Four fruit smoothie.

 One of my all time favourite breakfast beverages, is a fruit smoothie. Back in middle school, I would get a Boost smoothie after school on Fridays each week.  I've always particularly liked their smoothies, because of their thick consistency. However, I realised after a while how much money I was spending each month on a smoothie, something I could easily replicate at home.

Making your own smoothies at home are so customisable. Add whatever fruits you love: mangoes, strawberries, blueberries, kiwi. My favourite all time combination are mangoes, strawberries, blueberries and banana. I'm taking advantage of the mangoes and strawberries, since they're in season right now. 

If you want a thick consistency, add less liquid. Also add a lot of ice to make it very icy! Nothing beats a cold smoothie on a hot summer day. 

You can either use milk, or some sort of fruit juice. As I said, you can customise it yourself. However, I'm posting my own favourite smoothie recipe. Enjoy. 

Four fruit smoothie

Ingredients:

. 1 banana 

. Handful of strawberries (about 10), sliced

. 1 mango, diced

. 1/2 cup blueberries

. 1/3 or 1/2 cup milk, depending on your desired consistency

. 1 and a half cups of ice

Method:

1. Combine all ingredients together in a blender and process until smooth.

2. Serve immediately 

5 things (featuring fruits)

1. Blueberries

I used this recipe.

I eat blueberries (from the frozen box) on a daily basis. Usually with Greek yoghurt or in the form of a smoothie. Blueberries are cancer-fighting super-foods and can even improve memory!

Today, I baked some blueberry muffins. They have a lovely, fluffy and moist texture. I think it is due to the creaminess of the Greek yoghurt! I used half whole wheat flour and half purpose flour. So you can say, it's kind-of-healthy. So delicious, I had about three when they came out of the oven. I have been on the Greek yoghurt kick lately. I prefer it to normal yoghurt. It is so creamy and hey, it has more protein than normal yoghurt!

2. Peanut butter, bananas and strawberries combo.

Here you have wholemeal toast, with some smooth peanut butter spread topped with bananas and strawberries. 

Not that I didn't like it before, but I have a real obsession with peanut butter right now. My dad was telling my mum not to buy so much because I'm eating too much and it's not good for you.. Truth is, I've been using a lot of peanut butter for my baking. I bake for my friends (so I can fatten them instead of me). But now, I've actually started eating it on toast and also by its own (occasionally). But did you know, peanut butter is good for you, in moderation. I don't know whether it is an Asian thing, but I hear constantly from my parents and Asian friends that their parents don't buy peanut butter because it's bad. BUT IT CONTAINS PROTEIN AND MONO-UNSATURATED FATS, the good kinds of fats that can lower the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Same with avocados. People used to think "Oh avocado, lots of fats and high in calories" , but they contain good kinds of fats! I'm planning to make avocado pasta one of these days. I do love a creamy pasta.

Strawberries are in season now! After a bitter, probably one of the coldest winters and strawberries were expensive, THEY ARE NOW UBER CHEAP. My mum has bought a few boxes. I've been eating them everyday. They are a good source of vitamin C, experts even say that strawberries can result in healthier, younger looking skin (no wrinkles for me?)

3. Dippin' dots

I went to the Royal Melbourne show with my friends, and I bought one of these.I bought the bubblegum flavour (right). These are called Dippin' dots and they are made by freezing some ice cream with liquid nitrogen. They're super cold, and they're quite fun if you ask me.

4. Mooncakes

My mum has been busy in the kitchen, baking batch after batch of mooncakes! She has been selling this to friends. It's for charity, and she did this last year as well. You would not believe how many left over mooncakes were sitting in our containers last year... I'm not really a mooncake fan, so I don't eat them.

5. Christmas

Courtesy of Urban 75 blog

My favourite time of the year is just a shy 3 months away. This festive season includes Michael Buble's Christmas album, stuffing myself with food such as pudding and shortbread, Home Alone, presents, Santa hats, decorations! The only thing I wish for is snow. I've always fantasised of having a white Christmas in New York. I've seen the pictures; Rockefeller centre and Central Park, the atmosphere there just seems lovely.