Cool, Healthy, and PURPLE!

A rather unusual bunch of ingredients, huh? Well, I used these to make a breakfast smoothie that I hope will set me to rights for the rest of the day. There’s yogurt to settle my belly which is, alas, besieged because I’m currently on antibiotics. There’s a banana for extra potassium to keep stress at bay. Finally, there’s a bottle of Del Monte Fit ‘n’ Right in blueberry-grape; the L-carnitine, you see. If it helps burn off fat, then I’m having it.

The end result is a smooth, tangy, and satisfying shake in a rather fetching shade of pale lavender. Try it for yourself; it’s quite a power-up.

Purple Power Smoothie

• 1 small cup strawberry yogurt (cherry and raspberry yogurts also work well)
• 1/3 cup blueberry-grape juice drink (substitute grape juice or a tablespoon of blueberry concentrate diluted in 1/3 cup water)
• 1 banana
• 1/3 cup ice cubes

Put all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth and slightly thickened. Makes 1 large glass.

A Sunshiny Breakfast Drink

Of late, the skies have been overcast in the daytime, rain falls in torrents in the afternoon, and there’s a definite chill in the night air that causes people to feel more than a little sluggish come morning. Times like these, one needs what I would call supplemental sunshine to get the day off to a good start.

In my case, my take on supplemental sunshine involves fresh fruit – here, a ripe lacatan banana and a sliced nectarine from a bunch bought on a recent foray among the greengrocers in Chinatown – and some milk or a fruit-flavored yogurt. Everything gets blitzed together in a blender to create a pretty, friendly-colored (pinkish or yellowish depending on the fruit and/or fruit yogurt you have on hand) smoothie that is both delicious and uplifting,

Supplemental Sunshine

• 1 ripe banana, quartered
• 1 stone fruit (mango, peach, plum, nectarine), seeded and sliced (Note: If using mangoes, be sure to peel them; mango skins are inedible! In the case of other fruits, though, leave the skin on for extra nutrition.)
• 1 cup low-fat milk or fruit-flavored yogurt
• 1 tablespoon honey or 1 sachet Splenda
• 3 – 4 ice cubes (optional if you’re using frozen fruit yogurt)

Toss everything into a blender and blitz for about 30 seconds or until well-liquefied, smooth, and frothy. Makes enough for two 8oz.-glasses or 1 large tumbler.

The Get-Up-and-Go Liquid Breakfast

It’s raining kittens and pups outside today and, since I went to the gym last night and got home late, I feel that my "get up and go" spark just got up and went without me! (And no: it isn’t helping that it’s already nine in the morning and I’m still the only person in the department!) On days like these, you just know it’s time to break out the blender (or hand-mixer, whichever’s easier for you to use) and whip up something to boost your vim.

This particular recipe is adapted from one I saw on an episode of Nigella Express that was recently aired on Discovery Travel and Living. When I looked it up in the book of the same title, it found out that it’s actual name is the Go Get ‘Em Smoothie. It’s a rich chocolate milkshake chock-full of potassium to keep your temper in check, honey for energy, calcium for bone and stamina building, and just the faintest hint of coffee to add some caffeinated zing to your day. (I had to use the barest amount of coffee in mine – and it had to be decaf because Lord only knows what the doctor will say if she finds out!) Add the fact that there’s chocolate in it, and you have a shake that will put a smile on your face for the bulk of the day.

My version uses fresh bananas, milk, coffee, just a wee twinge of honey, and a sachet of either Pan de Manila’s Chocolate con Leche or Anastacio’s Choco Filipino instant hot chocolate mix. The tablea-style flavors of these local mixes add a hint of the exotic to this otherwise oh-so-Occidental breakfast drink. I seriously recommend this for anyone whose energy flags in the morning, people with severe calcium deficiencies like my mother who needs to take calcium supplements twice a day, and for people like my friend Nix who have the misfortune of fractures. (Hey, girl! Get well soon!)

Midge’s Get Up and Go Shake

• 1 largish ripe lacatan banana, quartered
• 1 cup cold milk
• 1/4 to 1 teaspoon instant coffee, depending on how caffeinated you need to be for the day
• 1 tablespoon honey or 1 sachet Splenda or other sugar substitute
• 1 sachet instant hot chocolate mix
• 3 – 4 ice cubes

Place all the ingredients in a blender or a metal/plastic pitcher. If using a blender, blitz for about 1 minute or until all the ingredients have been liquefied and the resulting mixture is frothy. If using a hand mixer, blitz the ingredients down till pureed, then blitz some more until properly liquefied and frothy.

Makes enough for 2 8-oz. glasses or one large tumbler.

Viva Mexico!: The New Single-origin Hot Choc at Heavenly Chocolates

Those of you who are, like me, completely and utterly besotted by chocolate would do well to head on over to Heavenly Chocolates along Roces Avenue in Quezon City.  Why?  The newest addition to the shop’s menu of single-origin hot chocolates is quite a stunner with a lot of historical impact.  This, dear SybDive readers, is the Mexico.

Cold, Creamy, and Healthy?!?

I really like the chilled soy milk at North Park.  It’s cool, creamy, certainly healthy, and has an odd but not unpleasant apple-like aftertaste as it goes down.  I could use a glass of it just now; hmm…