your liking or not haha
- Carefully tip away the hot water in the pan (you don't want the egg falling out in the sink!), then pour cold water over the egg. This cools the egg down to stop them continually cooking, and also makes it slightly easier for you to touch because it will not be scolding.
- At this stage you can either place the egg in an egg cup and slice off the top to dip your toast in, or, as I normally do - peel the egg (making sure the thin layer beneath the shell comes off too) and place on a piece of  generously buttered toast, or bagel or english muffin etcccc - cut open so the yolk oozes out, and enjoy :)