Simple smoothes - drink your way to paradise

This current British weather is enough to make anybody pack their bags and run screaming into the sun in search of a lifetime of happiness and fulfillment.  I am certainly on the verge of doing so myself.  Our summer time is very often a bit of a joke and we all know it.  But there is a way we can still have a little bit of sunshine on these grey, cold and wet days.  How?  By tucking into a smoothie that offers a taste of the good life.

In an effort to bring summertime indoors, and to get a flavour of the exotic, Simply Nectar has pulled together these great smoothie recipes.  Just supping on one of these healthy, fruity and delicious smoothies is enough to transport your mind to a tropical destination far away from England's predictably dreary shores.  The taste will bring back precious memories of happy, lazy days spent in the sunshine; the smell of frangipani in the air; the sea sleepily lapping at your feet.  Oh what we'd all give to be there right now.  Make one (or more) of these easy and tasty smoothies and you can be (sort of!)

Photo: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

You don't need many ingredients so these won't cost you an arm and a leg to make.  It'll be the cheapest holiday you've had!  Plus, the best thing about these smoothies is that they all contain Simply Nectar.  These smoothies use Peach Simply Nectar and Mango Simply Nectar.  We'll add more recipes for other flavours next week.

Simply Peach

• bottle Peach Simply Nectar
• ½ cup peach yoghurt
• ½ cup milk
• 6 ice cubes

Directions: Blend the Peach Simply Nectar with the ice and milk.  Slowly add the yoghurt and blend for another minute on a low setting.

Simply Mango

• 1 bottle Mango Simply Nectar
• ½ cup mango yoghurt
• ½ cup milk – preferably whole or semi skimmed
• 6 ice cubes

Directions: Blend the Peach Simply Nectar with the ice and milk.  Slowly add the yoghurt ad blend for another minute on a low setting. 

Peach, banana and ice cream

• 1 bottle Peach Simply Nectar
• 1 small banana or ½ a large banana
• ½ cup peach or vanilla ice cream
• 1 cup milk

Directions: Start by blending the Peach Simply Nectar with the banana and milk.  Add the ice cream last and blend for 30 seconds on low to keep the ice cream texture in the smoothie.  This is a very great tasting and healthy peach smoothie that is ideal for children.

Mango, banana and pineapple

• 1 bottle Mango Simply Nectar
• ½ fresh pineapple, peeled, cored and chopped
• 1 small banana or ½ large banana, chopped
• Juice of ½-1 lime (according to taste)
• 150ml milk
• 8 ice cubes

Directions: Blend the Mango Simply Nectar with the pineapple, banana, milk and ice cubes until the desired consistency is reached.  Add lime juice according to taste.

Photo: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Peach and banana

• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas — (about 2 large), — frozen
• 1 bottle Peach Simply Nectar
• ½ cup milk

Directions: Place all ingredients in blender. Cover and blend about 30 seconds or until smooth. Serve immediately over ice cubes. Serves 2.

Mango and strawberry

• 1 cup frozen or fresh strawberries
• 1 cup Mango Simply Nectar, chilled
• 5 cups plain or vanilla yogurt
• 4 ice cubes

Directions: In a blender, combine strawberries, Mango Simply Nectar, yogurt, and ice and blend until mixture is smooth and frothy. Pour into 2 tall glasses.

Peach and raspberry

• 1 cup low fat peach yogurt
• 1 bottle Peach Simply Nectar
• ½ cup What On Earth organic raspberries
• 2 ripe medium peaches, diced

Directions:

Combine the yogurt and nectar in a blender. Add the raspberries and peaches. Blend until smooth. Serves 2

Mango and banana

• 1 bottle Mango Simply Nectar
• 1 banana, peeled and sliced
• 1 heaped tablespoon of honey
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 8 ice cubes

Directions:

Place all of the ingredients (add ice last) in a blender and puree until smooth. Pour into glasses.  Garnish with additional fruit pieces, mint, and a straw.

If you have any other suggestions for smoothies we'd love to hear them.  Just drop us a line and let us know.  For now we hope you enjoy these suggestions.

Simply smoothies,

Simply Nectar

No sugar warnings needed for Simply Nectar

The results of a British survey are blazoned across the news today because they show that consumers consistently underestimate the amount of sugar contained in milkshakes, smoothies and some fruit juices.
This means that people are consuming more calories per day than they realise.  In fact, the research carried out by the University of Glasgow also suggests that the average person in the UK consumes almost 3,150 calories through non alcoholic liquid intake.  This equates to almost 450 calories a day.

 

The survey asked more than 2,000 Britons to estimate how many teaspoons of sugar were in a typical serving of a selection of drinks.   The research showed that the participants “significantly misjudged” the levels found in milkshakes, smoothies and some fruit juices.

Amazingly, pomegranate juice contained nearly 18 teaspoons more sugar in a serving than people realised.   Participants guessed four teaspoons when it actually contains 22.  Pure apple juice had four more teaspoons than people thought and a chocolate milkshake had 7.5 teaspoons more.  Consumers guessed it contained six when actually it contains more than 13.5 teaspoons of sugar. Serving sizes varied.

Courtesy of graur codrin/freedigitalphotos.net

Participants were also asked to estimate how many teaspoons of sugar were in fizzy drinks but they actually overestimated the amount.  This goes to show that consumers are not aware by the levels of sugar in any soft drinks, which could be down to being misinformed.

The worse part of this story is that certain soft drinks could be adding to obesity levels because half of the participants who admitted to drinking three or more sugary drinks in a day said they did not compensate by reducing the calorie intake of their food.

UK guidelines recommend that added sugars – those used to sweeten food, fizzy drinks, and fruit juices – should not make up more than 10 per cent of the total energy we get from food. This is around 50g a day.

Our answer to this problem is to drink Simply Nectar!  Sorry, we don’t mean to blow our own trumpet but look at the facts about us:

• Simply Nectar drinks contain pure fruit
• They are free from pesticides, colours and refined sugars
• If the drinks do need sweetening at all only natural grape juice is used – definitely no sugar!
• The fruit is sourced locally to the production site in Provence, south of France, and it is organic where possible
• What’s more, our drinks are made in an ethical fashion.  In fact, the production site is almost self sufficient.  For example, any fruit leftovers are turned into a hard matter and fed to livestock.  The water used to clean the juicing machinery gets filtered and purified and is also fed to livestock
  

We would love to try and educate the nation on sugar levels in soft drinks but that could take us a while.  So at the moment we’ll just give out a big clue: GO FOR SIMPLY NECTAR! 

So there we have it…simple!

Simply sugarfree.

Simply Nectar

(Main story from PressAssociation)