To Fuel You Through Yule!
In all the frenzy that can be the build-up to Christmas day (not in my house, I’m way too chilled for all of that), it’s all too easy for some of us to skip meals in our haste to hunt presents, wrap presents and hide presents… or assume that luxury and indulgence should only be cordoned off for the days between Christmas Eve and New Year’s.
Which is why I figured the world needed my Five Festive Smoothies for December; smoothies to re-energise (via fruit and/or sugar!); smoothies to savour; smoothies to devour – with more than a half hour to yourself and a little Michael Bublé.
And so here they are, in no particular order of deliciousness:
1: Gingerbread Smoothie
The coffee shops have long been putting the jingle bells in our caffe lattes, so why don’t we give a festive upgrade to our homemade smoothies too? This recipe is easy peasy to make – as are all of the following. Just bung all the ingredients into your blender or smoothie maker, blitz away then drink. Simply divine.
Ingredients:
-1 banana (or if you prefer an ice cold smoothie, freeze a banana overnight)
-240ml milk
-1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
-1 teaspoon ground ginger
-1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
-1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
-1/4 teaspoon allspice
-1 gingerbread man (or lady) biscuit (a nice chunky one from the bakery works best for maximum flavour)
-1 tablespoon plain yoghurt
-1 stick of cinnamon (for decoration)
2: Cranberry and Orange Smoothie
For something a little “healthier” and more virtuous (although regular readers of The Glass House know I do not advocate labeling food as good versus bad; if you want something you should give yourself carte blanche to eat it and enjoy it!), the seasonal Cranberry and Orange smoothie is hard to beat. Perfect at breakfast time to put you in the mood to get all those Christmas chores completed…
Ingredients:
-1 banana (or if you prefer an ice cold smoothie, freeze a banana overnight)
– 1/2 cup frozen cranberries
– the juice of one large orange
– 240ml milk of your choice
– 120ml plain yogurt
– 1/2 teaspoon of honey
Put it all into the blender or smoothie maker, whiz up and drink immediately.
3: Mince Pie Smoothie
Hey, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. This is deelish! Really. And so much so you will have queues of yuletide visitors rubbing their mittened hands in gleeful anticipation. Or you could just keep it to yourself… but it’s way too good for that and since this is the season of goodwill… I too, will share.
Ingredients:
– 580ml milk
– 180g mincemeat (for mince pies… if you have homemade then all the better)
Only two ingredients for this smoothie, it couldn’t be simpler. Pop them in your blender or smoothie maker gently to avoid giant splash backs, hit the button and drink!
4: Mulled Wine Smoothie
This smoothie version of the Christmassy drink we all love to warm ourselves up with in the run up to the BIG day, is perfect for a mid-afternoon pick me up… and it’s packed with bags of goodness and pretty damned addictive to boot: be warned, you could end up making several batches.
Ingredients:
– 4 apples (I’m not going to be precious about it… whatever you can get your hands on will be fine)
– 2 pears
– 1 litre of red wine (house is just fine unless you are super posh)
– 1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon
– 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
Okay, so this one requires a few more steps than the others, but is still a doddle to compose:
Method:
– Cut the fruit into small pieces.
– Gently stew the apples and pears in a heavy duty saucepan over a low heat for a couple of hours (top up with water – just enough to cover the top of the fruit – every so often to avoid it burning).
– When the fruit is soft, add the wine and simmer for 10 minutes.
– Gently pour (or ladle) the mixture into your blender or smoothie maker and whiz up until it reaches your preferred texture.
– Serve warm in mugs. Liquid apple pie with a kick!
5: Eggnog Smoothie*
Finally, how could I have a festive smoothie article without the ubiquitous but yummy Eggnog? So here it is. Get your reindeer jumper at the ready and whiz up the following ingredients to produce a sublime moment… or two… if the kids are out of the house.
Ingredients:
– 240ml plain yoghurt
– 2 bananas
– 1 tablespoon coconut oil
– 1 egg yolk
– 2 tablespoons syrup
– 1 tablespoon good quality vanilla extract
– a pinch of nutmeg
*NB. This particular recipe is best avoided if you are pregnant or have a compromised immune system due to the egg yolk not being cooked.
And just like that, Christmas To-Do lists just got a whole lot more do-able!
