Creamy Banana Passion Smoothie

In the house where I grew up we had a passionfruit vine growing along the fence for some years. I recently rediscovered my passion for passionfruit thanks to some cheap summer produce & created this delicious & simple smoothie.

2 large bananas, chopped
6 passionfruit, halved
2 cups water
¾ cup almonds (soaked is best)
⅓ cup dates
1 tsp vanilla extract or ½ bean

Blend bananas, water, almonds, dates, & vanilla until smooth. Scoop out passionfruit seeds & flesh, add to blender, & whiz until well combined & seeds are broken up (into pieces around the size of black sesame seeds). Serves 4.

Don’t over-blend this one or it will froth up! If you want to make your smoothie extra-icy, add ½-1 cup of ice & blend for 10 seconds.

&here’s a bonus blurry pic of my most excellent raw pizza lunch & green juice:

&for people who are counting: 11 weeks to go…

Sweet banana kale smoothie

This is a HUGE smoothie. I’ve been having it very regularly in the morning since I’ve been pregnant… followed by more breakfast! If you’re not pregnant, you will probably drink half, or have a few glasses of this throughout the morning.

2 medium to large bananas
3-4 large kale leaves, torn up
10-12 almonds (preferably soaked)
1-2 brazil nuts
1 tbsp goji berries
3 dried figs, chopped
medium to large dash (bloop!) of cold-pressed linseed (flax) oil
2 cups water

Put all the ingredients in the blender & blend until smooth, then drink up & say OMNOMNOM!

Other options:
+ If the smoothie is a bit warm after blending, add up to a cup of ice and blend for another 10 seconds.
+ Add a teaspoon of cinnamon &/or sprinkle some on top.
+ Add a teaspoon of spirulina &/or a teaspoon of dairy-free probiotic powder.
+ Swap linseed oil for chia seeds, which are super-high in omega oils, & – like linseed/flax – are in the correct ratio for absorption. Note that if you let the smoothie sit around before you drink it, the chia will turn the smoothie into a thick pudding texture! & on that note, stay tuned for my chia pudding recipes!

* Note almonds are softer after soaking & blend up more easily, making a smoother milk. Soaked almonds are also sweeter! Ideal soaking time is at least 12 hours, but just a couple hours or overnight will make a big difference. Additionally: when raw seeds – including almonds – are soaked, it begins the sprouting process, during which fats begin to be converted for the growing process into other nutrients, such as protein. I keep a bowl of raw almonds (about a cup or two) soaking in water in my fridge, and I change the water every day or two.

Coming up next: raw carob cookie recipe, raw chia pudding & choc pudding recipes – all super-easy & requiring no cooking!

Today’s big (mostly) raw breakfast

Green Banana-Kale Smoothie

Ingredients
4 bananas, peeled
½ cup kale leaves, torn up
10 raw almonds
2 raw brazil nuts, shelled
2 sweet dried dates, pitted
1 tsp probiotic powder
1 tsp spirulina powder
water as needed

Method
Put everything in a blender with about a cup or two of water. Blend it, blend it good – for two minutes at most. Add more water (if needed) until desired consistency is reached. Pour into glasses. Drink it! Or eat it with a spoon, if it’s very thick. Um. Serves 2.

Along with the smoothie, today’s mostly-raw breakfast included Marmite, sliced tomato, a sprinkle of nutritional yeast flakes & fresh cracked pepper on raw bread, and a pot of Japanese green tea.

Nutrition: details for the whole breakfast
Brazil nuts contain lots of selenium – they’re the best source around. Apparently just 1 nut a day can fix a deficiency within a week! There’s also B-12 in the Marmite & yeast flakes, more B vitamins in the bananas, vitamin C in the tomato, lycopenes, all sorts of crazy nutrients in the spirulina, minerals in the kale… The bread and nuts contain some fat, but that’s mostly made up of essential omega oils. Zinc, potassium, fibre, yadda yadda yadda. Some specific details (approx):

Calories: 447
Carbohydrate: 73.3g
Fat: 16.0g
Protein: 12.7g
Fibre: 10.0g
Calcium: 160.9mg

That’ll do, pig, that’ll do. A pretty good start to the day, and certainly a great energy boost. Coming up next for morning tea: a mandarin! Or two… possibly three… they’re really tasty organic mandarins! And, as a bonus, they’re high in vitamin C and contain a bit of calcium and even some iron. And probably lots of other useful stuff that I can’t think of right now. Fruit is good, ja.

Carob Banana Breakfast Smoothie Treat!

Ingredients
1/4 cup raw almonds
1.5 cups filtered water
a crushed vanilla bean or 1 tsp alcohol-free natural vanilla essence
1 tsp dairy-free pro-biotic powder*
2 ripe or overripe bananas
1 tbsp (or be more generous! yum!) raw carob bean powder
pinch to 1/2 tsp spirulina powder
tiny pinch of sea salt

Method
Add almonds, water, vanilla and pro-biotic powder to blender, blend until smooth (it will be slightly warm by this stage, activating the pro-biotic). Add remaining ingredients, blend until well combined. Serves 2.

Notes
Serve over ice if you’d prefer your drink cooled rather than room temperature-ish, or use refrigerated or frozen bananas.

You can store it in the fridge for a 2-4 days, during which the pro-biotics will flourish.

*Animal-free/dairy-free pro-biotic powders typically contain lactobacillus acidophilus, bifidobacterium lactis, and/or oligofructos. These are fungus-like, unicellular microorganisms, also found in soy yogurt, similar to yeast, from the bacteria kingdom rather than animal. Unlike animals, they don’t have capacity for suffering, thinking, etc, and you’ll be giving the blighters a happy home inside you anyhow! And they will help maintain your gut flora health. The point is: it’s vegan.