Smoothies: A Beginners guide

This is a bit of a request post by my buddy Kazia (check out her beauty and baking blog) Madame Tatouage who has recently got a smoothie maker but doesn't know where to begin with making delicious smoothies.

I'm happy she asked actually as I remember when I first started making smoothies and feeling a bit lost and intimidated by the copius amounts of information. I did a lot of online research and got a couple of books as I couldn't really find the one-stop-shop for starter smoothies that weren't full of crazy powders (fairy dust) and endless amounts of bananas - plus I didnt want to buy loads of gorgeous fruit and make something similar to swamp juice.

So here are some top tips and simple recipes for you to start with if your not sure what to whizz up...

Think about what kind of fruity cocktails you like, sounds strange but its a great way of defining what kind of flavours you enjoy enough to pay 12 quid a glass for. I'm a pina colada girl so I love tropical and creamy flavours but you may be in to your mojitos so go for something citrus based and zesty.

Get your hands on some jars, you will get some funny looks in the office (you can always decant the smoothies into glasses) but for storage sake get some sealable jars or clip fresh cups. Plus you need to shake it to wake it so lids are a must.

Buy some milled flaxseed, you can get it from most health shops including Holland & Barrett. It's a bit pricey but you will only use a teaspoon per smoothie on average and if kept in a sealed container it will last for weeks. This is one fairy dust I would definitely recommend adding to smoothies as it makes the smoothie way more filling. Plus it is amazingly good for you as it is proven to lower the risk of all the bad things in life such as heart disease and cancer, it also balances female hormones so if you have skin and mood problems related to your menstrual cycle it will help out with the endless struggle for clear skin.

Add kale whenever you can. Kale has more iron per calorie than beef. Fact. It makes your smoothies a bit of a sludgy colour but boy it is worth it.

Don't feel ashamed to sieve. At first the texture of pulpy smoothies can be really off putting, don't be proud just sieve that stuff out in to a seperate bowl and add it back in tablespoons until you get a texture you are comfortable with and trust me within a couple of weeks you will miss this step and not even realise you did it.

Cream it up. If your a non-vegan I would suggest adding fat free yoghurt to your smoothies, this will make them super silky without any added fat. If you are a veganoid add some soy yoghurt, for a touch of indulgence add some low-fat coconut milk.

Lastly, keep it simple. Don't go adding every fruit you can find, the overall flavour will be a bit confused plus some fruits just don't go together.

 This is the first smoothie I ever made and I still make it on a regular basis, its really simple and tastes absolutely delicious.

You will need;

• 1 mango cut into chunks
• 2 cups of orange juice
• 3 Tbsp yoghurt (dairy-free or otherwise)
• 2 Tbsp milled flaxseed 
• 1 cup reduced fat coconut milk

Whizz everything up and add some berries (they'll absorb all the flavour and juice and be a nice treat at the end)

This is a great smoothie to start introducing some greens with as the flavour of the strawberries and mango is quite strong (the smoothie above hasn't been sieved hense the sludgy look)

 You will need;

• 1/2 a mango cut into chunks
• Handful of strawberries hulled and cut into halves
• Bunch of kale washed and large stalk removed
• 1 cup of orange juice
• 2 Tbsp milled flaxseed
• 1 cup of almond milk 

 Whizz up and top with a cheeky strawberry.

I hope this has helped smoothie newbies, the recipes are really flexible and once you have the combos down you will be whizzing all day and night!

My yoga retreat; Les Passeroses, France

Do you ever do something just to see if you can actually achieve it? Well this was mine...

To go on a holiday on my own with people I had never met before. I chose to do it in the safer environment of a yoga retreat in South West France, near Bordeaux this way if I got lost I would end up in a vineyard somewhere which isn't at all bad. I have been practising yoga for about 5 years and I pop it in the category with hot bubble baths and eating grapes on the sofa while watching The Big Bang Theory - one of life's simple lone pleasures so it made sense to me to go on my own to the yoga retreat. Come to think of it I have never done yoga with any of my friends probably because I'd end up laughing and falling on my head.

I googled yoga retreats in Europe and Time Out's top yoga retreats feature came up and on it was Les Passeroses, I read the reviews and contacted the yoga teachers and I was really impressed as the price was only 300 quid for a week full board, all I had to buy on top of that was some Eurostar tickets as you are at a retreat there arent any shops to buy loads of wine and chocolates.

So I set off on a Monday morning in the midst of a grey, dull October in London and headed off to King Cross to cath my train to serenity. With a good book (Caitlin Moran's 'How to be a Woman', lots of comfy clothes, a bar of chocolate and a box of Hummus, carrot and courgette wraps to last me the journey (lasted till about 11am).

 I can honestly say this was the most relaxing holiday I have ever been on. The 5 hours of yoga a day, awesome vegan food, meditation, lounging in the garden surrounded by dragonflies and not having to worry about whether friends or family are enjoying themselves - it all felt very self indulgent (I even took the battery out of my phone for the whole time out of sheer escapism).

Without getting too 'deep' and hippyfied this retreat pretty much sorted my mindset out for a good while and I came back to London feeling refreshed and so unbelievably chilled. I didn't really go on the retreat to 'find myself' I just went to test myself and I discovered along the way that I'm braver than I know.

http://www.passeroses.com/

A few snaps from my time at the beautiful Les Passeroses...

Vegan cinnamon and pear maple French Toast

Oh yeah that's what I said...

I think one of my favourite parts of the weekend is being able to have a proper cooked breakfast preferably while sitting in my consevatory watching the squirrels play in the garden and listening to some old records...bliss! As a vegan its a bit tricky to think of things that you can whip up to have as a hot breakfast and I must admit when I was vegetarian one of my favourite breakfasts was something I ate a lot of when I used to go camping as a child with the Woodcraft Folk which is eggy bread (French Toast if your american or posh) I used to have one slice with nutella and one with cinnamon sugar.

I've been craving this recently and decided to make a vegan version - I think this recipe combines pretty much all of my favourite sweet flavours, hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

You will need;

1 carton of silken tofu
1/2 cup almond milk
2 Tbsp maple syrup
2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
4 to 6 slices of wholegrain bread

To top;
1 pear cut into chunky slices
3 Tbsp raw cane sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon
Raisins soaked in orange juice
maple syrup

Add the tofu, milk, maple syrup, cinnamon, salt and oil into a blender and whizz then pour the mixture into a shallow bowl or deep soup plate. Dip the slices of bread in the mixture until fully covered and heat a little oil in a pan or griddle and fry until golden and crispy. Set aside and in a seperate bowl mix up the pear slices in the cinnamon sugar and griddle until caramelised and softened. Stack your french toast up with pears, the soaked raisins and a slick of maple syrup. YUMMO!