Step away from the Cinnamon Graham's.

This morning I woke up and all I could think was these bad boys. 

I bought them a week or so ago during a naughty day that went to far. So to squash my cravings for them I whipped up a yummy little (one pint) smoothie instead. Mmmmmm

Today's mix was:

2 bananas

2 squeezes of runny honey

Lots of cinnamon (measure to taste)

4 gluggs of almond milk

Handful of frozen blueberries

1 fat frozen strawberry

And two handfuls of gluten free oats. 

And here it is in all its glory!
 

This was delicious! It'll definitely be a regular breakfast recipe! 

Getting my green on.

As I promised you all last night this morning I got rid of all my naughty foods in my cupboard and replaced it with veggies and healthy alternatives! My first green smoothie in a week or so and I think we can safely say I've made up for lost time. Yep that's a pint glass ;)

In today's breakfast in a glass was: 

2 bananas

60g of spinach leaves

1 heaped tsp of almond butter

1 dash of cinnamon

1 squeeze of honey

3 or 4 generous handfuls of gluten free oats

4 gluggs of almond milk (delicious on its own by the way if you're scared to buy it)

And WHIZZ! A big fat glass of yum!

Speaking as a girl that's used to feeling like a pufferfish after any meal or drink its astonishing that after drinking a pint of very thick smoothie, (I'd rather have it thick than watered down, means I know I'm getting a boat load of goodness) I don't feel like a fat slug at all. Infact I just ran to the tube and then had a fight or flight moment legging it across a busy platform to catch a different train.That may not sound like much at all, but this is coming from the girl who's been feeling like she's stuck on slow motion the last week.

Green Smoothie: The Hulk

This smoothie was a monster. It was such a beast I had to chuck all the ingredients into the food processor before the blender would even look at it. It's also super green and packed with slow releasing energy, so you can take over the world all day long! I was in a rush to catch some rays today, I've got my priorities sorted ;) so I didn't take any step by step photos as such but I did get to use my portable smoothie flask for the first time.

So in todays smoothie we have:
Half a Cucumber
1 Pear
1 Green Apple
3 handfuls of Spinach
2tbsp of Honey
2 dashes of Cinnamon
2 dashes of Nutmeg
3 handfuls of Rolled Oats
5 ice cubes

This one took a while to get down to a consistency that didn't make me want to chew it. But my word it was refreshing on a day like today! The cucumber made it chilling and perfect to slurp on the sticky tube so stop me losing my marbles. The crazy colour may put off some people from trying it but that just means more for us...wahoooo!

Granted, it is super green but it tasted a little like an iced chai latte minus the coffee YUM! Even my buddies that work in Cocktail bars were impressed. And that's saying something for a bunch'a'boys who love their liquor. 

Green Smoothie: Berry Berry Good!

I was feeling rather fruity this morning, the sun was shining, I was smiling. So there was only one thing for it! A berry explosion for breakfast of course! I ran to the fridge and pulled out the basics. Hi there Mr Spinach, this morning you shall be getting up close and personal with:
Strawberries
Blueberries
Blackberries
a few scoops of my homemade Watermelon Sorbet

 Bung it all in the blender and BUZZINGA!

Check out all those flecks of colour! This smoothie was delicious although I wouldn't suggest it if you are trying your first green smoothie. This one would be a great one to get you started!

Green Smoothie: Blueberries, Orange Juice, Greek Yoghurt.......

This morning before heading off to the Fruit and Veg market, Amelie and I enjoyed a lovely Summery tasting Green Smoothie. It's also filled with anti-oxidants to help with digestion and general healthy and also prevents bloating! One of my number one priorities of all time! :P To make this yummy little number you'll need:

2 handfuls of spinach
2 dullops of greek yoghurt (i used Rachel's Greek yoghurt with honey- it's bio too)
4 handfuls of blueberries
a few good slurps of orange juice (NOT from concentrate)
3 scoops of my Dairy Free Icecream (recipe here)

 This one is great poured over ice, and enjoyed on a sunny rooftop. 
I'll be up on mine soon for the first time this year! And I CAN'T WAIT!

Now, off to the Fruit market so sniff out some deals!

Green Smoothie: Spinach, Banana, Cinnamon and Almond.

So my flatmate and I have unintentionally been having breakfast at the same time the last few days, and it has been lovely. Today I introduced her to her first ever Green Smoothie, and it was a HUGE success. We're gonna make a thing of it! Breakfast buddies anyone? So here is how I coaxed her over to the green side....muhahahaha...
errrrr...

Ingredients:

As you can see, three of the ingredients are pretty self explanatory.

The flavoured Rice Milk and Almond Butter are both from Holland and Barrett, I would really suggest going on their website and learning a little about healthier alternatives, even if you don't have allergies like me.

A lot of these healthy alternatives will also last you so much longer than their processed yucky cousins ;) So they work out more cost effective. We're all winning! Anyway! Glenda the Blender can't be kept waiting so here goes.

This makes enough for one greedy gobbler like me, or two for a snack :)

2 bananas

4 handfuls of spinach

6 gluggs of vanilla rice milk (you can use standard milk, soya or almond etc)

2tsp of almond butter (not to be confused with peanut butter)

6 pinches of ground cinnamon

Whack it all in the blender...

  Aaaaaand whizz, pour and sluuuurp.

 

Look at all that sexy spicey nuttyness floating about! All that veggie goodness has inspired Amelie and I to go to a food market tomorrow, I'm sure my instagram will be jam packed with brightly coloured goodies!

Happy Slurping! 

 

Strawberry Cheesecake Milkshake

I am a huge fan of Peanut Butter, it's on a par with Marmite as far as I am concerned. For all you MarmyFans (yes I just made that up) I am planning to create some weird and wonderful recipes soon. ANYWAY, back to this...

Strawberry Cheesecake Smoothie:
1 banana
10-12 strawberries
3-4 heaped tbsp peanut butter
1 splosh of milk ( LactoFree for me ofcourse)
2 handful Oats

Glenda's turn, she's my blender, and yes, I like to name all my appliances in a "Joey from Friends" way. 

Ta Da! Hay Presto! A delicious smoothie. 

If this is a little heavy for you just make it without the oats. 

All those goodies in the last few hours have made me SO full, TOO full, so thank god for Mr Peppermint Tea, although he's making me very sleepy.

Night night boys and girls..    

Hot Lemon Water and My First Green Smoothie!

As a first timer I had no idea what to expect, as this blog is all about trying new things and being honest, I was possibly slightly over indulgent with the HALF A LEMON I juiced and put in a mug with boiling water. Here's why, I would say I am easily "The Worlds Worst" at drinking a hot drink, I mean if you want a luke warm drink drank with vigor I'm your girl! That coupled with the fact I don't do well with sour...

Hot Lemon:
It is exactly what it says on the tin, the juice of a Lemon and hot water.
I half wish I had taken photos of my facial expression while drinking this, but it's far to early in the day to subject you to that.  But to give you an idea, remember that face you pull when you've taken a greedy mouthful of hardcore lemon sorbet? Times that by 100. After each mouthful there was a neck jerk a pigeon would be proud of, but then ahhhhh of appreciation! I only managed half a cup this morning, but I promise to do better tomorrow morning!

 Simple Green Smoothie:
Handful of Spinach
Half a banana
1tbsp peanut butter
2 gulps of milk (I used LactoFree)

Put all these ingredients into a blender and whizz! 

This was hands down delicious! And I am very excited about trying different variations! I think tomorrow I am going to add lots more spinach because you really can't taste it at all! One great side effect of the Hot Lemon is that it completely dries out the inside of your mouth so the smoothie is like a nectar from the gods! YUM! That recipe makes about 1 pint of breakfast smoothie, that may sound like a lot but remember this is your breakfast we're talking about. And we all know  BREAKFAST IS THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY! And trust me after the Hot Lemon you'll lap it up! I actually wish I had a time stamp on the photos of full glass and empty glass ;) Record breaking drinking, according to Dad I sounds like water going down a drainpipe when I'm drinking something yummy, well in that case Dad, this had drainpipe written all over it! You may have noticed that this recipe only uses half a banana so chump the other half down afterwards too, "waste not, want not" as my mother would say! 

Once I had finished my pint of delicious smoothie I found that the lemon drying affect was still happening so I've taken a pint of water with me, and in the time it has taken for me to write this I have almost finished it. I am not one of those people that drinks water all the time, I'm the kid who got sunstroke 'cos I never saw the importance of it! I'm getting there now though.... I'll prove it when Summer finally arrives!

Dairy Free Icecream and other Blendable Wonders

THE DAY HAS FINALLY COME!
MY KENWOOD FOOD PROCESSOR HAS ARRIVED.

I'm not excited.
To celebrate not being excited my friend Kiwi and I decided to try out some of the features. First up we made some yummy hummus from scratch, I don't know about you kids but I love dips of all shapes and sizes. We plumped for Sweet Chilli Hummus. I was really excited about getting this bad boy working because as you've already read I have a silly amount of allergies. And I had recently discovered a recipe for....wait for it....Dairy Free Icecream. My god we weren't disappointed.
It's oh so easy and just as delicious! 

Slice some bananas however many you do is up to you. Freeze them for a minimum of 5 hours and then chuck them in a blender. Blend until smooth, and you're done! 
What you do next is up to you, you can either add a flavouring in the way of cocoa powder, honey, cinnamon, or just serve with fruit and eat straight away. Or you can put it back into the freezer to transform it from Instant Whip to Hardcore Icecream. I've done both, and I am tucking into "Hardcore Chocolate" as I type! It's Guilt Free, but just as tasty as the naughty stuff...

You wouldn't know it wasn't the feel thing would you? Stealthy little blighter..

As if that wasn't enough fun for one day, we thought "there's only one way to wrap up this glorious day!"


HOMEMADE BANANA MILKSHAKE
Just like Mummie makes it...
Chop up a banana or two, into the blender..
Splosh of milk, into the blender..
Dollop of icecream, into the blender..
Drizzle of honey, into the blender..
aaaaaand WHIZZ

Kiwi said a milkshake wasn't a milkshake without squirty cream and a candy shop style straw, she wasn't wrong....

    
Ok Emma, step away from the blender!