Drinks

Ambassador for Honestly Healthy!

| Taimar

hhtaimar

I am so excited to announce that from 1st March 2017 I will be a food Ambassador for Honestly Healthy!

Along with 24 other superstar ambassadors I will be providing regular recipes for the Honestly Healthy website and community that you will be able to access on the Ambassador recipe page on their website!

All recipes will be vegetarian, free from gluten and dairy and most importantly full of all the stuff that is good for you!!

I have been following Honestly Healthy for some time now and am so honoured to have been chosen as part of such a select group of foodies, nutritionists and fitness experts. I will post all recipe links on here so keep watching out for them!

Check out my bio along with the other ambassadors here:

honestlyhealthyfood.com/food/

tbc x

 

Green Fennel Juice

| Taimar

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Easy peasy green juice, made from lots of veg so it contains very little sugar compared with a fruit juice. These quantities make a large bottle (around 1 litre) that you can keep in the fridge for a couple of days.

Ingredients:

1 cucumber
2 apples
1 fennel
2 large handfuls of kale (or similar green leafy veg)
1 lemon, skin and white removed before juicing
1 large knob of ginger

What to do…

Make sure you wash all of the fruit and vegetables really well before juicing. For this recipe you will need a juicer, I know they are a pin to clean but making a big quantity of juice like this really makes it worthwhile.

Chop the apple and fennel into quarters and place in the juicer with the remaining ingredients. Remember to chop the skin and white part beneath the skin of the lemon off, otherwise it will make your juice really bitter. The ginger you can leave the skin on, its where all the goodness lies!

Once all of your fruit and vegetables have gone through the juicer, transfer the mix into a large jug or even better a jar, and give it a really good stir or shake to combine all of the ingredients.

Now you have green juice for days!

tbc x

Turmeric recovery smoothie

| Taimar

Tumeric smoothie

I made this smoothie today, I’ve been off work and sat at home ill, feeling fluey and full of cold. I’m not a fan of taking medicines, and I had kinda lost my appetite (great news for the waistline!! haha) so for lunch I decided to make a smoothie. One that would not only fill my stomach but also try to help get rid of the cold I have. Turmeric and ginger are great natural healers, both help fight inflammation. I have to say I did feel almost instantly perkier!

Ingredients:

1 banana
1 cup rice milk (or almond/coconut milk)
tsp turmeric powder (you can also use fresh numeric if you have it)
tsp maca
tsp vanilla
small knob fresh ginger
1 date
tbsp hemp seeds
(1/2 scoop coconut protein powder) optional

What to do…

Simply place all the ingredients in your blender, be sure to remove the stone from the date! You do not need to peel the ginger, a lot of the nutrients of the root lie just beneath the skin. The protein powder is an optional addition, but its great to boost your protein and keep you full.

Enjoy slurping on your yellow smoothie, and hopefully boosting your immune system at the same time!

tbc x

Broccoli juice

| Taimar

Broccoli juice

Yes you did read the title correctly…I know it sounds disgusting, thats what I thought too! But wait until you’ve tried it to judge. The combination with the fresh lemon juice makes it a really refreshing and filling juice. I made this during my homemade juice cleanse and had it for my dinner. Ok so it definitely doesn’t replace a nice big plate of food but its a great way to get an extra kick of greens!

Ingredients:

1 head of broccoli (including the stalk)
2 large handfuls of parsley
juice of 2 lemons
2 cartons of coconut water

What to do…

Thoroughly wash your broccoli and parsley. Chop into pieces that will fit in your juicer, but don’t throw away any of the stalks, they can all go in! Chop your lemons in half and squeeze the juice using a hand juicer. If your lemons are particularly small or not very juicy, use one or two more. Stir in a jug the broccoli and parsley juice with the lemon and coconut water. Keep in a sealed jar or bottle in the fridge for 1 day.

Enjoy your injection of greens!

tbc x

Beet-utiful juice

| Taimar

 

Beet Juice

In November I decided to do my first juice cleanse…a day without food sounded tough, a few hours without food usually leaves me grumpy! But it was surprisingly easy, drinking a juice every two hours stopped me from getting hungry, although I did go to bed super early just so I didn’t think about my stomach too much! One thing I ddi notice the next day was that my skin looked and felt amazing. Surprisingly I also felt full of energy and did a little workout the following morning. I bought my juice cleanse, and they are pretty pricey, so this time my January cleanse I decided to make my own.

This juice was really tasty and the chia seeds add some protein to your day of juice, the recipe serves 2.

Ingredients:

3 large cooked beetroot
5cm ginger (skin on)
4 large carrots
2 1/2 oranges
tbsp chia seeds

What to do…

Just as a note, I bought all my veg from the local market, and when I sat the carrots were huge, they were ginormous so you may need to increase the number you use. When making juice be sure to really scrub the fruit and veg before you put it in the juicer.

Put the beetroot, carrot and ginger into your juicer, do not peel the vegetables as most of the nutrients lie close to the skin. Chop your oranges in half and squeeze the juice using a hand juicer and discard the skins. Mix the orange juice in with the juice from the vegetables and stir in the chia seeds. I use chia here just to make the juice a little more filling and to add some protein.

Store in an airtight jar or bottle and consume within 24 hours.

Enjoy your beautiful bottle of red goodness!

tbc x

energising smoothie

| Taimar

Energising Smoothie

This is my super fast smoothie that is perfect for breakfast on the run, its also great as a pre or post workout refuel, or just to fill that afternoon slump. The key to always being able to whip up a smoothie is to have fruit portions in your freezer, especially bananas which are a great base for any smoothie and make them really thick and creamy. I tend to freeze my bananas in halves when they are just about to turn too ripe. The almond butter adds protein which is great if you are working out but also helps to thicken the texture. The cacao nibs are optional but add nice crunch.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup almond milk (or other milk of choice)
1 small frozen banana
2 tsp coconut almond butter (or other nut butter)
tsp maca
1 date
tsp coconut oil
(optional – tsp cacao nibs)

What to do…

Simply add all the ingredients to your blender and pulse until thoroughly combined and smooth. Add extra cacao nibs or granola to the top if you are wanting to make it into more of a meal.

Enjoy your energising smoothie.

tbc x

Creamy greeny smoothie

| Taimar

Green Smoothie

I know many people think drinking an avocado is a bit gross but here the sharpness of the lemon cuts through the creamy avocado and makes a really refreshing drink or snack. If you prefer your smoothies a bit thinner just add more coconut water. A delicious alternative to a heavy breakfast or the best post gym snack, this will fill you up for hours!

Ingredients:

1/2 avocado
1/2 banana
1/4 cup desiccated coconut
juice of 1/2 a lemon
2 tsp coconut oil
tbsp cashew butter
1tsp wheatgrass
2 cups coconut water

What to do…

BLEND!

…and drink

tbc x

Coconutty Oat Mylk

| Taimar

Oat Mylk

I created this recipe after making almond mylk dozens of times and always getting frustrated at how expensive almonds are to buy. So I read about oat mylk which is much cheaper to make and takes less soaking time…perfect! To add extra flavour I use coconut, I think it makes what could otherwise be a pretty tasteless drink much yummier! The thickness of the milk is totally personal preference so just add more or less water to the blender depending on what you like. This mylk makes the most delicious smoothies!

Ingredients:

1 cup rolled oats
2 cups water
1/2 cup coconut flakes

…thats it!

What to do…

Sat the rolled oats in twice the volume of water and leave for a minimum of 4 hours. They do not need to soak as long as nut milk does.
Once soaked add the mixture to your blender with the coconut flakes and 1 more cup of water. Blend until smooth. This mixture has a bit of a gloopy consistency but don’t worry. Depending on how thick you like your milk you may want to add an additional cup of water at this point.
Drain the mixture through a muslin or a nut bag if you have one, squeezing out all the liquid (you can miss this step if you don’t mind a thicker consistency).
Store your milk in an airtight container, it last in the fridge for about a week.

tbc x

The Frothiest Almond Milk Cappuccino

| Taimar

 

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I made this for the first time this morning and had to write about it on here, partly because it was so yummy and partly because it looked so pretty!

I only started drinking coffee a couple of years ago while in Italy…their coffee is seriously hard to resist. Giving up dairy there are only a couple of things I was going to miss, parmesan cheese and frothy coffee! I soon replaced my coffee with soya milk coffees and you can’t really taste the difference. Recently I have had to give up soya products too, so no more walking into any coffee shop and ordering a soya cappuccino on the way to work.

Thankfully I discovered a fab little coffee shop just down the road from my new flat, called Slate. It really is the best coffee shop in London and they do LOADS of milk alternatives…almond milk, coco soy and coconut milk, something for everyone! I tried coconut milk recently but it doesn’t really go frothy. Almond milk does and not only is it a great substitute for milk and soya it tastes so much better, and no need to add any sugar either.

I have tried making almond milk cappuccinos at home on numerous occasions and ended up with a watery liquid with a few bubbles. I have an nespresso machine and milk frother, but any milk frother will work.

Today was a revelation, I used my own almond milk in the frothed instead of pre-bought almond milk. It was a million times better than any coffee I’ve had recently.

Ingredients:

2 cups of blanched almonds
3 cups of fresh water
1/2 cup pitted dates

What to do…

Soak the almonds overnight in a bowl of water. The next day drain and add them to your blender with 2 cups of fresh water and the dates. Blend for 5 minutes, or until the mixture is smooth and there are no big lumps of almond or date left.

You can alter the amount of water to make the milk as thick or thin as you prefer, for this recipe however it is better to have thick almond milk as it will froth much better! I usually store my milk in the fridge at quite a thick consistency then add more water to it when needed – for cereal for example.

Next, get a sieve and a muslin cloth, place the cloth over the sieve and make sure you put a bowl underneath! Pour the liquid onto the cloth, I do this in stages to avoid it all spilling out. Let it drain slightly then squeeze the pulp to get all the liquid out.

Your milk is now ready, store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Put the milk in your frother or froth by hand until its full of air and all creamy, then add your shot of coffee and top with a sprinkle of maca powder.

Enjoy your dairy-free, soya-free cuddle in a mug!

tbc x