Non-dairy smoothie: Photo by me

This smoothie is soooo good. I made almond nut milk the day before making the actual smoothie in the picture.

Almond Nut Milk Recipe

• 2 cups of almonds (soaked for about 10 hours)
• a handful of dates (soaked in 1 cup of water overnight)

I gave the almonds a good rinse after their soaking then blended them up with 5 cups of water. Next I strained the mixture using a nut milk bag. While I was doing this I washed out the blender. Then poured the smooth nut milk and date/water mixture into the blender and blended again.

I love nut milk so just had to drink some there and then but bottled the rest and added a vanilla pod and left it until the next day…which is when I made the smoothie in the picture.

Smoothie Recipe

• 1 pint of almond nut milk
• 4 bananas

Whizzed up in a blender. Sort of like bananas and cow’s milk, but much nicer

[EDIT: This smoothie is so rich. If you drink too much, you might start to feel sick! - Be Careful!]

I was on a mission to create an exciting smoothie rather than juice recipe today. Fortunately, I came across a really exciting mango, banana and strawberry smoothie. The original recipe comes from Sandra’s Recipes where she posted a lovely picture of her creation. You should check out her site if you want to see the recipe upon which mine is based.

Sandra's Recpies

It was not so much the ingredients that grabbed my attention but rather the presentation. I love trying to make my drinks look appetizing but it had never occurred to me before to layer one color on top of another.

You might think that it looks difficult but trust me, it is pretty straight forward. Admittedly, it does take a little while to prepare because you have to wash out the blender half way through. Also, if you want to use fresh home made juice (and you should) there is the juicer to clean as well.

This is not really the sort of drink that I’d make on a regular basis. That said, if you’re having guests round, and want to show them how much fun being healthy can be…it makes a great treat.

Thanks for the inspiration Sandra!

The following recipe should be enough for 3 people.

Orange & Lime juice:

2 oranges
1 lime

Yellow layer:
1 banana
½ mango, peeled, pitted and chopped
½ orange/lime juice
1 tablespoon Manuka honey (optional)
3 medium ice cubes

Red layer:
1 banana, chopped
15 raspberries
½ orange/lime juice
3 medium ice cubes

METHOD:

First of all, juice the oranges and lime. Then add half this juice to the blender. Add the banana, mango, honey and ice cubes. Then blend until smooth. Pour into glasses and then wash out the blender.

To make the red layer add another banana, the raspberries, ice cubes and remaining juice to the blender. Blend until smooth. Then pour this on top of the yellow layer.

As long as your yellow and red smoothies are thick enough, you do not have to worry about the layers mixing. If you are concerned, you could use a spoon to scoop the red layer from the blender and into the glass. This is what I did first of all but I actually think I got a crisper line when I poured it on.

This is a really great recipe that was inspired by my desire to start consuming more fiber. It is really simple to make and goes down really well. The one drawback of this smoothie is that it requires a fair amount of washing up afterwards because it requires a citrus press juicer or attachment, regular juicer and a blender. But I am making this juice almost every day at present so I feel it is worth it.

These are the ingredients I use:

• 1 orange
• 1 apple
• 1 banana
• 7 strawberries

Firstly I cut my orange in half and the apple into eighths so that it will fit into my juicer. The I put the citrus press attachment on to my Magimix le Duo juicer and juice the orange. Next I swap this for the regular centrifugal juicing apparatus and juice the apple. Next put the banana and strawberries into the blender and add a little bit of the juice. Blend it up and then stir in the rest of the juice and it is ready to drink.

I found that if I added all the juice into the blender it would make a much frothier smoothie which was less appealing. Half juice, half smoothie allows us to enjoy the hydration of the orange and apple as well as the fiber from the banana and strawberries. I love making smoothie recipes like this because they are 100% raw and involve no dairy at all.