Having returned earlier this summer from an amazing honeymoon in Hawaii, we got used to having wonderful, exotic, tropical fruits every day, particularly in a smoothie at breakfast time. As I’m keen to eat seasonally – it’s cheaper and better for the environment – I was wondering how to keep up our weekend smoothie intake, particularly as we move into winter. So, I have two options for you, one is to buy frozen tropical fruit in your weekly shop. You can whizz this in your food processor straight from frozen, or let it de-frost a little overnight. Add in some water, your favourite fruit juice, a couple of spoonfuls of yoghurt and a little milk if you want to add a bit more protein. Some people also add a teaspoon of honey or cinnamon – particularly nice with bananas and yoghurt! My favourite is (frozen) mango, strawberry and papaya; throw in a few mint leaves from the garden and a little bit of yoghurt – delicious and healthy! Whizz for 30 seconds or a minute in the food processor and you’re ready for a fruit fantasy!
Another option is to use up whatever fruit is leftover in your fruit bowl and needs eating. Did you know that the average household wastes over £50 a month by throwing away good food that could have been eaten? In the UK we throw away 7.2 million tonnes of food every year – that’s worth £12 billion pounds – and most of it could have been eaten. A fabulous website is Love Food Hate Waste which gives loads of tips about making your food last longer and reducing how much food you throw away – saving you money and helping the environment!
Obviously you don’t want to be drinking smoothies ALL the time, as fruit does contain a lot of sugar, and you might prefer to use low fat milk/yoghurt too. Ours are a weekend treat and certainly don’t replace adding fruit to our cereal or as a snack during the day. There’ll be another post coming soon about how to ensure you’re getting your five + a day of fruit and veg…