Child, adult, and a smoothie

I believe it is the first summer of my life when I virtually will not have carefree and careless vacation as I used to have, say, even a year ago. Now, is it what they call adulthood or what? Busy times from the moments the sun rises to the hour when it sets and even beyond? Wait. Although I consciously chose such a busy life schedule, it, in no way at all, means I took up a subscription for a membership in a ‘desperate racers agaist time’ club. No, no, no; point!

When rushing, I often find myself driven into a stupor, emotional and intellectual infertility, you name it. When relaxed, I manage to do more than I initially plan (=load upon my shoulders). Astounding as it is, and yet so natural.

However, thinking back into my childhood I see a girl whose innate habit seemed to be a continuous complain on how slowly time dragged. To mute me for a while, one had to treat me to a massive scoop, or even two, of chocolate ice-cream. *insert a loud slurp here* If aforesaid weren’t enough to make everybody cuss (to themselves though), this girl also bore an identity card (imaginary) of a v e r y picky eater. If there was anything dairy (but certainly for the ice-cream, and then again even the latter had to be flavoured and coloured to buy me into idea it wasn’t made of milk), onion-y (God forbid if I spotted a trace of onion floating in a soup) in my vicinity, in no time I turned into an uber-disgruntled child; and this – as I was told later – wasn’t a dream come true for either my mom or omas.

But truth be told, my blacklist of things edible played havoc with my childhood gastronomic life indeed (sounds so pathetic, I know). Sigh. Mention smoothie and I would literally burst into tears (I mean real tears) only thinking of milky-something passing my lips. I even can recall how unce upon a summer time in my family’s country house I spent a W H O L E day at a veranda table attempting to make a single sip from a glass of milk, which my maternal oma so competently put in front of me with intention to bring me up (obviously). I felt miserable. Apparently, upon my birth I got bestowed with lots of antibodies to guard my gastronomic immunity to things a way too many to cover in one post and, miraculously, not to bore you (hello, still reading? Phew!). Smiles.

Days changed nights. Time passed. And here I am: a character with a newly-acquired desire for everything new and unknown (=untasted). The wind of change arrived, and with that, the wall of ignorance finally fell. Rejoice, I did!

And now, My Dear Readers, after I long foreword we have at last reached a point where a recipe should stand up for other narrative nuances. The choice of this recipe, or more likely yet another idea/suggestion for numerous smoothies, - hence all the talk above – has its roots in my recent love for simplicity, a need for a good mood and nutrition right at the start of a working day (or any day, if we are at that). So, go mention smoothie now or, even better, treat me to one, and Bob’s your uncle - you’ll have me smiling.

Ah, adulthood! Great time; time when we can consciously find answers to our cravings (even childish ones) and satisfy them with such a pleasure. After all, it’s all about attitude, isn’t it?

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Finally, smoothie talk; and no rocket science. Smiles.

As said earlier, these are only ideas, not a recipe per se.

(ideas source: http://www.kuking.net/ (in russian)

Idea 1.
A medium-sized banana
150 ml skimmed (or low fat) milk
150 gr plain yoghurt
1 tsp honey (any kind of a runny consistency)
a dash of cinnamon

I also experimented with fresh mint, and even fresh green basil. Both perk up banana flavour and generally refresh things up.

Yields 1 serving.

The method (can’t be more simplier):

Peel and cut banana in big chunks and put all the ingredients in a blender. Process until smooth. Serve. Smile.

Side note: if you use a ripe banana, skip honey, or else the smoothie might be overly sweet.


Idea 2.
1 ripe avocado
250-300 ml milk (any kind you like)
1-2 Tsp honey
Fresh berries for garnishing

Yields 6 servings

Method (simplicity in its original form):

Halve the avocado, scoop out the flesh. Blend all the ingredients in a food mill. Garnish with mashed fresh raspberries or strawberries. Serve. Smile.

Side note: I especially love silkiness of avocado flesh embodied in the milk or yoghurt.

Idea 3:
½ mango
1 medium-sized banana
juice of one orange
2 Tsp bran
1 Tsp sesame seeds (roasted)
2-3 tsp honey

Serves 2

Method: not to bore you to death, let me just suggest you scroll up and read the description above.

Side note: if you use ripe mango and banana, you might not want to add honey at all.

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That’s it, My Friends. Easy-peasy, filling, simple, summery and smile-inducing.

P.S. Couldn’t help but taking a shot of a mother and daughter enjoying a gentle Sunday walk. Each of the two has their own matters to take care of.