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You are here: Home / Archives for Vitamix

Making A Healthy Start With The Green Smoothie Club

August 22, 2014 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 1 Comment

Last week a few people that I follow on Twitter were chatting about something called the Green Smoothie Club it was a challenge they were taking part in which involved having a green smoothie each day packed full of fruit and vegetables.

Well I’ve been feeling rundown and pretty lousy since having Chloe and it’s now 9 months on so something had to change. I have a pretty good and varied diet but it feels as though Chloe drains ( literally)all the goodness from my body leaving me with little energy, tired skin and lacklustre hair.

A challenge which includes extra fruit and veg every day could only be a positive thing yes?

So I’ve begun. It’s now 5 days in. I’m really enjoying it. My OH has joined in too and it means I’m more likely to keep up with it.

I’ve used 3 different fruit/veg combos so far that have worked really well and taste good so I thought I would share them with you.

1. 1/2 Courgette, carrot, apple,1 cube of frozen spinach,1 cube of frozen ginger,banana, mint and 1tbsp of linseed. Along with a small tray of ice blended until smooth in my Vitamix – this is lovely, a bit of a kick from the ginger but quite subtle.

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2. Apple, Carrot, courgette1 cube of frozen spinach, 2 cubes of ginger, mint, 2 tbsp of linseed, ice and 1 Crushed apple and strawberry pure fruit pouch – this was really refreshing and zingy!

3. Blueberries, courgette, carrot, linseed, apple and a Vitacoco mango, ice and pineapple coconut water.

I’ve found I prefer the smoothies which don’t have too much banana as I get to taste the other fruits n veggies. I find banana is such a strong flavour that it can easily take over everything else.

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It’s hard to say if it’s having a difference yet although I do feel a bit brighter and considering I’ve had a week of very little sleep that’s fairly remarkable. It also means I’m wasting less veg and fruit as I’m throwing all my odds and ends in the Vitamix.

I’ve also started dicing some bananas and carrots and freezing them ready to throw into my smoothies. Organisation is key to keeping up with all new challenges I feel. My aim is to keep up with the green smoothies for at least 5 days a week. I’ll keep you updated on my progress.

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Filed Under: Drinks, Recipes · Tagged: green smoothie club, smoothies, Vitamix

A Simple Soup

June 27, 2014 · by munchiesandmunchkins · Leave a Comment

With most relationships you have ups and downs and periods of time where you just take the other party for granted. That’s how I feel about my Vitamix.

When I first won it I was over the moon and I had great ideas for what I would make. That first month I made lots and lots of amazing dishes. After the honeymoon period I settled into just ‘using’ my Vitamix. I threw veggies in when I was too lazy to dice and grate. I used it to make my milk all foamy when I wanted an indulgent hot choc and also to make the odd smoothie.

The last few months I have once again become enamoured with it. I’ve made lots of lovely delights. Such as salted caramel sauce and pesto.

Today I just made a simple soup. Simple in the ingredients, not so on taste. It was delicious and both myself, toddler and OH thoroughly enjoyed. It was easy, so easy in fact I feel daft sharing the recipe but here you go.

My Simple Soup

You will need:

1 carrot
1/2 a red onion
A bunch of fresh Basil
1 carton of chopped tomatoes
500ml of vegetable stock
1 squirt of tomato purée – I used Cirio
Seasoning – sea salt and black pepper

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If you are using a Vitamix you can throw it all in, turn it up to the highest point and leave for 4-5 minutes until hot.

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If making in a saucepan, first sauté the diced onion and diced carrot in a pan until soft before adding all other ingredients and warming through. Then use a hand blender (carefully) to purée it.

It can be served as just a soup or over pasta or chicken or in my toddlers case with sliced sausage and hunks of bread.

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I should also point out that this is a really budget friendly recipe 🙂

Enjoy.

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Filed Under: Budgeting, Recipes · Tagged: Basil, soup, tomato, Vitamix

Salted Caramel Luxury Hot Chocolate

January 20, 2014 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 2 Comments

Oh my. This stuff is good. If you liked all the flavoured hot chocolates and coffees on offer during the festive season you will love this.

You will need:

1 cup of milk ( I used skimmed but you could use whole for extra indulgence)
1 small handful of chocolate buttons
1 tbsp of salted caramel sauce – recip ehere
2tsps of good quality hot chocolate or cocoa powder
Squirty Cream to top and a drizzle of sauce

If you are using a Vitamix place all ingredients apart from the squirty cream in the blender and starting at variable 1 increase to variable 2 and speed 10 and blend for around 4 minutes until hot. If you don’t have a Vitamix place ingredients in a saucepan and whisk well over a moderate heat.

Top with squirty cream and a drizzle of salted caramel.

This is utterly gorgeous and you may burn your tongue if you don’t exercise a little restraint 😉

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Enjoy 😀

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Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: hot chocolate, salted caramel, Vitamix

Drinking during pregnancy

August 26, 2013 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 6 Comments

This post originally began as a list of drinks that I had/have enjoyed in pregnancy as an alternative to wine and Pimms. In both pregnancies I’ve been shocked at how much I have wanted alcohol. I haven’t been a big drinker in years, I rarely drink at home and in the last 5 years I can probably count on two hands the amount of heavy nights out I have had. However when I’m pregnant I WANT (NEED) the booze. I always crave Pimms or wine and this time around even beer which I don’t even like! I always manage to stop myself. As much as I want it I figure pregnancy is a relatively short time (although it doesn’t seem like it) and for me if there is ANY chance of it causing a problem for my baby it’s just not worth it. Maybe it doesn’t do any harm at all but I know how I’ve felt the morning after a few glasses of wine and something tells me it’s not going to do any good so why bother ..after all I’d never have more than one so why have one?

This is just my view. Not a judgment on others. Not a lesson or advice for anyone just my view. Plain and simple. I was however interested to know your views so I asked on Twitter and well there were so many different opinions so I thought I would share some..anonymously of course so here are the tweets from some of my twitter followers. I can’t post them all..too many! :

*The only drink I had was half a glass of wine with my christmas dinner would never drink more than that.

*I didn’t as I wasn’t really drinking anyway. I’d probably not though unless special occasion, then might have a small tipple

*I wouldn’t drink at all when I was pregnant, but also didn’t fancy it or miss it. Ex’s sister was an alcoholic + drank to excess – as in rolling, falling down drunk – daily, both her daughters have FAS.

*I didn’t drink a drop when pregnant. I didn’t want to. I do know people who do and have though. It’s up to them I suppose.

*Nothing at all…haven’t drank since pregnant with first girl as breastfed since. I’m neurotic. Nothing since 2010!

*Omg I got back to sleep and just woke from a dream where I drank two bottles of wine!! The guilt. and it was in a dream.On a real life note though, I just have no desire to. Had 1 sip of champagne and it tasted vile!! No need to, so why bother x

*I have spoken at fas/fasd conferences. Not worth it to me. There are no studies on how little is ok bc that would be unethical to conduct.

*Had a glass of wine spritzer or half of cider after 16 weeks VERY occasionally.

*I didn’t have a drop as I think we dont know enough about how it effects the foetus. Only a short 9months too 😉

*I’ve never really drank at home and don’t go out so it’s pretty much a no-brainer x

* I had a glass of wine on my wedding day to toast with, nothing this time round. Xx

*I had a glass of wine with Christmas dinner both pregnancies. I’m not a big drinker generally though.

*I didn’t drink anything at all. I think abstaining from alcohol for 9 months is the least a pregnant woman can do.

*My mum craved stout and Guinness! She had a few during pregnancy with me!

*I had one drink at Christmas when I was 7.5 months pregnant and it was a small glass of bubbly to toast the year that was it.

So a few different views but the general opinion seemed to be that people would rather not risk it.

A post which has raised a lot of discussion this week written by Sarah Cawood can be found here

In the post she talks about her relaxed approach to wine and cheese in pregnancy including occasionally exceeding the recommended alcohol intake. Her post is both honest and at times refreshing but I did interact with her on twitter explaining that I think it’s a personal decision but that I wasn’t able to agree with her opinions on alcohol although I wasn’t judging her for making a different choice. To be fair she replied saying: It’s definitely a very personal journey and I’d be lying if I said I never worried. If I’ve had quite a social week then I make sure I have a very good one after..and I do the mental arithmetic on my units…. Def keep tabs on myself! It’s ovaltine all bank holiday;) so it was nice that she understood my opinion as I had hers.

Anyway as the original idea behind the post was to share my favourite alcohol free drinks with you without further ado here they are:

1.Sodastream mocktails – I was given a Sodastream machine to review at a perfect time. I was getting so frustrated with my lack of drink choices at barbecues etc and then suddenly I had some beautiful fresh mocktails to drink. I highly recommend the mojito and cosmopolitan syrups! You can read my full review of Sodastream here.

2.Schweppes Summer Punch – you may remember reading how I stocked up on this after discovering it tasted SO much like Pimms. I still think it does but I’ve completely gone off it for the time being – pregnancy food/drink aversions suck.

3.Vitamix Smoothies and Slushes – I was extremely lucky to win a Vitamix machine at the Britmums live conference. I make healthy smoothies at least 3/4times a week, chocolate milk shakes occasionally and my new favourite – slushies.. I have a bit of an ice craving at the mo.

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4.Alcoholic free ciders – I love the Kopparberg versions although they taste more like pop than cider.

5.Shandy – I like the very cheap shandy you can buy in shops (the kind that children can drink) as an alternative to beer.

6.Juice – I drink a lot of Orange and Apple Juice.

7.Mumkind water our way – I use a drop of this liven up my water.

8.Diet coke with cherry – I keep to one small can or bottle a day and I don’t drink any other caffeinated drinks but sometimes I feel like I NEED this.

9.Isotonic drinks – I’m pretty sick of these but I drink them to avoid too many leg cramps. If I don’t drink them I suffer for it at night.

So that’s its for me.. What did you like to drink in pregnancy? What are your opinions on alcohol in pregnancy?

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Filed Under: Pregnancy · Tagged: Alcohol, juice, mocktail, non alcoholic, schweppes summer punch, shandy, Sodastream, Vitamix

Snickers Milkshake

July 18, 2013 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 2 Comments

In June I was very lucky to win a Vitamin Blender and I am sure I will be sharing recipes here on the blog including this Snickers Milkshake which you could also make using another blender of course but maybe use a high powered blender if possible.

Anyway I’ve had this mean machine for about 12 hours and I’ve made 4 different things.

First up I tried the vanilla ice cream from the Vitamix recipe book that came with it. Ice cream in a few minutes using just milk, sugar,vanilla and ice cubes. Yes please. It was really nice – I messed up the first batch as forgot to add sugar..it’s been a rather difficult day. Second batch was gooooood.

Then later on this eve I had an idea to make Snickers milkshake .. I first had a Snickers milkshake at Blissfields festival in 2011 where a really cool food/drinks stall made them using Vitamix style machines. I tried to recreate this myself last year using my Kenwood smoothie maker and well it wasn’t great but I had a feeling this machine was up to the job so here is the recipe.. Super simple as are all my recipes:

1.5 cups of milk – I used full fat
1 Snickers quartered
1 cup of ice cubes

Place all ingredients in the Vmix and turn on variable 1-10 before turning to high for approximately 60-90 seconds until smooth. Et voila. It tasted exactly like the ones I’d had at the festival. So good.

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I’ve also made a zingy lime smoothie and some incredible hot chocolate which I promise to share tomorrow but for now I need my bed.

Nanight x

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Filed Under: Recipes · Tagged: blender, competition, ice, milkshake, smoothie, snickers, Vitamix

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