Whenever I ask my husband if he would like salad with his dinner, he usually answers “not particularly” or “not really”, his polite way of saying “hell no!”. Nik is not a huge fan (with the exception of cole slaw or potato salad), and over the years I have stopped trying to heap them onto his plate. Nik’s claim that his body gets everything it needs from his morning smoothie holds some merit, our daily breakfast is indeed extremely healthy, and I no longer worry too much about the lack of greens in his diet.
Every single morning Nik and I sit down at 9:00 to enjoy the splendid view from our porch as we drink delicious fruit smoothies. This daily routine is something we look forward to and never skip; the smoothies give us the kick-start we need for the day and, because they are so healthy, we rest in the knowledge that we are doing our bodies a favour by drinking them.
It’s not JUST a liquid breakfast, we also nibble on tasty home-made bars made with oats, toasted coconut, soursop, turmeric and mango. This combination of smoothies and power bars fills our tummies in a very healthy and satisfactory way, offering a truly beneficial use of the country’s fresh produce.
We hoard mangoes like crazy when they are dropping from the trees so that we have access to them throughout the year. It’s really quite simple to collect fresh mangoes, scoop the meat out, then package for freezing.
We also dehydrate fruit for the same reason, it can be used throughout the year if properly dried and stored. Fruits such as banana, soursop and papaya are available pretty much year-round, but mangoes? My advice is to get them while you can while they’re in season, there’s no need to go without when they are scarce!
People often ask what I put in our morning smoothies, and I am always happy to share the information. I place a large spoonful of plain yoghurt in a blender along with about half a cup of orange juice, after which the fun begins. I add a couple of ripe bananas, some soursop (like mango,
I freeze the meat of soursop for use in smoothies), lots of mango and some fresh papaya. I then throw in several pieces of turmeric and fresh mint leaves from Nik’s aquaponics garden along with a chunk of ginger, adding several ice cubes to make the smoothie nice and frosty. I pour in enough skim milk to make the ingredients easy to blend and then, voila! Breakfast is served. Nik likes his smoothie topped with cracked black pepper; this evidently enhances the power of the turmeric, but at times the pepper makes me cough so I don’t add any to mine. Our smoothies take little time to make and the effort is minimal, plus there are no messy frying pans and greasy dishes to contend with.
Do I worry about my husband’s aversion to greens? Nah, that’s why I slip those mint leaves into the smoothies each day – I’ve got him covered!
Smart (healthy) and tasty way to start the day!
For sure, a smoothie is all I need for breakfast…
Here’s what my doctor and a nutritionist told me about smoothies. While fruits have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits, smoothies are often hyper-concentrated sources of fruit sugars, To be healthy, the smoothie needs to have a dark leafy green like spinach, kale or Swiss chard (which provides fiber, calcium, vitamins A, C and K, as well as powerful phytochemicals) and protein to keep blood sugar in check and control cravings and hunger.
This is true, I usually put a healthy handful of mint but realize that probably isn’t enough…