Banana Blueberry Whey Shake(Protein rich power breakfast)

Being a vegetarian, I am always for the look out for good protein sources especially for my kids. Because protein is an essential building block for the body and  growing children do need quality sources of protein in their every day meal. I plan my kids breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack in such a way that there is some protein source in each one of them. I rely on legumes, nuts, coconuts, fruits like avocado, raw unprocessed dairy for my protein sources.

Even with all this planning, morning breakfast is a real challenge. To have some thing filling, fast as well as nutritious on the go especially for the kids. I am sure lot of people who read this face the same problem as me. So I rely on protein supplements like whey protein and brown rice protein to have a power packed breakfast.  I would like to hear suggestions from you all on how you are fortifying your food with protein and what is your best suggested protein source/supplement (Of course a vegetarian source).

Preparation Time – 5 Minutes

Cooking Time – Nil

Serves – 1

Ingredients

Raw Milk – 1 Cup ( 8 oz)

Banana – 4 slices (3-4 small slices are enough otherwise you will have a thick smoothie instead of a shake)

Blueberries – Handful

Whey protein powder – 2 scoops

Xylitol – 1 Tsp or to taste

Method

Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend till smooth and enjoy.

Note – Brown rice protein and hemp protein are vegan protein and brown rice protein tastes ok and hemp protein you have to get used to the taste. You can add few fruits, coconut milk, brown rice protein and xylitol and come up with a great smoothie. Hemp protein I find tastes better with green smoothies(non sweet) ones like spinach, yogurt, salt and lemon juice. Whey protein with raw milk and fruits tastes more like a milk shake than a protein drink and is the best tasting of all the three. But when you buy whey protein make sure the source is from grass fed organic milk, the protein is cold processed and is a whey protein concentrate and not an isolate.

Events
Sending this to Zesty Palette’s New You Series 3 hosted by Vardhini.

Sending this to Kids delight some thing sweet by Kavitha an event started by Srivalli.

Going to Fast food no Fat food hosted by Priya Sreeram an event started by Priya Mahadevan .

Read more »

Spiced Coconut & Almond Milk a Vegan Treat

Is fat bad? Not really, fat is an essential component your body needs. But the fat needs to be the right kind of fat which comes from nuts, coconut oil,  un processed raw dairy products, avocado etc. Coconut fat is one of those good fats and helps to loose weight when incorporated in the diet. Coconut contains Medium chain fatty acid(MCT). This MCTs promote thermogenesis, increasing your body’s metabolism, producing energy. Coconut has also been found to be helpful to thyroid function, as well as digestion. Coconut milk is a very good source of protein and helps to maintain a soft and smooth skin, in cold dry winter time.

If you are allergic to Dairy and are trying alternate store bought nuts milk, try this one out. Coconut, Almonds, spiced up with cardamom and cinnamon and sweetened with xylitol. This drink just tastes awesome. Do give this one a try and I am sure you are going to love it.



Preparation Time – 10 Minutes

Cooking Time – Nil

Serves – 2





Ingredients





Grated fresh coconut – 1 Cup packed

Almonds – 1/3 cup (Soak overnight or soak in hot water for a hour)

Cardamom – 1 pod

Cinnamon powder – 2 Tsp

Xylitol – 1 Tbsp or to taste (You can substitute this with maple syrup, honey or sugar. Sweetener of your choice)

Salt – pinch

Warm to Hot Water – 2 Cups



Method





1) Rinse the almonds and add it to the grated coconut and place it in a blender along with a cardamom pod.  Add 3/4 cup water and blend into a smooth mixture.



2) Now run this through a cheese cloth and collect the milk and squeeze out the ground coconut, almond mixture and place it once again in the food processor. Add 3/4 cup of water and blend once again.



3) Repeat step two and blend once again adding the remaining water and filter the milk.



4) To the filtered milk, add xylitol and salt mix thoroughly till it dissolves. Pour in two glasses and top them with a tsp of cinnamon powder and serve immediately.





Events

Sending this to Zesty Palette’s New You Series 3 hosted by Vardhini.

Sending this to Allergy friendly Fridays.

Sending this to Breakfast Club – Detox an event started by Helen of Fuss free flavors.

Read more »

Beat the heat - Strawberry Smoothie

With certain parts of the United States reeling under a severe heat wave, I thought will share with you couple of Beat the Heat Recipes which are simple to make and good for you.



Strawberries have very high levels of vitamin C, fiber, folate and potassium than most other fruits like bananas, apples and even oranges. These berries are good for your heart and acts as a shield for cancer protection. But strawberries are one of the most contaminated produce with pesticide. So grab a box of organic one even though it costs a few more bucks because studies show that the antioxidants are more in organic food than conventional ones. Even though strawberries are so good for you be wary of the fructose content and accordingly adjust your intake of fruits.



Preparation Time - 5 Minutes

Cooking Time - None

Serves - 1





Ingredients



Plain yogurt - 3/4 Cup

Organic Strawberries - 6 to 8

Xylitol - 1 Tbsp or a pinch of Stevia

Ice cubes - 4 (optional)



Method



1) Place the yogurt, strawberries and xylitol in a blender and blend till smooth.



2) Add the ice cubes and blend one more time and serve immediately.

Read more »

Ash Gourd(White Pumpkin) & Cilantro Smoothie

Ash Gourd/White Pumpkin/ Winter Melon/Poosanikai what ever name you call this vegetable, these are used widely in South Indian (Asian Indian) cuisine. This pumpkin unlike its yellow counter part is not sweet and tastes very neutral with lot of water content in it. It is believed that including this vegetable regularly in one's diet will help in reducing excess weight. So what are you waiting for? Try this one out and it not only tastes good but is so good for you and let me know, how you liked it.



Preparation Time - 10 Minutes

Cooking Time - Nil

Serves - 2





Ingredients



Peeled, deseeded and chopped White pumpkin pieces - 1 1/2 Cups

Chilled Yogurt - 1 Cup

Ginger - 1 inch piece

Cilantro (Chopped) - Handful

Salt - 1/2 Tsp

Green Chili - 1 or to taste (or you can use ground black pepper)

Lemon juice - 1 Tsp or to taste

Ice Cubes - 4 to 5 (Optional)



Method



1) In a blender (I used vita mix) place the white pumpkin pieces, yogurt, ginger, cilantro, salt  and green chili and blend till smooth.



2) Add the ice cubes and blend one more time and now add the lemon juice and freshly ground black pepper if you are not using green chili and serve and in tall glass immediately.



Note - Any fruit or vegetable juice gives you a sense of fullness only if you don't filter and discard the fiber. So if you are make these kind of juices regularly it is not a bad idea to get a good quality blender.

Read more »

Red Bell Pepper Juice

 Drinking at least one glass of low sodium vegetable juice daily may help overweight dieters lose more

weight. But when talking about vegetable juices most people think of carrot, beets or tomato. There are lot of other vegetables that can be juiced too. But when making juice using carrots and beets you have to understand these two vegetables are high in carbohydrate and sugar. So if you are diabetic or overweight avoid these too and go for low carb vegetable juices like Bell Pepper, Cucumber, White Pumpkin, Spinach, Tomatoes etc. Now coming back to this recipe, red bell pepper is loaded with vitamins like A & C and eating it raw and juicing it makes the body to absorb the nutrients even more easily. To spice up I have added whole black peppers. Try it out and let me know, how you like it.



Preparation Time - 5 Minutes

Cooking Time - Nil

Serves - 2





Ingredients



Organic Red Bell Pepper - 1 Whole

Black Pepper - 1/2 Tsp or to your taste

Salt - 1/4 Tsp or to taste

Lemon Juice - 1 Tsp or to taste

Water - 2 Cups (Chilled)



Preparation



1) Wash, cut and remove the seeds and cube the bell pepper into pieces.



2) Place the bell pepper pieces, black pepper, water, salt in the vita mix(or any high quality) blender and blend till smooth.



3) Add lemon juice and serve immediately.

Read more »

Cucumber Cilantro Celery Smoothie

Want to have a healthy glowing complexion then go for silica. Yes silica improves the complexion and skin health and cucumber is a very good source of silica. With spring slowly coming in and with a very hot summer in certain parts of the world, it is natural to search for thirst quenching drinks and foods. Cucumber apart from the nutrient vitamin c has a lot of water content making it a natural hydrating source. So a smoothie with Cucumber, D for detoxification rich cilantro, vitamin c rich celery, lemon juice, therapeutic ginger and calcium rich yogurt will not only fill  you up but tastes good and very good for you too. So next time you feel like grabbing that can of soda or store bought juice for quenching your thirst try this out and let me know how you liked it.



Preparation Time - 10 Minutes

Cooking Time - None

Serves - 2





Ingredients



Cucumber - 1 (Washed, rinsed, peeled)

Celery stalk - 1

Cilantro - handful (Chopped)

Ginger - 1 inch piece (peeled)

Yogurt - 1 cup (Chilled)

Salt - 1 Tsp or to taste

Lemon juice - 1 Tsp (or depending on the sourness of the yogurt)

Freshly ground Pepper - 1/2 tsp or to taste.



Method



1) Place the cucumber, celery, cilantro, ginger, salt and yogurt in a blender and blend till super smooth. ( I used my  Vitamix so whatever I throw in, I get a perfect juice without the necessity to filter any fiber and separate out).



2) Add lemon juice and ground pepper and serve with few pieces of ice.

Events



This goes to Fun N Sun an event hosted by Tickling Palates.

Also sending this to Seasonal Indulgence - Summer Coolers by Saffron Streaks.



Sending this to Mocktails & Coolers event hosted by Simply Food started by Pari.

Sending this to Healing Foods Sukham Coolers by Pedatha an event started by Siri.

Read more »