Apple and Oats Smoothie

An Apple a day, keeps the doctor away.  I'm not here to do any research on this statement but to share a very simple recipe with apples.  Suddenly I realized that I have more than 2 dozens of apples leftover in my refrigerator, with outside temperature 40 degree Celsius, I don't even want to think about apple pie, strudels or crumbles.

Home made Nannari Sherbet from scratch

It's summer here in India, actually not just summer, it's ssssummmmeeer.  Why I want to stress the summer is, summer isn't much of fun here, although it's summer vacation for kids, it's like visiting friends and family, couldn't enjoy it to the most.  The Sun has started showing the heat at it's peak, couldn't help about it, since we can't fight with nature. Along with this the frequent power cuts which makes it much more worse. Now we could do nothing with nature, either the power cut.  So all we can do is just intake something to reduce the body heat, to avoid all scorching and scratching.

Jil Jil Jigarthanda

Jil Jil Jigarthanda is a cool drink,known to be originated from Madurai, Tamil Nadu state of India.  Although this is a popular drink in Madurai,  this can be found allover Tamil Nadu. I have also come across different flavours in different places.  Some have a malai taste along with jelly and ice cream.  The common one must be with rose flavour,badam pisin  and ice cream.

Nongu Paal (Palm Fruit Drink)

If it's different type of colourful berries in the west for summer, here in India we have plenty of tropical fruits like mangoes, jackfruit etc...  Among fruits if you ask me which is the best, I definitely can't.  Each fruit is unique and has it's own goodness.

Cherry MilkShake

There is abundance of cherries in market and i have a lot in my kitchen too, so everything goes cherry. The addition of cherries is not just healthy and sweet, it also gives a lovely pink colour,which my girlie girls love to have. This is yet again a simple milkshake with cherries and banana, you can also replace cherries with berries, mango, peach, pineapple or even papaya.
Serves 3 to 4
Ingredients:
Cherries fresh or frozen- 1 cup( If using fresh remove the seeds inside)
Banana-1
Milk- 700 ml
Vanilla Ice cream- 1 scoop
Few crushed Ice cubes
Method:
Peel and chop the banana, add all the ingredients in a blender, blend it to smooth. Serve immediately in a tall glass with few more crushed ice cubes on top.

This recipe goes to Sizzling Summer Contest.

Summer Fruit Drink

With the addition of  all  healthy summer fruits with freshly squeezed  orange juice , makes it very light and keep you satisfied. One 250 ml glass of juice contains 2 of your 5 a day.

Serves 3 to 4
Ingredients:
Freshly squeezed orange juice- 1 litre
Mixed frozen summer fruits( berries, peach, pineapple, kiwi, mango etc)-1 cup
Method:
Blend together all the ingredients in a blender. Pour it in a tall serving glass and serve with some crushed ice cubes.

Melberry Cooler

Melberry  is not a new fruit, i just made it short for watermelon and strawberry. Here  we have to say it's summer, summer so that feel like summer but sunshine very rarely , yet we started getting all summer fruits in markets. Watermelon is the best summer cooler than any other fruits, it's full of water packed with nutrients.
Coming to the recipe.

Serves 2 large glasses
Ingredients:
Watermelon- 2 cups chopped without skin and seeds
Strawberry- about 8, stalks removed, washed and chopped
Few crushed ice cubes
Method:
Combine all the ingredients together in a blender and whizz it up, pour it in tall glasses and serve with extra ice cubes if required.

Neapolitan

The mixed flavours starting from vanilla, passing through the chocolate banana mixed with berries is a real treat.

Makes 300 ml

Ingredients:
Strawberries or mixed berries-75 g
Banana-1/2 small
Chocolate ice cream-2 scoops
Vanilla ice cream-2 scoops
Vanilla extract- a few drops
Semi skimmed milk-125 ml
Milk powder-1 tbsp
Fresh cherries to decorate on top
Method:
Wash the strawberries, chop into small pieces. Put in a blender and whizz until smooth and thick, pour it in a glass and set aside. Peel and roughly chop the banana and put it in a clean blender, add the chocolate ice cream and blend until smooth and thick. Carefully spoon over the strawberry puree.
In a clean blender, blend the vanilla ice cream with the vanilla extract, the milk and milk powder and then carefully spoon over the chocolate layer. Keep some fresh cherries on top, serve immediately.

Energy Giving Green

After a long day running around with my kids, when i sat down to enjoy a glass of fruit juice, relaxes and brings my energy back for the rest of the day. Avocado is an execellent fruit for high energy drink. If you have any doubt about avocado in fruit juices,forget  it, it taste really good. The sweetness of  the melon combined with the creamy texture of the avocado, now that's a perfect  way  to relax and gain your energy back.
I haven't added any sugar to this juice,but you can add any sweetner according to your taste.

Serves 2 to 3
Ingredients:
1 Whole Galia Melon
1 Avocado
2 Kiwi
Juice of 1/2 a lemon or lime
Crushed few ice cubes if required
Method:
Cut the melon into half, remove the seeds. Scoop out the melon into the blender. Cut the avocado into half, remove the seed, scoop out the flesh part into the blender, add juice of 1/2 a lemon. Peel and chop the kiwi fruit, add it to the blender. Add few crushed ice cubes, blend all the ingredients together without adding any water. Serve it in a glass immediately. Since you have added avocado it's better to serve as soon as possible.

Berry melody

As we are approaching towards summer we can find lots of berries in market. Most of the berries are rich in beta carotene and vitaminC.I have used a mixed selection of berries,you can use mixed or just one berry,either way good to have it.

Nutritional Value:
Melons:
Melons are high in beta carotene,vitamin B complex and little vitaminC. Melons give a calming effect on the digestive system with a mild stimulating action on the kidney.Melons are also good for the immune system.
Strawberry:
Strawberry are rich in vitaminC and folic acid.A good cleanser for the whole body.
Raspberry:
Raspberries are also good source of vitaminC and folic acid.Excellent uplifting properties and good for convalescence.
Cranberry:
Cranberries are a good source of beta carotene,B complex vitamins,vitaminC and folic acid.A natural diuretic and urinary tract cleanser.
Blueberry:
The skin contains high concentration of compounds that can destroy harmful bacteria in the gut and keep it healthy.
Blackcurrant:
The skin contains compounds that have the ability to inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria.The high vitaminC content gives powerful antioxidant properties.
The above information is from the book 'Good Housekeeping'.
Serves 2
Ingredients:
Mixed Berries-1 cup
Apple juice-1 cup
Melon-1 cup chopped
Sugar is optional according to your taste.
Method:
Blend the chopped melon without adding any water,keep it separately.Blend the berries and apple juice together.
To serve: In two separate glasses,pour the berry juice first,then top it up with the melon juice. Add crushed ice cubes if  required.

Summer in a glass

Smoothies and juices are must in everyday diet to maintain your system healthy.I was really excited when i saw Divya's 'Show me your smoothie' event.This recipe is my entry for the event.

This smoothie is the one normally i used to make almost every week.The combination oranges,pineapple,mango and kiwi is my all time favourite.
Oranges are rich in vitamin C and folic acid,they also have the highest amount of beta carotene.Oranges help to cleanse and improve the digestive system.It also helps to maintain a good  healthy skin.
Kiwi is also excellent source of vitaminC and good source of beta carotene and minerals potassium,calcium,magnesium and phosphorous.It's also good for circulation,digestion and skin.
Mangoes are excellent for energy,vitality and promoting healhy skin.
Pineapple contains enzyme bromelain,which aids the digestion of protein and therefore is excellent for digestive problems.
The above information about the fruits is from the book Good House Keeping Smoothies and Juices.
Ingredients:
Pineapple-2 tbsp chopped
Kiwi-2 fruits chopped
Mango pulp-1 tbsp
Orange freshly squeezed-2 cups
Crushed ice cubes-3 to 4 ice cubes
I  haven't  added  any  sugar  to  the  juice ,the  natural  sweet  from  the  fruits  should  be  sufficient  ,if  you  wish  you could  add  some  sugar  or  honey.
Method:
Put all the ingredients together in a blender,and blend well until nice and smooth.Pour it in a serving glass,top with some extra ice cubes if required. 

Melon Surprise

Melon Surprise is made with two types of melon like honeydew and water melon. When i talk about watermelon,it remainds me of summer in India. In a hot summer when you feel so thirsty you can see lots of water melon on the road side shop.One slice of melon cools you immediately.
There is a interesting information which i read about water melon today, most of us avoid the inner white part of the melon, which is edible,it also contains many hidden nutrients.To read more click here.

Ingredients:
Honey dew melon-1 cup( without any seeds or rind)
Water melon-1 cup(sliced without any seeds)
Milk-1 cup
Honey-1 tbsp
Method:
Blend the honeydew melon separately with 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 tbsp honey.
Blend the water melon separately with remaining milk and honey.
To Serve:
Take a long glass, pour the honeydew melon juice first,then pour the water melon juice and serve.

Mango Surprise

Mango Surprise is a drink made with fresh mango and orange juice,the surprise here is the melon.Melon in the middle of mango and orange is a real delight.
Ingredients:
Mango-1
Orange Juice-1 cup
Melon-1/2 a melon
Method:
Peel and chop the mango into slices. Blend the mango and orange juice separately to a nice smooth consistency.
Juice the melon separately without any seeds or skin.
To Serve: Take a long glass, pour the melon juice first, then pour the mango juice ,they don't mix together,leave it like that and serve.