Matcha-Cashew-Smoothie

Hey there :)

A green smoothie without greens, yeah :) Yup. I don’t love kale in smoothies. It’s okay, like sometimes but it never feels like a treat to me. Just a practical way to veggie up your day if you somehow forgot to integrate them in your normal meals. But anyway I wanted to do a green smoothie.

So again here I come with something matcha-y and again because I am always careful with the dose it didn’t turn out as green as it could, admittedly. But I can’t help it, superdominant matcha flavor isn’t my thing so I go easy on it. But if you are into that stuff, go hard and matcha powder your smoothie up into a Kermit-the-frog-green color :)

This one is a nice small pick me up smoothie for the afternoon or great for an after sports-drink. It wakes you up thanks to the matcha and the banana and cashews in it will fill you up without stuffing you. If you use a frozen banana it also feels like you would sip on a milk shake which gives it a quite indulgent vibe ;) But of course this is also breakfast material. All in all pretty versatile in its use. Though I would want to eat it for dinner I think ;)

 

 Recipe Matcha-Cashew-Smoothie

prep time: 5 minutes +++ yields: one big or two small servings

 

Ingredients

• 1/3 Cup cashews, preferably but not necessarily soaked
• 1 big ripe banana
• 90g / heaping 1/3 Cup yoghurt (natural or greek or soy or coconut for example)
• 1 ½ tsp matcha powder, or up to 2 Tbsp. if you are totally into matcha
• 1 tsp. honey or maple syrup
• splash of water or milk of your choice

 

Instructions

It’s a smoothie. Place everything in a blender and blend until smooth.

Turmeric sunny Lassi

Hey there :)

Usually I am not that big a fan of all that bright colors. Orange, yellow, green… meh. It always feels like they are trying their very best to prove everyone how happy they are. Like saying “Hey, life is awesome man. Smile and dance and sing and blah”. But in a kinda annoying way. Like they want to slap you with all that positive feeling stuff. Look at me, I am so adorable! Mehmeh. Not my colors. So instead I prefer so darker colors, or at least less radiant ones. Dark or royal blue, deep red, or some plain black. Evil, right? ;)

Anyway, this time with this smoothie I sort of liked the color-combination. All this screaming and dominating yeah-yeah!-color-combo. I don’t know why. Maybe because even I kinda missed the sun – even though it gets me sunburns and bad eyesight – and the colors are sort of sunny. Or maybe it is because they contrast so well with the dark background and after all it is about my love for darker colors and I am not cheating on them at all ;)

But really, I total like the colors here. Of the ingredients one by one and the color of the smoothie in total. Yeah.

Also, I am actually not sure if you call this a Lassi. It has yoghurt and cardamom in it so I just went for it. But feel free to correct me if I got the whole Lassi thing wrong. But no matter the name, you still can enjoy the drink. Quick, easy, delicious and with all that beautiful colors. you could also just stare at the ingredients. Might make you happy all the same :)

Cheers!

 

 Recipe Turmeric sunny Lassi

 prep time: 5 minutes +++  serves 1-2

Ingredients

• 1 banana
• 1 blood orange
• ½ mango, flesh
• 1 Cup natural yoghurt (of course you can use a vegan yoghurt for a vegan version)
• 1 small piece of ginger (about 2 tsp. grated)
• 2 Tbsp. turmeric
• 1 tsp. cardamom

 

Instructions

As easy as a smoothie. Just put everything in a blender and blend. (Of course you need to peel the fruits first)

Dust with some more turmeric. Or don’t. Whatever you prefer ;)

Spiced Hot Cocoa with Nutbutter

Hey there :)

Here’s a little follow up recipe for the cocoa nut butter. It’s a pretty nice recipe for those colder days and especially good after a workout as a little ( ..or maybe not so little, it’s quite filling ;)..) treat and protein boost. The protein mainly comes from the hemp milk but of course the nutbutter itself also has some of them. It’s also filled with a lot of minerals and some warming spices.

I used a wide range of spices here in this recipe and I think they combine well together. Adding pepper (cayenne and black) might seem off at first, but it gives the cocoa a nice extra zang so I wouldn’t omit them. It actually fits the overall taste pretty well.

If you don’t know where to buy hempmilk you can make your own pretty easily, I always make it myself. Just combine one part of shelled hemp seeds with 3 parts (I go by volume) of water in a blender and mix it up until smooth. No need to strain through a sieve or anything. Pretty fast and easy stuff. You don’t even need to soak the hempseeds if you don’t have the time as they are already soft. And of course you can vary the taste by adding some spices, salt or sweeteners to fit your preferences :) And for the nutbutter, I am confident that other nutbutters would work as well. I totally could imagine some creamy cashewbutter with it.. or even nutella if that is your thing.. although I have not tested it. I might add a bit more cacao if the used nutbutter doesn’t contain any and maybe adjust the sweetness if going for nutella. All in all this one is pretty open to interpretation. Use whatever you have, if you are fond of one particular spice, go crazy, add more or less maple depending on your sweet tooth. If you are going for a thicker drink, keep the hemp milk added to 2/3 Cups, if you don’t like it as thick, add a bit more :)

Ingredients

• 2/3 Cups – ¾ Cup hemp milk (depending on how thick you like it; and of course you can swap with other milk)
• 2 generous Tbsp. choco-brazilnutbutter
• 1 Tbsp. coconut oil
• 2 Tbsp. maple syrup
• 1 ½ -2 tsp. cacao powder
• 1 tsp. lucuma powder
• ½ tsp. vanilla powder
• ¼ tsp. ground cardamom
• ¼ tsp. tonka bean, freshly ground
• ¼ tsp. nutmeg, freshly ground
• ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
• ½ tsp. black pepper, freshly ground

 

Instructions

In a pan mix together all the ingredients with a whisk until well combined and heat on medium heat. Adjust spices, maple syrup and liquid to your likings.

You can drink it like this if you want, but I prefer to blend it up in a blender first to get it all frothy and foamy :)

Fill in a cup and sprinkle some hempseeds and some spices on top and add just a bit of freshly ground black pepper.

 

Brazil Nut Choco Nutbutter

Hey there :)

So, if you are looking for a Nutella substitute you are wrong here ;) I have been wanting to make my own twist of Nutella for a while, but this is not the recipe for it. Although this recipe asks for cacao and nuts (not even hazelnuts though), the outcome will be completely different than Nutella.

If you want something sweet move on. This recipe is not (Of course you can always add more sugar to change that though). But anyway, with said what this recipe is not, maybe I should say what it is ;)

It is just another take on nutbutter plus a bit of chocolate flavor. I have mainly been using brazil nuts in this one which gives this nutbutter a slightly bitter test, so the added sugar serves mainly as a counterpart and really barely sweetens it up. If you like dark chocolate I think you might like this recipe as well. If not, you might find the flavor too dominant. But on top of some grained bread, with bananas or apples on top I personally think it’s really good :)

I added some other nuts apart from brazil nuts as well though to not make the taste all too extreme. There are some mild and creamy cashews in it as well as some almonds and even a few pumpkin seeds to go with the very oily brazil nuts. Thanks to the brazil nuts though this nutbutter has a high selenium content, a mineral that is not found in a lot of foods but is essential for our body.

Also in this recipe I have used cacao instead of cocoa (unprocessed vs. porcessed) as it has more minerals, but you can sub it with unsweetened cocoa powder as well. The same goes for the coconut sugar. Brown or even white sugar works, but will of course have impact on the glycemic index, meaning you will absorb the sugar faster.

If you like your nutbutter crunchy, a perfect add in would be some cacao nibs added in after mixing by the way ;)

 

Recipe

prep time: pretty much depending on your mixer, 10-45 minutes +++ yields: about 1 ½ Cup

* a note on making nutbutter in general: you will need a strong blender or kitchen machine, just a normal blender barely works or will leave you with chunky and not so smooth butter as it lacks the power to release the oils. I use an omni blend and it works, a vita mix should do the trick as well and strong kitchen machines might be even better. But as I don’t own one, I don’t know for sure. I also needed to press the nut mixture back to the bottom time by time, so it’s savest to stay around your kitchen tool :)

 

Ingredients

• 1 ½ Cup / 250g brazil nuts
• ½ Cup / 80g cashews
• ½ Cup / 85g almonds
• ¼ Cup / 30g pumpkin seeds
• 1/3 Cup / 40g coconut sugar (or other sugar, you can add more for a sweet version)
• 1 tsp. vanilla powder
• ½ tsp. salz
• ¼ Cup / 20g cacao powder
• optional: cacao nibs

 

Instructions

Optional: Roast all the nuts and let cool.

Place all the nuts and pumpkin seeds in a strong blender or kitchen machine. On low speed blend the mixture until the oils are released and the texture is beginning to get smooth. You might need to press the mixture back down to the bottom of your blender to ensure the blades will grip them. Make sure sour engine won’t get too hot. If need be, stop for 10 minutes and continue. The time this takes depends a lot on your kitchen tool! It took me about 25 minutes to get a smooth texture and I needed to press the mixture back to the bottom several times.

Once the texture gets a bit smooth, add in the rest of the ingredients (except for the cacao nibs if using) and keep blending on low until the desired creaminess and smoothness is achieved. I had mine completely without any chunks in them.

Fill into jars and stir some cacao nibs into them if you want. Should last several months if the lit is airtight.

Don’t bother to get all the nutbutter out of your blender – it’ close to impossible. Instead add a banana and some almond milk and cinnamon and blend it up for a nice smoothie ;)

Smoothie Infused White Tea

Hey there :)

So finally the holidays are over (well, okay half a day is left ;)) and if you are like me and almost every other person I know I guess we all ate and drank too much. Way too much. But I guess that is how it is supposed to be.

But anyway, I thought no one needed another big meal recipe, so here is just some light drink to sip on a cold afternoon. Something easy and soothing :)

 

 

I wasn’t quite sure though what to name this drink. It’s a bit too thin to be a smoothie for me, but with the fruits it’s also not just tea anymore. But well.. who cares for names.. It’s either e smoothie infused tea or a tea infused smoothie ;)

Thanks to the orange and ginger it has a nice fresh taste, actually a bit like a fruit punch. On the other hand the honey (which can be left out if it doesn’t fit your diet) white tea makes it warming and gives off a cozy feeling. Double Power. Wee-hoo :P

So, white tea, eh?

You can use basically any blend you prefer, I have used this one and I was happy with it, but really any will do.

Compared to other teas white tea is one of the most natural teas, as it is barely processed and usually the process of making white tea is done within one day.

White tea has a lot of properties that makes it quite healthy. It contains some minerals, especially potassium and fluorid (yep, that stuff from your thoothpaste), also it has some Vitamin B1 and, of course catechines. Catechines have antibacterial and anticarcinogenic effects and are known as antioxidants. If you tend to get migraine white tea might also help a bit thanks to the methylxanthin it contains. And while I don’t think that just drinking tea will get you to lose weight, white tea can help to stimulate your metabolism. Oh, but don’t drink it too late in the evening or night for obvious reasons: caffeine. It’s not as strong as in black or green tea though. Sill, just to ensure a sound sleep… ;)

So all in all I think it’s a nice add in and it pairs well with the fruity flavor of the rest of the ingredients. It’s way lighter than a normal smoothie but still gives you a vitamin boost while warming you from the inside. And for me it’s also the perfect way to use my new mug. Foxes, yippieh yeah :)

 

Btw. which cup is better, black or white? or the fox one? ;)

Recipe

prep. time: 7 minutes +++ serves: 2

Ingredients

• 2 Cups / 500ml freshly brewed good quality white tea (best quality white tea is called silver needle by the way)
• 1 orange, juice
• a 2cm piece of ginger
• 1 tsp. honey (can be omitted if you don’t eat it)
• 3 Tbsp. blueberries
• squeeze of lemon juice (about ¼ lemon)

 

Instructions

Brew your favorite blend of white tea. I have used 2 teaspoons for 750ml and brewed it for 4 minutes, but depending on the quality this can vary.

Place all the ingredients in a mixer and blend until ginger and blueberries are completely blended with the liquid. As the tea is hot leave some space for the steam to escape the blender.

Strain through a sieve and fill into mugs. Enjoy warm.

Pumpkin Smoothie

Hey there :)

I don’t know why, but when it comes to smoothies I always feel some restraint posting it. I make and drink a lot of smoothies, but this is the first one I also post on the blog. They sort of don’t really count as real recipes for me, as it always is just throwing stuff in a blender and then mix. And I am aware you can say similar things about a lot of recipes, like sandwiches or overnight oats, but somehow it is more true for smoothies for me. Weird, huh?

Anyway, I still decided to post this one. One has to get out of the comfort zone, right? :P This is also a smoothie that taste- and texturewise is a bit different from the ones I usually make so the ignorant me just applied this to the rest of the world thinking to present something new ;) Well… I guess there are similar smoothies out there, but who cares…

Anyway, back to the smoothie. I find it fits the weather well and thanks to the orange it has some vitamin C to boost the immune system, some ginger to help against inflammation, some pumpkin for vitamin A and some cinnamon helping to stabilize blood sugars. And did you know bananas are said to have anti-cancer benefits?

Every ingredient has some more pros as well, but let’s just state the obvious :) The orange is pretty dominant in here and if you are not into the combination banana-orange you could also just sub the orange with some milk of your choice. Or if you are looking for a real thick smoothie, just omit it all together. Will make for a nice smoothie bowl :)

 

 

Recipe

Ingredients

• 1/3 Cup pumpkin puree
• ½ banana
• 1 small orange, juice (or 1/2 Cup almond milk if you prefer)
• small ( about 1cm) piece of ginger (optional)
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• ½ tsp. vanilla powder

 

Instructions

Hey, it’s a smoothie. You know what to do. Blend it, baby :)
And adjust liquid to taste, fill in cups or glasses and sprinkle some more cinnamon on top.

going nuts

Hey there :)

as this is gonna be the first real entry, I decided to go with something basic and simple. It’s not even a real recipe, at least I dare not call it that, but just some “how to” or DIY kinda thing.

First things first. Nutmilk, at least not the way I make it, is no real “milk”, aka it’s not dairy. It just resembles it by colour and texture, but legally speaking, we have no milk here, but nutwater. But that doesn’t sound quite as nice, so let’s keep calling it milk ;)

I myself make nutmilk quite frequently, at least once a weak. I really prefer it over normal cow’s milk in Müsli and cereal and by now I even sometimes use it for my coffee (I did not like that in the beginning though). I also found it to be quite useful in baking. You basically can replace cow’s milk in almost every recipe for nutmilk, which can be quite handy if you are lactose-intolerant or for whatever reason decide to not drink milk anymore. Nutmilk has maybe one weak point – it doesn’t make nice steamed milk… but except from that I don’t see any disadvantages

You can also alternate the flavor of this so easily, just by chosing different kinds of nuts, or even seeds if you like making some sunflower-milk or pumpkinseed-milk, adding any favoured spices like vanilla, cinnamon, tonkabean or nutmeg.. you may chose freely here.

Recipe

The recipe here is a pretty much free-style one. Feel free to alter measurements or ingredients to your taste.

Ingredients

• 1 part preferred nuts ( I like a mix of paranuts and almonds, but you can go nuts here (yippieyahyeah, pun ;))
• 3 to 4 parts Water
• pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp. Maple syrup (optional)
• 1 tsp. Vanillapowder (or, like said, use whatever spices you prefer or just omit them completely)

Instructions

Put the nuts in a bowl, pour some warm or even hot water over them until they are covered completely and let them soak for at least 4 hours, or preferably over night.

When done soaking, wash the nuts (you don’t need the water used for soaking anymore) and put them in a blender. Add just a tiny bit of salt and 3-4 times of water more than you have used nuts. So if you have used 1 Cup of nuts, go 3 or 4 Cups of water, if you have used only ½ cup nuts, don’t use more than 2 cups of water. The less water you use the stronger the flavor of the nuts, but I guess I didn’t need to say that ;)

Add the maple syrup if you want it a little sweeter and also the vanilla or any other spice.

And then, you may have guessed, mix it up. I usually mix it about one minute, maybe even a little longer.

Once this is done you have to pour the milk through some cloth to get it really smooth into a bowl (you can buy a nutmilkbag, but a cloth works just fine. Just don’t use a sieve as you won’t be able to get as much liquid out of it). From the bowl you can transfer it to a bottle, or use is straight away. If it is filled in a bottle with a lid and kept in the fridge it should last about 3 days. After that mine usually isn’t good anymore.

You may want to shake the bottle every time before using it as the milk separates easily. It isn’t a problem though if you shake it, so don’t bother if it looks a little funny.

You will be left with some pulp of nuts after the recipe. I usually use them in smoothies or shakes, but you can also try baking with them or stir them in yoghurt. It also freezes quite well, if you don’t know what to do with it quite yet but want to store it for some later use. Get creative here :)