Aiden's Epic Berry Protein Shake

I cannot take all the credit for this one. I’ve been making berry smoothies for Aiden for years, but recently he’s been requesting them which has coincided with taking a more active & interested role in his own health & diet. This has all stemmed from being pretty serious about his sport. He’s been learning about the different food types, why protein is important for his muscles and recovery.

So, we have taken his fave berry smoothie and made a few tweaks to up his protein for post workouts or games and the result is SO SO delicious I just had to share with you. It’s extra thick and creamy, the texture is amazing thanks to a few secret ingredients. Don’t miss adding the zucchini to this, as it really adds so much creaminess and you can’t taste it at all.

Berry protein Shake

Ingredients

200ml milk (any kind)
1 small - medium banana, fresh
1/2 cup mixed frozen berries
2-3 pieces of frozen mango
2-3 pieces of frozen zucchini (trust me!)
Small handful cashews
3-4 pieces of ice (don’t overdo it or the shake will end up icy)
2 scoops NZ protein vanilla protein powder

Method

Pop all of your ingredients in a blender and blend for at least 45 seconds and then serve!

Choc Banana Protein Shake

ohhhhh what to say. I love chocolate, and I love banana. I recently had an epic choc banana protein shake out and decided to recreate at home. It has become one of my fave go to's!

You can use vanilla protein or chocolate. I don't have chocolate in the house, so I use cacao to create the chocolately goodness.   If not thick enough, add more ice and get it tasting super creamy and just like a chocolate thickshake!

Enjoy!

Choc Banana Protein Shake

1 cup almond milk
1 cup ice
1 banana
2 TBS vanilla protein powder
1.5 TBS cacao powder
1 TBS chia seeds
1 tsp maple syrup

Blend until completely smooth & top with some coconut shavings and cacao nibs for some crunch. 

Tropical Smoothie

1 cup coconut milk (preferably from the can, good quality)
1 banana
1 cup fresh or frozen tropical fruit like mango, pineapple, paw paw
1 TBS fresh coconut
1 TBS chia seeds
2 TBS cashews
1 cup ice

Combine all of the above into a blender and combine until smooth. Top with a nut blend or some fresh coconut.

Boysenberry & Banana Smoothie Bowl

Now that summer is here, or at least feels like it is, we are going to be making Smoothie Bowls on the regular at our place. I love coming up with new flavour combo’s based on what I have in my cupboard or freezer.

This is my absolute new fave, and with the boysenberries, it’s high in vitamin C!

There are a few important things to remember - first, you need a good blender. If you have a bullet or smaller blender you may not get the result you are after, or it just might take a while. You have to BLEND BLEND BLEND! Secondly, I used to just throw everything in and blend all at once, but I do think it works out better if you add the liquid in slowly as it’s blending. Makes it harder to add too much and end up with a smoothie.

Make sure you add lots of good stuff on top, especially crunch!

PS. The immune blend mentioned below is a health blend from The Wholesome Co.

Boysenberry & Banana Smoothie Bowl

1.5 frozen banana
1 Cup frozen boysenberries
1TBS chia seeds
1/4 cup liquid
Optional:
1 TBS Acai powder
1 TBS The Wholesome Co Immune Blend

Method:

The key is in the blending, add only a tiny bit of liquid and start to blend, adding more slowly as it mixes. Once you get nice and smooth and to your desired consistency, you’re done!

The Ultimate Green Smoothie

Give your body what it needs with this sweet & delicious smoothie filled with green good stuff.
A great intro to Green Smoothies.

Serves 2

1 cup almond or coconut milk
1 x banana
1 x pear
5 x green grapes
1 x golden kiwifruit
1 cup kale & spinach blend
1 tsp chia seeds
1 tsp LSA mix
1 cup ice

Blend until completely smooth and top with some delicious crunchy granola or nuts.

Acai Bowl Recipe

If you are like me, you hear a lot of hype about acai.
Acai bowls seem to be everywhere, well at least all over instagram.  Because I am often searching for healthy, nutritious recipes, the acai bowl features heavily.  So what is acai?  It is a berry found in the Amazon (sounds exotic already) and is deemed a superfood because of the myriad of wonders it does.  The benefits boast aiding digestion, promoting skin health, boosting your immune system, helping your heart and has anti ageing effects. Plus, hell, it's purple. Say no more - I'M IN!

With all this in mind, today I decided to make my own Acai Bowl. It was a hit (with me) and I'm pretty sure Acai will become a regular superfood in our household. First up you are going to need some Acai Powder. I opted for an organic powder by Goodhealth, which is stocked at my local small town pharmacy.

I played around for a little while today to see what worked, and came up with a really delicious bowl for lunch. Feel free to play around and put your favourite toppings on, be your own experiment and enjoy!  In my very short Acai Bowl career I have learned that for a successful bowl, you need a creamy, thick smoothie base and some nice textures on top, think crunch and texture.

Acai Bowl Recipe

Blitz together the following:
1 x banana
1/2 cup fresh or frozen strawberries
1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
2 Tablespoons acai powder
1 Tablespoon nut butter (I used Peanut Butter)
Up to 1/2 cup coconut milk or almond milk (adjust amount until you get a creamy, thick consistency)

Pour into a bowl and then have some fun decorating! 

Toppings:
Blueberries & Banana or other fresh fruit
A crunchy nut & seed cereal or granola - I love Cathedral Cove Raw Paleo Super Cereal
Almonds
Chia Seeds
Goji berries
Coconut
More nut butter if like me, you love it!

Let me know if you have a favourite acai bowl recipe, I'd love to see how everyone uses this wonderful superfood.

J xx