A GREEN, LEAN, MEAN SMOOTHIE!

This cup of all green smoothie is yummalicious! And it has got an AMAZING amount of vitamins and nutrients packed into it, in the super combination of avocado, kiwi, spinach, chia and banana to give you long-lasting energy! Perfect for breakfast, or to keep you going between meals.

You will need:

•  3 small kiwi
• A dense handful of spinach
• 1 banana
• 1 small avocado
• Teaspoon chia seeds
• (A teaspoon of honey/agave nectar to add sweetness if preferred)

Steps:

1. Blend up the spinach with a little water first until that it smooth and then add the other ingredients. 
2. Blend up the ingredients, adding water until the smoothie reaches the 700ml line.
3. Enjoy!

P.S If you don't want to add so much water, you could add some natural yogurt.

Courtney x

MORNING BOOST GREEN SMOOTHIE!

Mmmm, a delicious green smoothie for that morning boost is just unbeatable! I made this small serves 1 smoothie with:

A large thick handful of spinach
1 small banana
About 5 medium sized strawberries
About 50ml of water
A teaspoon of chia seeds

So, sooooooo nutritious and healthy and really delicious too!! There's is NOTHING bad about this smoothie! None of the fruits are sugary or acidic so there are NO drawbacks! Horrah! The spinach is packed with iron, vitamin A, K, C, B2 and folic acid and also contains manganese and magnesium. So that will give you a good morning boost! Plus we all know that bananas are GREAT at setting you up for the day and releasing their energy slowly and strawberries are sooo yummy. And of course the superfood chia which is just JAM PACKED with nutritional value! So make sure you make one of these super quick and easy, tasty green breakfast smoothies soon!!!

I also prepared lots of fruit today for the next few days (and you can see another banana and berry smoothie sneaking in the background there too). Enjoy these pictures of all of my yummy fruit!

Green rooibos and honey tea!

Hello peoples! I bought this wonderful tea at a Holland and Barrett store a little while ago and have been drinking it for a few months. It's wonderful! So I did a little research about this tea...

Green rooibos is the unfermented kind of rooibos tea, you may have seen the bright red rooibos which has been fermented to get its colour. But the green is the more natural form. Green rooibos tea is naturally caffeine free, so it's generally a tea that I enjoy in the evening to wind down, just as I would drink camomile.  Like green tea, rooibos contains antioxidants and minerals that we need, however rooibos does contain slightly less than green tea. One great thing about rooibos, in complete contrast to other teas, is that it aids the absorption of iron, whereas many teas prevent the absorption. Personally, I have always struggled with my iron levels and often have to take iron supplements, so it's important that this tea actually helps to absorb that iron. As with many other teas, rooibos is great for soothing stomach pains or cramps as it relaxes the stomach muscles which are causing you pain. Similarly to camomile, it's also great for calming and relaxing you and is perfect before bed, especially for people who struggle to get off to sleep. 

In fact, overall, rooibos is quite similar to camomile tea, but has added benefits that you would expect of green tea. Ultimately I just love the taste of this tea! With the hint of honey I don't need to add any myself, and it's just delicious and soothing. Not to mention that this tea is under £2 from Holland and Barrett, so definitely worth a try!

Brita water filtering bottles - you have to get one!

Hello again guys! I recently wanted to buy a water filtering bottle because I know that I need to drink more water but I'm super fussy about the taste of water and only really drink bottled water (but even then, there are many I dislike)! I just want to drink pure and simple water. I was torn between the Bobble bottles which many of you have probably heard of and this less common Brita bottle.

One of the reasons that I went for the Brita bottle is because Brita is well known and established for it's water filtering and purity products and I thought that it would be of really high quality. And it absolutely is! The water from this bottle tastes so pure and there is no after-taste at all - I'm now drinking about 3 of these bottles a day because I can't stop drinking it! Bobble however is a fairly new brand (as far as a know) and I thought it might just be a fad, with it's many variations of funky colours.

The quality of the bottle itself is great, and one of the main reasons I went for this bottle. It's super sturdy and inflexible (which I much prefer). You can use the bottle through a straw which I prefer, or remove the straw if you don't like it. The bottle comes in this standard form, with the varying coloured stripe (I went for pink) and I think it looks quite classy like this. The Bobble however, is quite flimsy and made of very thin plastic, and rather simply I just don't like the 'peanut' kind of shape of it.

When you buy the Brita bottle, it comes with 4 filtering discs, whereas the Bobble bottles require you to replace the whole inside filtering system as opposed to just a disc, and these are about £5 a time.

I'm sure you're expecting me to say that the Brita bottle is 'more expensive but worth it', but absolutely not! I picked mine up online for a little less than £10 (around £9.50 I believe) and I frequently see the Bobble bottles for £10 in stores. The Brita bottle looks more expensive and I think that you get much more for your money. So, in short, get yourself a Brita bottle - worth every penny! Especially if, like me, you need to drink more water.

Thank you for reading and don't forget to post your comments below! Which bottle do you use?

Blue Diamond almond breeze iced mocha!

So I've been using almond milk a lot lately and I saw these advertised everywhere so I guess they must be new! Better still they're on offer for £1 at Tesco AND the Tesco food magazine had a 50p off voucher on this product, making it just 50p which is already great! 

It's 30kcals per 100ml, so just 75 calories in the whole bottle! Yes, ONLY 75! And it really, really delicious! I actually preferred this to normal iced mocha drinks that you can buy such as the Starbucks ones as I really love the almond flavour, and it makes it a lot lighter whilst also being satisfying too - in terms of filling you up and satisfying any chocolate/frappucino cravings. And at 75 calories it's a totally guilt-free way to satisfy cravings. 

As it's made with almond milk, it's also completely vegan too, so anybody can enjoy this recipe. As well as the 'mocha' flavour, they also do a cappuccino flavour which has 73 calories per bottle. 

So if you're based in the UK, next time you're in a Tesco store, grab one of their food magazines and tear out the 50p off coupon and try one of these delicious, healthy and vegan iced coffees for just a teeny 50 pence! Definitely recommend!

Strawberry and vanilla iced tea!

So this is another find from my mini Holland and Barrett haul just over a week ago! I bought a couple of different teas, but this one is quite interesting so I thought I'd talk about this one first!

So after trying quite a couple of berry teas, I've discovered that unfortunately I'm not really a fan.. However! I didn't want to waste this tea so I decided to make some iced tea with it.

I made the tea as you would normally with boiling water and added two teaspoons of honey. I then put the mug of hot tea into the freezer for about 45 minutes (as boiling water actually chills and freezes quicker than cold)! After 45 minutes I added some ice and served up. To my surprise it was actually wonderful. It's so sweet and tastes like a shop-bought iced tea. Except shop-bought iced teas often contain absolutely loads of added sugar and sweetener, but this really doesn't need it! Some natural honey is more than enough to make this super sweet and tasty.

For on-the-go iced tea, try making a large jug of tea with 3-4 tea bags and 6-8 teaspoons of honey, pour the chilled tea into plastic bottles and have your own, home-made, super healthy and cheap iced tea! You can get this exact tea from Holland and Barrett for less than £2 or very similar fruity teas from your supermarkets!

I hope you like this recipe idea and please don't forget to leave your comments below! :-)

Super simple banana milkshake!

Now this is just SO simple that I feel silly writing a recipe up for it... BUT it's so yummy and you need to all know about it. It only requires two ingredients and is at least 1 of your 5-a-day. Because banana releases it's energy slowly, it's a great thing to start the day with and carry you through to you mid-morning snack, or lunch. This makes 2 large glasses of milkshake, so either save one for later, or make one for a friend or partner too! But anyway, here goes!

Cooking and preparation time: 3 minutes

You will need:

• About 600ml of almond milk
• 3 medium sized bananas
• Almond flakes (optional)
• Dessicated coconut (optional)

Steps:

1. Simply chop the bananas and add them to a blender with all of the almond milk and blend for a minute or two.
2. Add some almond flakes and dessicated coconut to the top for flavour and appearance and serve up and enjoy!

I hope you like this recipe and please don't forget to leave your comments below! :-)

Healthy date smoothie (that tastes like caramel milkshake)!

I've never been one to use dates but have recently realised what a wonder they can be and they make up almost half of my favourite Nakd bar ever, 'cashew cookie', so I thought I should try them out! I vaguely remember hearing something about date smoothies a little while ago so thought 'why not?' I used unsweetened almond milk for this recipe although other milk such as soy or rice milk would work just as well. You could even add extra flavour by using chocolate or vanilla soy milk for extra yummyness! Now there are loads of things that would work well with this, like banana, coconut, etc, but I wanted to see what just date smoothie tasted like! And the clue is in the title of this post; it was like a caramel milkshake! Delicious! Honestly, if you're really craving a Starbucks Frappucino, satisfy the craving by making one of these, you won't be disappointed!

You will need:

• 10 dates
• 350ml of almond milk

Steps:

1. Cut up the dates into finer pieces to make them blend more easily and add to the blender, cutting into quarters will do just fine.
2. Add 350ml of chilled almond milk.
3. Turn on the blender and blend for about 5 minutes as it takes time for the dates to become blended and for their flavour to mix too.
4. Remove any unblended dates for a smoother texture.
5. Serve up and enjoy for a sweet treat!

Summer treats - homemade iced coffee!

Now I really enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning, but sometimes it's just too hot for that, so I decided to try and make some iced coffee at home, which was surprisingly easy and tasty.

You will need:

• Coffee
• Ice cubes
• Milk (optional)
• Caramel/honey for flavouring (optional)

Steps:

1. Use boiling water to brew some coffee as your normally would, in a jug but don't add any milk. If you want to add honey or caramel to your iced coffee, add it to the jug of just-boiled coffee as it will mix more easily.
2. Place the jug in the freezer for half an hour. Boiling water actually cools to low temperatures/freezes more quickly than cold water does (but that's a chemistry matter so we won't go into that). Anyway, that means that after 30 minutes your coffee will be nicely chilled. If you want to serve up your coffee later in the day, after 30 minutes, place it in the refrigerator to keep it cool.
3. When you want to serve your iced coffee, find a tall glass or latte glass and fill almost to the top with ice cubes. Making coffee or e.g caramel ice cubes is a great way to preserve or add flavour.
4. Then pour in your jug of coffee, leaving some room for milk.
5. Add the milk and watch the two mix. Stir with a long spoon.
6. Add any sugar/sweetener and enjoy!

I hope you enjoy this recipe and don't forget to leave you comments below! :-)

Product review - Glacéau vitamin water!

I'm sure many of you have heard of this brand and it's really worth giving them a try! There are always lots of different flavours so you're bound to find one that you like. My personal favourites are the two I have photographed to the left, the 'dragon fruit' flavour and 'xxx-triple berry'. 

The great thing about these products is that you can get the right 'pick me up' for you. Whether you're feeling lethargic and could do with some iron or just want your daily antioxidants, there's a bottle to give you a boost in the day.

Like a smoothie, these are a great drink to have between 11am and lunch time to boost your vitamins and minerals and carry you through the day. 

As well as this, they're delicious! And low in calories too at about 65 calories for the whole 500ml! They can contain about 15g of sugar, but this is more natural (especially in fruit) than having lots of artificial sweetener anyway! Aside from this, they contain very, very few added ingredients and only natural flavourings, as well as containing 0% fat and salt.

Also, the bottles are sturdy and hold 500ml, so I like to fill them with water and lemon slices and leave in the fridge - this way, at 500ml each, it's easy to keep track of how much water you're drinking and ensure that you get enough!

As a mostly natural vitamin and mineral boost, low in calories and delicious too, I would 100% recommend these to anybody - especially those on the go! So trade in your morning coffee for one of these healthy and delicious morning boosts!

Don't forget to leave your comments below! :) 

Camomile tea and honey!

I'm a big fan of herbal and fruit teas and this is my current favourite! 

• As a caffeine-free tea, with natural relaxing properties, it's a great drink to have to help you to wind down before bed and sleep well - especially for those of you who struggle to fall asleep quickly at night as camomile is known to ease insomnia.
• The added honey (around a teaspoon) gives it a lovely sweet flavour and also makes the drink perfect if you're suffering with a cold and/or have a sore throat or cough. It helps to soothe your throat and reduce any swelling!
• Camomile is often regarded as an 'alternative medicine' for its ability to help people to manage their stresses and anxiety and unwind. 
• Studies have shown that camomile itself can help to boost your immune system, making a cup of camomile and honey tea the perfect brew if you have a cold.
• If you're enduring stomach pains or menstrual cramps, camomile tea, much like many herbal teas, can help to relax your stomach muscles and ease the pain.
• And finally, camomile is rich is antioxidants, providing you with many health benefits!

How to enjoy water!

So I know that lots of people know the importance of drinking water, and want to get their 2L per day but simply just don't like the taste. Or lack of taste.

In the pictures you'll see that I've used limes. These are great because you can slice them up into thin slices, put them in a dish and freeze them. This means that not only do they infuse your water with flavour, but they act as ice cubes and keep it cool at home. Also, and these are really great, you can buy an infuser bottle, which can be found on Amazon, and have cold, infused water on the go! 

You can infuser your water with many fruits, especially berries, and make it much more enjoyable to drink water and stay hydrated!

Don't forget to leave your comments below! :)