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 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!