Nayu's Craft Time #133 Scrummy green smoothie & Craft this week

This is a yummy looking banana, mango and greek yogurt smoothie - picture source includes the recipe!

So on Sunday I was going to try a yummy sounding new breakfast: a banana and mango green smoothie using some frozen fruit I bought this week, not using the recipe of the picture since I prefer milk and add other stuff which will change the colour drastically. Last week I had bananas in my organic box, so I broke them into chunks using my hand because I couldn't be bothered to use a knife. Then while shopping this week I discovered Aldi's bargain frozen food: 500g/17oz of mango or pineapple or strawberries for £1.09!!! Bargain! Mixed fruit (grapes, some berries and cherries) are from about £1.49 (if my memory serves correctly), which is currently cheaper than Sainsbury's basic frozen berry mix which used to be closer to the £1 mark. 

Love my local store!

I normally don't blog about how much things cost, but I must wax lyrical over Aldi's frozen fruit (possibly just a summer range) because it is that good. I bought a packet of each, and since I don't have much room in the freezer I decanted each packet into a biodegradable plastic bag. Naturally I had to sample one of each and I was shocked at just how tasty it was. Way cheaper than fresh fruit, which is expensive if you use exotic fresh fruit, and far less messy too (& minus the inevitable extra sugar which you get in canned fruit. I know some may be in water, but the cheaper brands tend to stick with sugar). 

All 3 fruit come in very sturdy containers which my family are now using in the garden for gardening stuff! Picture source

However, I haven't been quite 100% lately so I didn't want extra work of preparing a smoothie (Sunday onwards) so I stuck with a tasty bowl of granola ^o^ I hope to make the smoothie tomorrow, which will be the broken banana, frozen mango, 1 sheet of nori (small sheet of seaweed), some frozen spinach (handily pre-portioned by myself), some flax seed and some blueberries on top for texture (hate just a smoothie for breakfast, need something solid).  

A girly sewing corner (not mine) Picture source

Craft is possibly not happening until Thursday - I'm currently working on finishing a project by Thursday to create more time for writing and craft. So please bear with me while I'm a non-crafty blogger. I'll do my best to chat about other things! (Shouldn't be hard, I'm already going to pre-schedule tomorrow's post).

Nayu's Craft Time #113 Drinking Water Tips

We can't live without this wonderful source of life (Picture source)

This possibly seems an odd topic to discuss, as surely the answer to drinking water is to simply drink it, right? That's correct, but I've got a few tips on how to enjoy drinking water. 

What's your favourite fruit juice/squash? (Picture source)

We are all encouraged to drink more water. This can be in the form of fruit juice. I think fruit juice is an occasional drink, due to the sugar content. I'm not the sugar police, not by a long shot, but fruit juice and squash is one thing I drink moderately. Apart from lime cordial (I know I should just add limes to water but I adore the cordial sometimes), I try to stay clear of any squash. The ones I've seen are almost always from concentrate, although they may not have added sugar they do have naturally occuring sugar in them. 

Take advantage of different nutrients and drink a rainbow!

The drinks in the above picture look like smoothies, which is another option for drinking water not discussed in this post. Here are links to my carrot, orange, + tomato smoothie and my blueberry green smoothie. My preference for not from concentrate applies to fruit juice too: when I buy juice, I only buy not from concentrate as it means it's the whole fruit, not processed through I'm not sure what. Just my personal taste! Often for budget reasons juice/squash from concentrate is the only option, which is fine. 

A small selection of the incredible variety of both tea and coffee

Water can also be drunk in tea and coffee form. However, both of these have caffeine which is dehydrating, so it's best to drink other liquids as well as these beverages. There are decaffinated version, although I've heard that they aren't 100% caffeine free. Caffeine in tea/coffee disagrees with me so I stick with herbal teas, which are 100% caffeine free. 

Go herbal tea!!!

My favourites include peppermint, spearmint, nettle, camomile, milk thistle, and a cherry compote blend exclusive to Nothing But Tea who I'm currently buying my loose tea from. I don't benefit by point you in the direction of their site, I just adore their tea!

Great source for loose tea!

  Drink as much herbal tea as you like, be it the more herbal flavours or the fruity ones. They are mega low calories, and are often great cold too! 

Simple, pure, and sometimes a bit dull.

Then there's water, which is where I got the idea for this post. Water is obviously the best form of water there is. Depending where you live you may need/prefer filtered water (water filters are inexpensive) rather than drinking straight from the tap (which I do), as it helps takes out natural impurities that aren't harmful but can make the water taste weird. I know there are some countries where it's safer to drink bottled water, so do whatever's best for your circumstances. 

It's fun to add citrus fruits like a slice/wedge of lemon/lime/orange to some chilled water. The colder water is, the better I like it. I seem to drink more if it's cold than if it's room temperature. 

The final tip is what you drink the water from. Yes, you can use a plain glass, your favourite mug, or

but you can also use a fun bottle/cup like this one! 

My family got it for me as a present, I think it was from Sainsbury's. It's pink, has a bunny, and is super cute! I'm a visual person, so since I adore all things kawaii (cute in Japanese) drinking plain water from this makes it way more enjoyable - I want to keep seeing the bunny so I keep drinking! It's easy to clean, although I'm not sure on the dishwasher compatibility as we don't have one. The straw is durable, thick, and what you can't see is that it has a ring around it at the bottom so it can't come out of the bottle. Not that you need to tip the bottle, because if you do the water comes out - yes I've had this happen to me recently in one of my clumsy moments. 

In summary to help you drink more water you can: 
drink fruit juice/squash in moderation

drink tea/coffee in moderation

drink as much herbal tea as you like, with a wide variety of herbal and fruit based teas in loose or tea bag form.

add citrus and other fruit/vegetables into plain water for a refreshing drink

put the water in a favourite cup/mug/bottle. 

I'd love to hear how you drink your water, and if you're inspired by some of the ideas I've chatted about today in the comments! 

Drink me!

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!

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!