Recipe: Tropical Smoothie

This is a really nice smoothie I made yesterday with some fruit that was becoming a bit too ripe in the fruit bowl- smoothies are just great for that purpose. Nick laughed at me when i said as part of my unviersity degree we had to make smoothies in groups- he was like, hah, how easy is University these days- Whatever!! It's a bit more complicated than blending fruit in our degree, we had to trail loads of different types and then test it for ph, and wait until we had created a smoothie that had a suitable ph level as well as good flavour, and then we had to pasteurise it, and then over the next three weeks after that we had to do bacterial analysis on petri dishes, and now we have to write a 2000 word lab report on it. Not just a smoothie now hey?? Haha! Shall have to put my "Lab Smoothie" recipe up here as well at some point too, it actually tasted awesome.

Tropical Smoothie (makes 24 ounces- about 650ml)
1 banana, peeled and diced
50g peeled diced cantaloupe melon
1 x 125g Activia Kiwi Yoghurt
150ml orange juice
150ml apple juice
Lime slices for garnish (optional)

1. Add all the ingredients to a blender, and blend until smooth. Pour out into glasses, and serve chilled with slices of lime to garnish!

Recipe: Elderflower and Lemon Cordial

This is the first cordial I have ever tried to make, and it's turned out really well! Really tasty, and I reckon it will make a really nice gift. It is a recipe from Good Food magazine- the only change i made was to use 1 lemon instead of 2. It's good for me too, cause at the moment i'm not drinking- and elderflower cordial or sparkling elderflower works as a nice non-alchoholic drink. I havent been drinking for a month actually- cause my exams are coming up and I think I drank too much too close to my exams last year. My first exam is tommorow- quite nervous I suppose, but then again it's film studies, and i've found out that i've done so well in my coursework/As levels, that even before I step into the exam i've already got a C. Cool ey?

Elderflower and Lemon Cordial (makes 2 litres)

1.8kg white caster sugar
1.2 litre water
20 heads of elderflower
1 lemon, chopped (skin and all!)
75g citric acid

1. Heat up the sugar and water gently in a large pan, stirring continually, until the sugar has fully dissolved (this takes about 10 minutes).
2. Add all the other ingredients, stir, and pour into a large kilner jar. Seal, and keep in a cool place for 24 hours to allow the flavours to increase.
3. Strain the mixture through a jelly bag/muslin cloth. Pour into bottles and seal.

PS: This cordial only lasts a maximum of two weeks, so use it or give it out to people as soon as possible!

Recipe: Banana and Strawberry Smoothie

The guys at Corsham Football club gave me like a dozen bananas after the race! Loadddds of em! I had a couple after the race though, cause apparently eating a banana straight after you go on a run is really good for muscle repair and energy. Something to do with the potassium I believe. So every day since the race i've been making myself this smoothie, cause it makes me feel so healthy and energetic- and it's very tasty too. I have frozen most of the bananas,chopped, into individual plastic bags- and you can put the frozen banana straight from the freezer into the blender with the rest of the ingredients- making you a super cold fruity drink! Oh, the reason why theres a slice of toast in the picture is because I came up with this recipe as part of a peice I wrote upon the importance of eating a healthy breakfast.

Banana and Strawberry Smoothie (makes 2 glasses)

1 banana, sliced
75g strawberries, quartered
25g blueberries
150ml orange juice
100g natural yoghurt
1 tsp honey

1. Put all ingredients into a blender or food processer and blend until you have a nice smooth mixture. Pour into glasses and it's ready for drinking!