Make it Monday

Smoothie

I watched a video yesterday that was in response to seeing a long term high-carb low-fat (was raw but now promotes cooked) vegan pouring sugar onto "cardboard" cereal and topped with soy milk. The message in the response was something I had not considered and I am taking on board.

I admit that I am a person who often does not try to see something from every angle and this has caused naivety and ignorance in the past. I will do my best in the future to look at everything objectively and from every possible angle.

The videos I am referring can be watched them here and here.

So with the message that Hannah delivers I am taking things back to basic.

Are you new to raw foods? New to a vegan diet? Finding your current food routine boring and want to switch it up a bit?

Well today I want to give you all some smoothie ideas and I want to make it as simple and as cheap as possible. The excuse that fruit is too expensive or it is unsustainable is nonsense and I will not accept it!

The base for these smoothies is simple, ripe bananas.

Make sure they are spotted, soft but not squidgy and easy to peel.

Depending on what you're adding to your smoothie I recommend using as many bananas that will provide you with 90% of the calories you require from this meal. Want a 1000 cal smoothie, then you will need just over 1kg bananas and then you can make up the rest of the cals with some of the following.

Berries

I love my berry smoothies. Raspberry, blueberry, strawberry and blackberry. I'm sure there are more, but these are the most common ones I buy. I buy frozen berries in winter and fresh berries in summer. I use about 100g mixed berries in my banana smoothies and this is quite affordable.

Dates

If you are using dates, my recommendation is to go 50/50 with the calories, so for 1000cal you'll need just under 600g bananas and 200g dates.

Mango

Personally I tend to only add one or two mangoes to my smoothies because I am not a lover for prepping this fruit. I like it when they are juicy enough to just squish and then suck!

Persimmon with a hint of cinnamon

A perfect combination if you have any left over juicy persimmons. Most people have cinnamon in their cupboard so just add a half or full teaspoon depending on your taste for cinnamon.

Spinach/lettuce

Always a winner to make banana smoothies green. You can have this at any time of the day and sometimes I would have it for breakfast and then again for dinner. I find that if you are too busy to make a salad in the evening then adding lettuce or spinach to your smoothie is a great alternative.

Home made almond milk

This is to make your smoothie creamy and fatty. It's a real treat and delicious to drink. Read my post from last year for the instructions on how to make it. Probably not on the cheaper side of things, but if you want to try something new then I recommend it.

I hope that you are able to enjoy your smoothies. There are so many more different combinations that you can try with other fruit as the staple, but I find bananas are the most versatile fruit and combine well with others (I wouldn't use melon though). I can get organic bananas for £4 - £8 a box for 18kg. It is the most reliable fruit and the best staple around. 

Jennifer x