Guest Host Trustworthy: Smoothie Addiction

Trustworthy's Kitchen Play List:

Terra Naomi - Up Here 
Within Temptation - Our Solemn Hour
Clint Mansell - Death Is The Road To Awe
Sensible Pets - Mobius
Nirvana - Blew
Fever Ray - Keep The Streets Empty For Me
Fratellis - Acid Jazz Singer
NIN - Hurt
Primal Scream - Stuka
Static d - Give Me Love
Evanescence - Oceans
Porcupine Tree - I Drive The Hearse
Depeche Mode - Precious
Gina Sicilia - Try Me

Hey there again :-)

My very good friend Red is taking some personal time and has again kindly asked me to guest post.

So, today I am going to talk about smoothies. This is a post I've been promising for a long time!

I ADORE smoothies. I try and make one every morning...although time does not always permit. My basic milk base is half a can of coconut milk and top the rest up with soy, but you can use any kind of non-dairy extract. I also use home-made nut-milks such as almond or cashew...almond is very nice and pretty addictive!

So, for my Every Day smoothie, I use my base and at least one banana, and a bag of greens...which is essentially a sandwich bag I fill with chopped greens (kale, spinach, bok choy, etc...usually mixed all together) and throw in the freezer. You can get at least ten or eleven portions using this method, and you will probably not use a whole bag in a smoothie...depends how green you want them! I will probably use frozen banana, too, in this same method. Fresh nanas are however preferable...but by all means freeze chopped banana...makes great ice-cream! THrow all these ingredients together in a blender and pulse for ten seconds a time for about a minute. It will go an amazing green colour. Now, this on its own is packed with protein (from the 'milk'), a rocket-boost of sugars (from the banana) and a shed-load of vitamins and calcium from the greens. It can be a bit toothy, but you will get used to this...after all it's really a food and not just a drink! If you find the taste initially a bit too mother-earthy by all means add your favourite sweetener...raw sugar, stevia (zowie! personally hate this stuff) or caramel from dates...take your pick! Also adding a tiny pinch of rock or sea salt works wonders, too.

From there I like to add things...my favourites being...

Chilli, Lime, and Ginger:

Trustworthy's Chilli, Lime & Ginger Smoothie..
Zingy Goodness in a glass

Grab a medium-sized red chile pepper (heat is your own preference :-) ) and chop about half of it into rough slices. Slide this into your waiting jug. Next, grate a thumbful (lol..this is how I measure gratings! If your thumb starts to get smaller...STOP!) of fresh ginger into the mixture. Then, halve a lime and hold in one palm, and using the fingers of your other hand, shaped like an arrowhead, twist them into the flesh and let the juice run over your hands and into the liquid. BEWARE - if you have ANY small cuts or grazes on your fingers that were previously unknown...believe me, you will know now! Run under a warm tap and it'll quickly stop stinging :-)

Now, zuzz that lot up for a few seconds and pour...and enjoy the punch!

Complete Nuttiness:

Trustworthy's Complete Nuttiness Smoothie

You may recall we made some peanut butter a few weeks back...any you have left over will work wonders in this. Spoon up to two tablespoons into the jug, along with some chopped walnuts, crushed hazlenuts, bashed cashews, and any almond meal you may have left from making Almond milk....ah but wait! We haven't done that yet! Next post, I promise... ;-) Zuzz it all...and enjoy!

Any chopped/crushed nut combos shouldn't exceed a large handful, or it'll be too stiff to drink quickly, which IMHO is a big thing with smoothies. To me, they are like a nitrous fuel injection. With a great breakfast they add the extra kick to get you through the day, especially if, like me, you have to get up at *expletive deleted*-o'clock most mornings and may not see anything resembling food until gone 3pm.

Orange, carrot, and goji berry:

Trustworthy's Orange, Carrot & Goji Berry Smoothie

This is more of an indulgence, as well as being packed with vitamin C and awesome carrot-ness. Leave out the kale and soak the goji's in the milk for a few minutes...the longer the redder. squeeze an orange, add a pinch of rocksalt then grate half a carrot into it, then zuzz up as per. It will turn a very pleasing peach colour, and taste very 'dessert-y'; it has a kind of a custard thing going on. In fact the one I finished not five minutes ago would've been fabulous warmed and poured over some cinnamon-roasted almonds :-)

So, smoothie away, and all those with colds, here is an extra...

Goji and Orange Flu Jab:

Trustworthy's Goji & Orange Flu Jab Juice

Suffering from cold? Get a great Vitamin C boost!
Soak half a cup of goji berries overnight in about a cup of water. In the morning, slice and squeeze three oranges into the raw mix (no need to rinse the berries). Zuzz up, and you have a hi-vis, dayglo, two-finger-salute to your sniffles!

Love, etc...until soon

Trustworthy