Hi. My name is Priscilla and as part of 2016 All Stars I am Emma’s blog today to share with you my favourite smoothie recipe that I make. First, a list of ingredients and a few of their benefits:
Ingredients:
1 banana – rich in potassium, which helps to lower blood pressure. Good for improving and/ or maintaining blood sugar levels and insulin levels. This is helpful if you are diabetic, or want to avoid unplanned (and usually unhealthy) snacking caused by sudden hunger pangs from the sudden drop of blood sugar levels. Plus they are naturally free from fat!
1 large pear – high in fiber and low in calories. This helps to keep you feeling fuller for longer without consuming too many calories! Pears are also approximately made up of 84% water, which is good for keeping the digestive system flowing and flushing toxins out.
1 avocado – a super fruit! The Avocado is a naturally nutrient-dense fruit that has nearly 20 kinds of vitamins and minerals in it. On top of that, it contains a lot of healthy monosaturated fatty acids. This helps in improving/ maintaining healthy cholesterol levels and also is thought to help reduce belly fat.
plain yoghurt (half full or low fat) – contains probiotics, calcium, and protein. Probiotics are “good” bacteria and helps to maintain a natural balance of organisms in the intestines, which of course directly effects your digestive and immune system. Calcium is good for your bone mass, and protein is needed for building muscles. More muscles = higher metabolism rate = higher fat burning rate at resting status. That’s right, just by having more muscles, you burn more fat whilst doing nothing!!!
low fat cottage cheese – contains a protein and complex B vitamins. Cottage cheese has been very popular in the diet community. This is because you get a lot of protein (which also makes you feel fuller for longer) without so much calorie intake. Cottage cheese is also a cheaper source of protein than meat, so great for the wallet! Complex B vitamins are help our body convert food into fuel.
honey (optional) – raw honey is a fat-free, cholesterol-free, and sodium-free way to sweeten up your drink.
water – …do I need to explain? 😀
Tools needed:
A blender/ food processor of some sort, a knife, chopping board, a peeler (for the pear), and a cup/container to serve/take the smoothie with you on the go.
You can decide to use a vanilla flavoured yoghurt if you’d like a sweeter taste, but then I would skip the honey. I prefer to use half full or low-fat products instead of no-fat products for a number of reasons. First being that I fat is also good in keeping me fuller for longer. Secondly, a lot of no-fat products have high levels of sodium (salts) and artificial flavouring substances so that the product tastes better. Therefore, I prefer to use less amounts of a “full fat” product (and avoid the artificial stuff and salt) that more amounts of a “no-fat” product.
Method:
There are no measurements because I usually eye-ball everything :D. But let’s say I put in about 1.5 – 2 table spoons of cottage cheese. You put everything in a blender and blend away. What you end up getting is a very thick smoothie. Of course you keep on adding water until you get the consistency you desire. I like my smoothies kinda thick.
You also end up with a large amount of smoothie, so you can refrigerate it, or share with a friend. Because I leave the house early, run around the whole day, and come home late, I don’t always have time to eat or buy something to eat during the day. Therefore I carry about a litre of this with me for the day, and because of the filling nature of the ingredients, it’s enough to sustain me the whole day until I’m home and able to have dinner.
A random English life. 