Honey Mango Banana Smoothie

I have a very limited experience with mango. Except eating it sliced or in compote, I have no idea how to have it. I've heard about mango sticky rice, or cakes with a touch of mango, but I haven't tried any of them (yet). But this year is everything about new tasty experiences and going beyond limits so a couple of days ago I decided to stop dreaming about how to prepare a mango and proceeded to its very own preparation instead. 

For the beginning of my mango journey, I decided to start with the easiest taste reconaissance step: a smoothie. 

I used a very simple combination, which follow a precise, predictable flavor line: various degrees of sweetness melting into the cold water.

Ingredients

2 ripe bananas, cut into chunks

1 medium size ripe mango, sliced

1 tablespoon honey - the same amount of brown sugar can be also used

500 ml. cold water. If you want it less thicker, you can use 750 ml. cold water instead

Directions

Mix the ingredients in the blender at moderate speed for 1 minute. Pour the result into glasses and keep it in the fridge at least 30 minutes before serving.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Serves: 2

A Perfect Winter Drink: Ginger, Pomegranate and Fresh Mint

Fresh drinks in the winter do require an additional dosis of vitamin. With so many sun-less days and nights starting around 4pm, we definitely need not only more light, but also those vitamins in our body that help to fight against low immunity, colds and in not a few cases, even depression.

As I like to stay both fit and hydrated, I created my own winter variant of lemonade, that in addition to lemon, it also has some useful cocktail of vitamin: pomegranate and ginger. Kept in the fridge for around 30 minutes creates a very pleasant refreshing effect. If you want to fight against the cold, you can also use warm water instead as a good remedy against cough and other unpleasant winter occurences.

It can be prepared within minutes and is a real good option for ending a busy first week of work in 2018.

Ingredients

1 cup of fresh mint leaves

1 tablespoon of freshly grated ginger

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/2 cup of pomegranate seeds

500 ml. fresh cold/hot water

Directions

Add all the ingredients in the blender and mix for 2 minutes at moderate speed. Eventually, you may need to clean the liquid from the pomegranate seeds therefore you need a strainer. 

Serves: 2

Preparation time: 5 minutes

2 Spinach Recipes to Boost Your Morning Energies

Especially in the last days, due to some overload of work, baby screams and other life assignments I cannot delegate to anyone, I felt like all my energies are just out in the wild, leaving me completely alone to deal with the everyday life nasty challenges. But despite all odds, I keep being optimistic by nature, trying to find the best ways to challenge the lemons life throws on me once in a while.

As usually, being creative and offering myself something good - and a bit sweet too - is my answer to all those problems. Although I do have my second thoughts about spinach, I've tried to do my best to include it at on our menu at least once the month, with an easy recipe that the baby loves too. This time, I was looking for an overload of energy and iron, which the spinach contains in big chunks, can balance my deep fatigue. In combination with other healthy fruits, I created fast two good recipes to boost your mornings with lots of good and healthy energy.

Surprisingly for me, the spinach is blending perfectly, the metallic taste being taken over by the combination with the other ingredients. Instead, it offers a good colourful healthy basis for the smoothie. 

Spinach, banana and pomegranate milk smoothie

Ingredients

2 medium size bananas, cut into chunks

1 cup spinach, clean

1/2 cup pomegranate seeds

1 cup milk - the same amount of water can be also used

1 full tablespoon of brown sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions

Add all the ingredients to the blender. Mix them at medium speed for 2 minutes. Let it rest for a minute. Because the pomegranate do have some small seeds which might be annoying, you may consider using a strain to clear them out. Serve it cold or at the room temperature.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Serves: 4 full glasses of smoothie

Spinach, raspberry and banana smoothie

Ingredients
2 medium size banana, in chunks
1 full cup of fresh spinach leaves, cleaned
1 cup raspberry, cleaned
2 tablespoon brown sugar
2 cups water

Directions
Add all the ingredients in the blender and mix them at medium speed for around 2 minutes. Serve it fresh, or leave it for a couple of minutes in the freezer. It is a light, delicious and very fresh smoothie. Baby fully approves it too!

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Serves: 4 big full glasses of smoothie

Morning Healthy Treats: Pomegranate Juice with Honey

I love healthy mornings, and drinking something fresh is part of my daily ritual. Either tea or some smoothie is definitely worth to wake up 10 minutes early to have enough time to prepare and clean the utensils.

As the Jewish New Year traditionally involves using a lot of pomegranates - and honey too - after everything is over, there are a couple of bowls full of seeds left over that I don't have the heart to throw to the trash. The easiest way to use them, besides adding them to some salads or maybe to a batch of cake is by making a juice out of them. As simple as that!

For one glass of juice, I used the seeds from one medium-sized pomegranate, plus one tablespoon of honey and one glass of cold water. Added all those ingredients in the smoothie maker and blended at moderate speed for 2 minutes.

The most complicated - but not impossible - part is to come: the pomegranate do have strong seeds that during the blending process are took out, but should be filtered through a strainer. It takes another minute to do so and after that your juice is ready. 

As I had the curiosity to taste various ready-made pomegranate juices, I enjoyed mine much better, as it has the right sweet balance and the original taste, which I do not fancy, is diluted. Therefore, at least for the winter, I might consider including pomegranate part of my regular diet, given also its natural qualities, which go beyond the skin-care protection generously offered. For instance, pomegranate seeds contain antioxidants which fight cholesterol, increase oxygen levels to the heart, fight cell damage and can also balance your weight. Compared to other fruits, the pomegranate juice has the same healthy concentration as the fruits and the seeds.