beat the heat drinks — no. 1

with heat and humidity reaching 37 C in my area lately, all thoughts are on cooling down and escaping the oppressive midday sun. over the next while, i will be posting a few of my favourite drinks that can either be used to cool down or to start your day.

the first is a smoothie type drink which is quickly thrown together and blended, especially if you get the blender out the night before and have your ingredients ready to go. part of the success is having the fruit you are using frozen. this helps thicken things without the excess use of ice which tends to dilute the flavours. of course, you can still successfully make them without freezing the fruit. i'll leave that up to you :-) if you use soy milk, you can use either plain or vanilla flavoured — both work well. if using frozen fruit, you will probably need a bit extra liquid than called for in the recipes below.

strawberry banana smoothie

strawberries and bananas go together perfectly in this almost milkshake type drink. great for a hot day or starting your morning!

makes 1 large smoothie or 2 small ones

ingredients:

4 to 5 good sized frozen strawberries
1/2 large banana, sliced and frozen*
3 good sized ice cubes
1 - 3 tsp sugar
2/3 - 1 c soy milk OR regular milk OR yogurt, or more as needed
1 tbsp soy protein powder (totally optional)

*you can substitute 1 frozen peach [peeled, "stoned" & sliced] for the banana or the strawberries

method:

place fruit and ice in blender with sugar. here i used a fresh banana instead of frozen. if you don't have a strong blender you may want to use fresh fruit but don't omit the ice.


add the liquid and blend to desired consistency.



chocolate fruit smoothie


sounds a bit strange but this combination makes a great beverage. the strawberry is a good compliment to the predominating flavour of the cocoa, adding a bit of tang.

makes 1 large smoothie or 2 small ones

ingredients:

4 to 5 good sized frozen strawberries
1/2 large banana, sliced {banana doesn't have to be frozen}
3 good sized ice cubes
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp sugar
2/3 - 1 c soy milk OR regular milk OR yogurt, or more as needed

method:

place fruit and ice in blender with sugar and cocoa.

add the liquid and blend to desired consistency.

add more liquid as needed. blend until smooth and serve right away.

enjoy!