Nayu's Recipes #2 Blueberry Green Smoothie

 

 The second day of my mini vacation has involved reading, anime watching, and my family plying me with chocolate and sweets (never a bad thing!). Apart from writing this post and scheduling a book blog tour for tomorrow on Nayu's Reading Corner, the only other thing I've made today is a tasty smoothie!

You may be wondering why the word green is in it, considering the colour is not green. Green smoothies are ones which have vegetables in. I'm fond of them, and you can make it in a way that you don't taste the veg (depending on the type and amount of fruit you use). All I can taste is blueberries, but read on for today's green veg ingredient! 

Using the bunny cup I took 1 cup of frozen blueberries, which are full of vitamin K, antioxidents, and allegedly improve memory (which I'm in desperate need!) Picture source

Chopped and used a third of 1 courgette, one of my favourite vegetables which is full of potassium, soluable fibre, Vitamin C and other nutrients. Picture source

Using the same bunny cup I poured 1 and a half cups of water, which is vital since our bodies are 60% water.

Whizzed all these ingredients in my family's beloved speed blender to get...

...a refreshing healthy drink!

Were you surprised by my choice of green veg? I have to say my body loves green smoothies, they perks me up for longer than chocolate (which delicious but not the most nutritious food in the world, sadly), and are super easy to make. I make mine to a juice like consistency (but not a juice as it uses all the parts of the fruit and veg).  Here's the recipe without pictures. Experiment with different quantities of the ingredients to personalise your own Blueberry Green Smoothie!

Blueberry Green Smoothie Recipe

Ingredients 

some frozen blueberries 

similar amount of water (depending whether you want a thin or thick smoothie) 

1/3 of a courgette, roughly chopped (you could probably put it in whole in a high speed blender like the Vitamix I use, but out of habit I chop mine) 

Method

Mix it all up and enjoy!

Nayu's Craft Time #75 Relaxation is bliss!

Can you guess who this is?

I've had an extremely quiet day. Family returned from the holidays, which is nice. I finished the 3rd season of Once Upon A Time - I'd technically finished it yet, but had somehow managed to watch the 4th disc before the 5th, so watched it to fill in the gaps. No wonder I was so confused yesterday, it explained everything I didn't understand. I'm starting season 4 today which includes Elsa from Frozen!!! Not that I'm excited or anything. 

Also been watching the latest new episodes to one of my favourite anime, Aikatsu.

It's cute, fun, about friendship and working on achieving your dreams! Very inspiring.

No craft today, kind of too tired to focus. I did take my truffles out the freezer, pop them into bags, and put them bag. They are currently uncoated, will do that step at a later date. 

They currently look like these right now, only most of them are squares

Enjoying just mooching around, hope to have another day of it tomorrow (only with more craft and reading). I'll leave you with a quote which is one I hold to: I'm chasing my dreams of publication and being a successful crochet artist! 

Nayu's Craft Time #74 Mini holiday

Time for a break...sadly not my suitcases! Picture source

Sorry for not posting the last few days - been a little busy preparing for my family to return from a long holiday. My type of parties involve me, my cat, anime, books and craft! There's still some bits that need to be set straight, as I rearrange where I keep things so they are handy.

I made some white rolls today - so not these which are sun-dried tomato!

I've stocked the cupboard full of groceries, bought a few treats and also made a few, which I'm not revealing just in case my family see this. They shouldn't, as they've nearly 24 hours of travelling to get back from Australia (visiting family), but I like to keep some things a surprise! Truffles are included, as are other sweet treats which I can't wait to tell you about!

My yummy truffles!

Due to supervising building work in our garden, I'm sort of having a mini holiday of my own, involving lots of gaming, reading and craft! Not much different from my partying except I'll be doing it in my room and won't be 'on call' if there are any problems. The only problem I hope to have is wondering where the save point is in the game ^o^

Here's Polka from my current game, Eternal Sonata. She's super cute! & I love doing battle with an umbrella ^o^

I confess to liking being able to do mini vacations when I want, now I'm self-employed. A lot of work happens, but a few days will have me refreshed and ready to write and crochet! See you in a few days!

A random pic, but matches well with my sentiment that even if it rains this week, it'll be sunny in my world ^o^

Random test post for Bloglovin

Alpaca yarn is gorgeous!

I'm doing this test post so that I can be on Bloglovin! Bear with me please Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Nayu's Recipes #1 Carrot, Orange and Tomato Smoothie

Yummy!

As promised yesterday here's my carrot, orange and tomato smoothie recipe! It's full of nutrients which keep me going while I crochet. There's a concise recipe without the pictures and explanation at the end of the post.

Carrots are tasty, and allegedly help you see in the dark. I've used carrots as my main ingredient for today's smoothie.

Picture from a google search which wouldn't let me access the link for the photo

I took 2 carrots, chopped them into about 1.5cm pieces. Carrots are full of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Potassium and other nutrients which are good for our bodies. 

Juicy tomatoes! Picture source

I added two medium sized tomatoes which have reasonably high levels of Vitamin C, Vitamin A, some potassium, and other nutrients. I don't like cooked tomatoes, and when using them in a meal I prefer to remove the seeds (which saves bread getting too soggy). For smoothies I leave the seeds in because they are nutritious. 

Oranges are like liquid sunshine! Picture source

I also added 1 orange, which is also full of Vitamin C, fibre, calcium and other nutrients. I love orange in cakes and chocolate. They add sweetness to smoothies, as well as contributing to the liquid content. 

A splash of soy sauce. Soy sauce is something I've only recently started using in smoothies. We do need some sodium in our diet, which soy sauce provides. Among other nutrients it contains potassium, magnesium, and iron. I find it can lift the overall taste of a smoothie, which is nice for a variety of taste. 

Naturally my mugs are on the cute side!

1.5 cups of water. My cup isn't the type of cup you use for measuring. It's one I take from my cupboard as I've found it's the perfect size to get the smoothie to a good consistency. I like my smoothies to be like a juice, which is why I didn't get too adventurous with my old blender, as it was low powered and very good at producing bitty smoothies. Thanks to my family buying a Vitamix blender which I've yearned after for ever so long, I can use hard fruit and veg like carrots and not worry about breaking the blender or having bits. Whoohoo! 

Add an instant chill to your smoothie! Picture source

Ice cubes: if you are drinking your smoothie straight away I recommend using a handful of ice cubes and only 1 cup of water, since smoothies in high quality blenders can be a bit warm. Since I put mine in the fridge for later I don't always use them.

I whizz everything up using the smoothie function on the Vitamix blender (full power on other benders will be fine) and voila, healthy sweet juice! 

Smoothies rule!

Carrot, Orange and Tomato Smoothie Recipe by Nayu

2 carrots, chopped

1 orange, skin removed, chopped in quarters

2 tomatoes, chopped

325 mls water, use less if you use ice cubes or want the smoothie less like a juice in texture

a few ice cubes, optional

a dash of soy sauce, (optional) 

Blend all ingredients together to create a delicious, healthy smoothie! 

I hope you enjoyed today's post - I hope to bring a few more of my recipes to you as I create them!

Nayu's Craft Time #73 The 3 Cs: Carrots, Crochet & Chocolate!

This inspiring quote matches today's weather!

Happy Thursday! Despite early morning rain it's looking to be bright and sunny, which is good news for the builders doing some work in the garden. Rain has held up progress, so clear skies are very welcome. 

Today I'm chatting about the 3 Cs, just because they are forming part of my day. First up is carrots! 

No, I'm not making a crochet carrot. I'm certain there is a pattern for it, I just don't have a need for any. I'm talking edible carrots!

Picture from a google search which wouldn't let me access the link for the photo

Tomorrow's post gives you the full recipe (with fun pictures) for the carrot, orange and tomato smoothie which I made today. 

Super tasty way to eat fruit & veg!

Crochet is the 2nd C in today's post. While I'm busy with a secret project which I can't show you, I can let you see what I'm working on with yarn 

This is 1 of 2 fingerless gloves I'm making, with a pink border at the top and bottom of the glove. It's a present for a friend but I plan on selling them here on NRC too! 

The 3rd C of the post, chocolate, is in reference to the yummy chocolate truffles I've been trying out. Today I'm going to make some milk chocolate truffles, then coat them tomorrow with white chocolate! Mmmm, chocolate... I'd make them now but need a break after blog work. Instead I'll make myself hungry by catching up on the latest episode of The Great British Bake Off! 

This is my second batch, which turned out much better than my first attempt!

Nayu's Craft Time #72 This week's plans

Read the post to find out why flowers are needed for this summery blanket

It's too early in the day for me to have done much crochet, so I thought I may as well chat about my craft plans for this week.

I hope to put up at least 2 new items for sale by Sunday

I hope to make a pair of fingerless gloves for a present

I hope to continue making flowers to decorate an almost finished blanket (top of post)

These are so tasty!

l
I hope to make some more truffes!

1st of many snowflakes!

I hope to make another snowflake, a different pattern to this one.

I'd love to hear what your plans are, be they crafty or not!

Nayu's Craft Time #71 Baking and stuff

These are super tasty!

Hi all! Sorry for the short break, had a relaxing weekend. Was minorly peaky yesterday so rested up with books. I have been doing some crochet - new finished piece will be for sale later in the week! Been baking - today made no bake fudge as well as crispies (using marshmallows, treacle instead of caramel and bran flakes instead of rice crispies)  both tasting delicious! Will provide cut up photos when they have both set enough (which they haven't quite yet).

More news tomorrow!

Nayu's Craft Time #70 Small milestone achieved! + Update

Whoohoo! Picture source

Thank you! As I logged on today to write this post which was (and still is) about my latest work, I saw just over 100 of you visited here yesterday! Thank you ever so much - it's fantastic to see so many of you enjoying my site!

So far today craft wise I spent a fun hour watching The Great British Bake Off while adding a few rows to this blanket. 

Slowly she grows...

There were moments that I paused because the on-screen action was captivating when baking creations both went right and went a bit wonky. 

Prior to that, in fact straight after breakfast I (finally) added a chocolate layer/coating to my truffles! I also added a few squiggles of decoration. 

They are setting in the fridge now, will take a neater photo for tomorrow's post.

I'm really enjoying making them. They are super easy, having a new mini saucepan makes it even easier to both pour from and dip in. For tomorrow's truffles I will experiment with flavour, possibly peppermint, lemon, orange, and salt - not all in the same truffle! That would be a bit too strange for my tastes. 

I'll also do alternate dipping: white chocolate centre with milk chocolate coating, and milk chocolate centre with white chocolate coating. I also would like to try using sprinkles before the coating sets to make them super pretty. They are tasty, and I haven't eaten too many either! I made sure to wash my hands before doing crochet as the yarn probably wouldn't appreciated a few specks of chocolate as much as I do. 

It's time to get some lunch, then relax with anime. I'm going to work a bit more on the baby bootie from yesterday, as well as read and work on my novel. My days are wonderfully full! 

Nayu's Craft Time #69 Find me on Social Media! + Updates

I made these sun-dried tomato & chilli rolls!

I'd fully intended to write a post yesterday but I ended up being busy with household tasks, errands, necessary resting. There's little I can do about the necessary things in life. I don't have telepathy, telekinesis, any kind of tele-skill - not in real life. In my head I can do so many things...

*Ahem* To get vaguely back on track, I also baked these delicious sun-dried tomato and chilli rolls which I'm having again  tonight They are a smidge overcooked but that's only the surface. I'd fail at the Great British Bake Off not just because of the darker colour, or the fact they are all different sizes, but because I used a packet mix! They are perfect for getting flavours I like without too much work (which expends more energy than I have most days). I simply pop it in the bread machine to be mixed and prove, turn it out, shape & bake!

  

Craft wise I've been on a secret project, (I've come to the realisation that I will almost always have a secret project going on), and after the success of completing a trial version of this cute cross over knitted baby bootie  I started another. 

I need to sew the straps down, that will be done on the for sale version

I got a bit too engrossed in the TV show I was catching up with (can't remember what it was as I watched several) that I managed to skip an entire row out so had to restart. Hopefully I'll make more progress tomorrow without the need for restarts. 

So many social media sites - for now I'm only on 3 ^o^

Enough side-tracking! The real main point of today's post is that I'd like to point out you to where you can find me on social media.

Send me a tweet!

Twitter: @Nayuleska

Connect with me on Facebook in 2 ways!

Facebook: Nayu's Crochet Dreams very own page as well as my ordinary account, Nayu Pitcairn:  which includes book reviews from my other blog Nayu's Reading Corner

Check out my varied boards!

Pinterest: Come see what craft, anime, book reviews and more on my boards: Nayuleska from my other blog Nayu's Reading Corner over at Pinterest! 

I'm still working on getting cute/funky little icons for social media sites, as there are so many to choose from that it's not as simple as I'd expected.

Now it's time for me to go write a bit on my novel, then spend an evening reading! And watching The Great British Bake-Off which I'm thoroughly enjoying getting inspired by. Planning to make a yummy frangipane tart next week! 

A delicious looking Cherry Frangipane Tart: picture source

Nayu's Craft Time #67 Truffle mayday, blanket calm and a tortoise!

This is different to the original picture: these are my truffles!

Most people like chocolate. Truffles are a round delight full of yumminess. That's if you can get them round...

Since I'm hoping to give chocolates as birthday gifts, I want to make my own. I bought a melon baller thingymajig, to keep the sizing even as I'm quite sure mine would turn out different sizes. Well, I haven't got that far yet. 

Similar to mine. Picture source.

I made 2 mixes, 1 dark chocolate and 1 milk chocolate. I made the dark first, and had misread the recipe so instead of 200g cream I'd added 300g to the 400g dark chocolate. Oops. Maybe that's why it was so hard upon setting. I'm no longer keen on eating dark chocolate, so testing it is something I need to do rather than something I'm racing to do. However, those I'm giving it to love dark chocolate, hence using it. 

My dark choc truffle mix! Or is this photo of them mixed together? Not sure now...

The milk chocolate was a dream to make! So velvety smooth, very edible (lots of quality control needed), and I even made sure I read the recipe before starting. So it should have worked, right? 

Mega yummy Cadbury's milk chocolate truffle mix!

Whereas the dark mix was very solid, the milk choc mix was smooth. Think luxury version of chocolate spread. What's a girl to do with 1 harder mix and 1 softer mix? Mix them together!  And add icing sugar! They are still quite soft, but I can roll them into a ball. I'm doing that after blog work. I'll freeze them and hopefully they will firm up a bit more. You'll have to wait at least a day until the final pictures are revealed! Edited 12th September: Final photo is now at the top of the post! Have frozen some, but not taken them out from the freezer to try yet. ^o^

Warming cream  may be the way forward. Picture source.

I've since spoken to a friend who suggests warming the cream first, then adding the chocolate. I'm determined to try 2 more times, and if none of the 3 tries work I'll give up on adding truffle making to my baking skill set. 

The truffles have provided much laughter today - I only have to think of the mix to start giggling away. I haven't laughed so hard or eaten too much mix that I can't crochet! I needed to rest after the truffle making so I continued with this yellow/gold and purple blanket I'm making for a friend. 

 

At some point today I hope to make more progress on a baby blanket. It's all go here, chocolate semi-disasters and more! Thankfully yarn won't react oddly if I heat it too much or too little. It stays the same, just as I need it to, reliable like a tortoise. 

Maybe the tortoise needs a blanket... View source..