Mango, banana and strawberry smoothie

Mango, banana and strawberry smoothie

We whip up several smoothie variations in our house but the real winner at the moment with plenty of good fruit in season is a Mango, Banana and Strawberry smoothie.  Naturally sweetened by freshly picked strawberries and thickened magically by tropical mango they really hit the spot.  After the first week at school we needed a change from bread based lunches so the kids had fun with their salad face plates.  But the real hit was the 2 glasses of smoothies each which followed.  Quite a healthy and balanced lunch really with plenty of energy for skateboard surfing!

too hot outside so we're surfing inside!

Mango, banana and strawberry smoothie

1 mango

1 banana

Approx 100g strawberries

4-5 tbls Greek or natural yoghurt

1 cup of ice cubes

Approx 500g low fat milk (or more depending on number of serves)

Simply throw it all in your Thermomix or blender and mix on speed 6 for 20 seconds

Simple and yum!

vege faces - then we added boiled eggs for ears!

Low Sugar Strawberry Jam

I must admit I’ve had ongoing issues with making jam.  I could never bring myself to use the required amount of sugar to get it to set and never mastered the use of pectin.  But thanks to Jo at Quirky Cooking I’ve found a recipe that’s low in sugar, sets like jelly and most importantly really tastes like strawberries!

And what better way to enjoy them than on our weekend special ricotta hotcakes – made this morning with spelt and flaxseeds.  Veggie daddy said they were the best yet.  After an early morning bike ride to the beach the kids enjoyed them too!

And it's getting into strawberry season so if can grow them or pick them at a berry farm you'll be in for a treat with this yummy jam!

Low Sugar Strawberry Jam

500g strawberries

150g rapadura (or other sweetner)

1 tsp agar agar powder (or 1 tbls of flakes)

 Ensure you have 1-2 clean jars ready and place a saucer in the freezer for testing the jam

·         Place strawberries in Thermomix bowl and chop for 5 seconds on speed 4

·         Add sugar and agar agar and cook for 8 minutes on speed 2 at 100°

·         Test the jam by placing ½ tsp onto cold saucer.  When it is cool push the jam with your finger and it should wrinkle if ready.  If not, cook for a further 2 minutes then retest

·         Puree for a few seconds on speed 8 if a smoother jam if required

·         When ready, pour into 2 clean and rinsed jars, close lids and turn upside down to set for 10 minutes

·         Store in the fridge for 1 month  (if it lasts that long!)

Raw Strawberry Cheesecake

Raw Strawberry Cheesecake

We've been berry picking and are in berry heaven! I can't believe we've never been before especially when there are so many berry farms within an hours drive. Now we have and there's no turning back.

 

You can imagine little blueberry Finn when he stepped between the first row of blueberry bushes. Not many were making it to the bucket. But with some team work the bucket was soon full (and he finally said "no" to a blueberry!) so we moved onto the strawberries.  It was like finding plump red fairies under the gorgeous green leaves. I think veggie daddy was getting the most excited and the strawberry bucket was soon overflowing. The kids were all berried out and ready for a blueberry milkshake, blueberry ice cream and blueberry buckle. Time to balance with a little savoury so we popped into the veggie barn next door for plenty of locally grown supplies.  What a gorgeous way to spend the morning as a family. And we'll certainly be back.

So what to make...

I recently saw this gorgeous Raw Strawberry Cheesecake on the Thermomix Recipe Community so today I knew this was the was to celebrate all things strawberry.  It's delicious, quite rich and hard to believe it's not full of sugar and cream cheese.  In fact, I think's it's way better the alternative.


Raw Strawberry Cheesecake

250g macadamia nuts (I used 150g macadamia and 100g almonds)
100g dates
45g coconut
400g cashews soaked for at least 1 hour then drained
juice and pulp of 2 large lemons
50g Agave nectar
100g coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla
Pinch sea salt
80g water
1-2 punnets fresh strawberries

Base 

• Place macadamias, dates and coconut into Thermomix bowl and blend for 30-40 seconds on speed 6 until well combined and forming a moist dough
• Press into lined 20cm spring form cake tin and place in freezer

Filling

• Place all remaining ingredients into Thermomix bowl and blend together until smooth and creamy for 1 minute on speed 7
• Pour on top of base and set in the fridge over night
• Remove from cake tin and decorate as desired!

 

Roasted Strawberry and Rhubarb Ice Cream

Roasted Strawberry and Rhubarb Ice Cream

 

What thoughts and memories does the word ice-cream conjure up for you?  Is it a special treat on a hot summer’s day, dripping faster than you can lick?  Is it the kind of treat you let your 2 year old  have nearly every day  on holidays even though she’s hardly ever had it at home (oops did I just confess to that?!?)  Is it rich and creamy accompanying a gourmet dessert or light and fruity and usually quite healthy when make it at home?

The start of the home grown strawberries...

Whatever takes your fancy you can’t beat good icecream and I’m really excited that summer time is here so I can start experimenting with my Thermomix icecreams again.  There’ll be plenty to follow but today I’m continuing with the rhubarb theme as it’s growing gorgeously.  Mixed with some delightful organic strawberries from my our local farmers market the results were definitely worth writing about.  Roasted  Strawberry and Rhubarb Ice Cream – devine!

Roasted Strawberry and Rhubarb Sauce

Strawberry and Rhubarb Sauce

250g organic strawberries

Approx 4 stalks organic rhubarb

1 tbls rapadura sugar

1 tbls balsamic vinegar

½ tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

• Preheat oven to 180°
• Roughly chop rhubarb and strawberries and lay in a baking dish
• Sprinkle with sugar, vinegar, salt and vanilla, toss gently and bake for approx 30 minutes until tender
• Sit back and enjoy the amazing aroma filling your home!
• Once cooked and cooled this could be enjoyed over yoghurt or on pancakes but try to reserve most of it for the icecream

Ice Cream

2 egg yolks

250g cream

250g full cream milk

100g raw sugar

1 tsp vanilla

• Place all icecream ingredients into Thermomix bowl and cook for 5 minutes at 80° on speed 4
• Pour into a stainless steel bowl (or thermomix bowl  if it fits in your freezer) and stir through half of the strawberry and rhubarb mixture
• Place in freezer for around 4 hours or until form but not frozen
• Place icecream back into Thermomix bowl and mix for 20 seconds on speed 9 then 10 seconds on speed 4 using spatula if required
• Return to stainless  bowl and swirl through the remaining strawberry and rhubarb sauce
• Return to freezer for 12 hours or overnight and best to leave out for 10 minutes before serving
• (Alternatively make in an icecream maker or by hand if you don’t have a Thermomix)
• Enjoy! ( and look forward to more ice cream adventures!)