How to Make Coconut Milk

I always thought making your own nut milk was a long process needing lots of special equipment, but I was happy to find out, when I actually looked up how to do it, how easy it is!  And the only equipment you need is a blender / smoothie maker and a nut milk bag - if you have a blender in the higher price ranges, the process will probably be a bit quicker, but you don't need anything expensive.

I used 2 coconuts to make close to 1 litre of milk.  I use mature coconuts because I haven't ever seen green ones around here, but it doesn't matter, mature coconuts are perfect.

First pour the water out of the coconuts, you don't want to waste that because it's nutritious.  You're anyway going to use this water when making the milk, but if there's no water in them it's ok too, you just use filtered water instead.  My coconuts never have enough milk in them so I have to use filtered water in addition to the coconut water.

Remove the coconut meat, there's no need to remove the brown "skin", it'll make no difference to the milk. Rinse them in water to get them clean.  Break into smaller pieces and put in a blender.

I only do 1 coconut at a time otherwise the blender is too full and it takes longer to get everything chopped finely.

Add the coconut water you drained out before - pour it through a sieve to get rid of any coconut bits & hair.  If you need to add some more water, add filtered water.  Start with about 1 cup of liquid in total and add more if you see you would like a more diluted milk.  I usually add enough liquid so that it almost covers the coconut in the blender.  Blend until you have desiccated coconut, it only takes a couple of minutes.

Place a nut milk bag in a glass bowl and put everything in the blender into the bag - don't mess any coconut bits outside of the bag into the bowl because you don't want any bits in your milk.

Squish & squish the bag to get ALL the milk out, you wanna squish until no more milk comes out - all you want to have left in the bag is dry as possible desiccated coconut - you can use the coconut to make desiccated coconut.

Pour the milk into a glass bottle and refrigerate.  It keeps for about 3 days in the fridge.

See how to make your own desiccated coconut here (coming soon).

Granadilla (aka passion fruit) Tropical Smoothie

I had granadilla (passion fruit) flavoured yoghurt this time instead of greek, and so thought I'd try it in a smoothie.  Here goes!

3 bananas
3-4 pineapple rings, cored
2 heaped dessert spoons granadilla yoghurt (or more according to your taste)
1 cup orange juice
3 tbs ground flax seeds

Blend together.  Yum-ums.  Makes 2 large smoothies.

Carrot & Beetroot Juice

Freshly juiced raw veggies and fruits are a great way to assist your body in detoxing, and besides that, it's so healthy too, since juicing the food makes it more easily assimilated by your body.  Plus it's refreshing and tasty. :)

This morning I added beetroot to the mix and it turned out really well - it's sweet and tasty and the beetroot gives it a slightly earthy flavour too.   And the colour is gorgeous! :D

For this one I used 5 medium carrots and 3 medium beetroot - all peeled and then juiced (in a juicer, not blender) - here's what it looked like:

Then I mixed it before pouring into glasses - makes 2 medium servings:

How pretty is that? Yummmmmm.....

Ginger Honey Lemon Ice Tea

This is nice and refreshing, and best of all it's sugar-free and it's actually a healthy treat. :)

Ginger honey syrup:
1/3 cup honey
2 cups water
1/2 inch roughly chopped, peeled fresh ginger

Add all 3 to a pot, bring to a boil, turn down the heat and let simmer for 5 mins on low heat.  Remove from heat.

To finish the tea:
6 "white tea" tea bags (* see below)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
6 cups water

Throw the tea bags into the "syrup" immediately after removing pot from heat, and let steep for 30 mins.
Strain the syrup, add lemon juice & 6 cups of water & stir to combine.

*  If you can't find white tea, just use ordinary green tea - according to google, white tea is a milder flavour of green tea, so I thought green tea would make a suitable substitute - I used green tea (jasmine green tea actually, just has a more pleasant flavour for me), and because it has a stronger flavour than white tea, I only used 5 tea bags.

Serve over ice and with some mint leaves (I didn't have mint available, booo).

The first time I tasted it I thought it's a little too lemony and a little not-honey-y enough, but then I got used to it and I wouldn't change the recipe now, I like it as is.  If you do want to add more honey though, I think do it in the beginning, maybe increase it to 1/2 cup, or use less lemon juice instead.

Banana, Mango & Papaya Smoothie

Usually I only make smoothies with banana and either papaya or mango, but this time I added all 3!  And it was good. :)  I love discovering new yummy combinations.

1 banana (it's all I had left, but it turned out to be enough)
1 mango
1/2 large papaya
+- 1/2 cup apple & red berry fruit juice (the no preservatives & no sugar added kind)
3 tbs ground flaxseeds

Blend together and enjoy!  Makes 2 large smoothies.

Oh yes, lately I'm also now adding acai berry powder to my smoothies - it's not only a good antioxidant, but it has lots of other goodness to it too.  It's dark purple in colour so it changes the colour of the smoothies a bit, but it doesn't change the taste.

Carrot Juice

This is so simple, so yummy and so healthy too.  And the only ingredient is carrots!  You can of course add other veggies or fruits too - I want to try it with beetroot, and another with celery...to begin with, to see what they taste like.

Carrot juice is nice and sweet too, I make it for or with breakfast in the morning - it's really delicious. :)

You do need a juicer for this though.  It's one of my favourite kitchen goodies since it's such a huge health benefit. :)

All you do is juice as many carrots as you want until you have as much juice as you'd like.  Just peel them first, and you may have to chop them or slice them if the whole carrot is too big to fit into the juicer's "feeder".

Carrot juice is also good for using during detoxification. Also, juicing fruits or veggies helps to make the nutrients more easy to absorb.

Banana & Nectarine Smoothie

We have some fruit trees in our garden, and the nectarines are ready for munching....sweet, juice, organic nectarines, yummy. :D  So I thought I'd try a smoothie with them, and it turned out really good.

3 bananas
3 nectarines
1/2 cup rice milk
3 tbs ground flaxseeds

Blend together and enjoy!  Makes 2 medium - large & thick smoothies.

Banana Strawberry-Yoghurt Smoothie

We had some strawberry yoghurt to finish before the weekend, so I made this smoothie with it:

4 bananas
6 heaped dessert spoons strawberry yoghurt
2 tbs flaxseeds, ground
2 tbs uncooked oats, ground
1 cup milk

Blend together.  Makes 2 thick & large-ish smoothies.  Yum. :)

Banana Strawberry Smoothie

Another yummy breakfast. The strawberries make this one pink and delicious.  :)

3 large bananas, chopped
10 strawberries
3 dessert spoons plain greek yoghurt
1 cup rice milk
2 tbs ground flaxseed
2 tbs ground uncooked oats

Blend everything together, and serve. :)
Makes 2 large servings.

Apple Cider Vinegar & Honey Drink

I often have this ACV drink for the health benefits that ACV has to offer, especially it's alkalizing, detox and weight loss-assisting properties.

To be honest, it did take me 3 tries to develop a liking for this drink, but now that I've found the ACV to honey ratio that I find tasty,  it's actually quite refreshing. :)

2 tbs apple cider vinegar (not the fake "flavoured" stuff)
2 big squeezes of honey
2 cups water

I add the ACV, then the honey, 1/3 of water and then mix until the honey has dissolved (just takes a few seconds), then add the remaining water.

I don't measure the honey that I add, I just add 2 big squeezes from the bottle of honey...but the usual recommendation is 1 tbs honey for every 1 tbs ACV - start there and add more honey if you like it sweeter, or less if you like the strong taste of ACV.

I try to drink at least 1 glass a day.

Banana Oat Peanut Butter Smoothie

When you only have bananas to work with as far as fruits go, you need to get a little creative in making a smoothie out of them, and banana and peanut butter go well together. :)

3 large bananas
3 dessert spoons plain greek yoghurt
2 tbs raw oats, ground
1/2 tbs smooth peanut butter
1/2 tbs agave nectar
1 cup rice milk

Makes 2 large servings.
Chop bananas, combine everything in a blend and blend until smooth.  If you're not already adding flaxseeds to another part of your breakfast (eg muesli), then add 2 tbs ground flaxseeds to the smoothie as well.
You can add more agave if you want to taste it more in the smoothie - I just added a little so that the peanut butter isn't too overwhelming in the smoothie.

Agave nectar is a low GI natural sweetener that can be used in place of sugar and honey, with the added benefit that it's vegan because it's obtained from a plant.  It has a really lovely flavour and can be used in the place of syrup as well, such as on pancakes, and is really good for replacing sugar in baking.  I'll post some more info on this soon. :)

Creamy Banana Oat Cinnamon Smoothie

Today I thought I'd try adding some cinnamon to my banana smoothie and I think it was yummy. :)

3 large bananas
1 cup rice milk (I'll use more next time though, since this smoothie was very thick, almost like a pour-y porridge - but still drinkable)
2 tbs raw oats, ground
2 tbs flaxseeds, ground
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Makes 2 medium servings.
Chop bananas into small chunks, combine all ingredients and blend until smooth. 

Creamy Banana Oat Smoothie

I like the flavour the oatmeal adds to this smoothie. :)

4 bananas
2 dessert spoons plain greek yoghurt
2 tbs raw oats, ground
2 tbs flaxseeds, ground
3/4 cup rice milk

Blend everything together until smooth.

I'm thinking maybe cinnamon might be interesting to try with this smoothie....maybe next time. :)

Tropical Smoothie with Apple

I added an apple to my usual tropical smoothie, but I didn't peel the apple, since eating the whole apple has certain heart benefits in that the combined ingredients of a whole apple lowers your amount of blood fats.  The skin is also a good source of fibre.  So, eat them apples whole!  :)

2 bananas (not too overripe, otherwise their flavour is too sweet and overpowering)
1/4 small paw-paw (+- heaped 1/3 cup)
2-3 slices fresh pineapple
1 red apple, cored
1/3 cup orange juice (freshly squeazed is better, otherwise sugar-free, preservative free boxed juice will do) (or more as needed)
1/3 cup rice milk (optional) (or more as needed)
 4 heaped dessert spoons of plain greek yoghurt
1 tbs ground flax seeds

Makes 2 medium servings.
Chop fruits, add everything in blender and blend until smooth.  You can add more liquids if you would like the smoothie more liquidy.

Creamy Strawberry Tropical Smoothie

What better way is there to start the day off than with a fresh fruit smoothie? :)

3 bananas (not too overripe, otherwise their flavour is too sweet and overpowering)
1/4 large paw-paw
handful strawberries
1/3 cup orange juice (freshly squeazed is better, otherwise sugar-free, preservative free boxed juice will do) (or more as needed)
1/3 cup rice milk (optional) (or more as needed)
 3 heaped dessert spoons of plain greek yoghurt
1 1/2 tbs ground flax seeds

Makes 2 large servings.
Chop and then throw all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.  Add more liquids if you're like it more liquidy.  Now you have a delicious pink smoothie. :D

(As you may notice from the pic, I didn't add any flaxseeds to this particular smoothie because we had muesli as well and so I just sprinkled it over that instead.)

Start Your Day with Lemon Water

Lemon is one of the most alkalizing foods.  Even though it's classified as an acidic food, once it has been digested and assimilated by your body, it has an alkalizing effect on you, which is helpful if you're trying to bring down the acidity of your body.  It's also one of the best foods to aid in detoxifying your body.

I've got into the habit of squeezing half a lemon worth of juice into almost every of the several glasses of water I drink every day.  I now enjoy the taste of this lemon water. :)

Even if you don't wish to drink it all through out the day, it's good to start off your day with a glass of lemon water before breakfast, since it helps your body, including your liver, to flush out toxins.

Creamy Tropical Smoothie

Fresh fruit smoothies are a staple in our house, I make them several times a week for breakfast.

3 bananas (not too overripe, otherwise their flavour is too sweet and overpowering)
1/2 small paw-paw
3 slices fresh pineapple
1/3 cup orange juice (freshly squeazed is better, otherwise sugar-free, preservative free boxed juice will do) (or more as needed)
1/3 cup rice milk (optional) (or more as needed)
4 heaped dessert spoons of plain greek yoghurt
1 1/2 tbs ground flax seeds

Chop the fruit into small chunks, add all the ingredients in a blender / smoothie maker, and blend until liquid.  It makes 2 large servings.

The rice milk is optional - you can use orange juice as well, but I don't like to add too much orange juice otherwise it's also overpowering in the smoothie, so I add half the liquids in rice milk because it doesn't affect the flavour of the smoothie that much.  Either way, you add as much juice / milk as you want to get it to the consistency that you like.  The yoghurt makes the smoothie more creamy.

You don't have to follow the quantities too strictly here, you add as much as you want to suit your taste.  It's quite difficult to mess up a fruit smoothie. :)

Linked to these tasty blogs:

It's A Keeper                             Shugary Sweets