A great way to include essential vitamins and minerals into one’s diet is through juicing fruit and vegetables. Juicers can be bought at a reasonable price these days and it will last you years. However, recently I was introduced to the ‘Nutri Ninja’ {variant of the Nutri Bullet} and I must say, in the matter of a few weeks, it has steadily become the most used utensil in my kitchen. As opposed to a juicer the Ninja blitzes every bit of the fruit and vegetable, allowing you to obtain their optimal nutritional benefit. There are so many great combinations to make, but the one I’m sharing with you today is our current favourite. I try to include lots of kale in our diets as it is filled with powerful antioxidants, it is especially rich in iron and vitamin K as well as being a great source of calcium, vitamin A and vitamin C. It can be a little bitter when juiced/blitzed so paring it with some sweet bananas and pineapple will certainly counteract this. I'm a huge fan of avocados and the creamy texture of one which is perfectly ripe adds a certain smoothness to this finished drink. As the children prefer their juices as lump-free as possible I've added milled chia seeds, but ordinary seeds also work perfectly in their place. If you don’t have a Nutri Ninja, a blender can be used, and if you would prefer it without any bits then strain the contents through a sieve. 

Immune-Boosting Nutri Juice

Ingredients - Serves 2

2 large leaves of Kale, washed and leaves roughly chopped

1 small orange, peeled and cut into segments

1 red eating apple, cored and chopped into chunks

2 rings of pineapple

½ ripe banana, roughly chopped

½ ripe avocado

1 tsp milled chia seeds

handful of ice

water

Method

1. Make sure to wash the vegetables and fruit before blitzing. Fill the large Nutri-Ninja container with all of the ingredients, making sure to finish with the ice. Top up with cold, filtered water and do not pass the ‘max fill’ mark.
2. Blitz for one minute. Pour into two glasses and enjoy straight away.  

As per the rules of the giveaway, I had to pick another winner for the hand blender, as I had no contact details for the original winner and they never contacted me within the fortnight of them being announced. So, the new winner of the Breville Cordless Hand Blender is MKConlon. Thank you so much to everyone who entered the give-away.

This is a super quick dessert and one I have relied on a few times when unexpected visitors called!! A jar of ready- made toffee is a very convenient ingredient to have in the store press. Banoffi is such a simple dessert and one I regularly made for family occasions, as a child, making the biscuit base. This recipe is an even simpler variation! Either place the biscuit on a plate or crumble into a glass and top as described below.


Ingredients

1x400g (14oz) tin condensed milk or 1 jar of ready-made toffee (such as Ballyshiel)
8-12 digestive biscuits
3 bananas
freshly squeezed juice of 1/2 lemon
225ml (8fl oz) whipped cream
chocolate curls made from about 175g (6oz) chocolate

8-12 individual glasses or small plates bowls

1. To make the toffee put the unopened tin of condensed milk into a saucepan and cover with hot water. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 3 hours.
2. Place a biscuit on each plate. Peel and slice the bananas and toss in the lemon juice(this helps to stop the banana turning brown). Place on top of the biscuit. Top with a little toffee. Put a blob of lightly whipped cream on top. Sprinkle with flaked almonds and decorate with a few chocolate curls.

Oh my goodness what a hot day!!! When the boys came in from playing they begged me for a treat so we made some milkshakes the perfect treat for a sunny day. An easy recipe that the children can make with you.

Banana Milkshake

Ingredients
2 ripe bananas
3 scoops of ice cream
1 teasp vanilla extract
600mls milk

Method
1. Blend all the ingredients together in a large jug with a hand blender. Pour and enjoy.

The boys and I love smoothies. We have tried out many different combinations of fruit and yogurts and this is our favourite one.

Tropical Super Smoothie

Ingredients
1 Banana
1 Small Mango
1 Frozen Yoplait Melon and Orange Yogurt (125g)
1 Teaspoon Honey
500ml Orange Juice (freshly squeezed if possible)

Method
1. Peel and chop the banana and mango. Put into the blender and add the yogurt honey and the Orange Juice.
2. Whiz in the blender until the mixture is smooth, thick and smooth. Taste a little, add some more honey if it isn’t sweet enough or a squeeze of lemon if too sweet.
3. Enjoy Straight Away

For such a small fruit, blueberries pack a powerful health punch. According to the recent research, they beat 40 other fruit and vegetables in helping to prevent certain diseases! They provide a high concentration of antioxidants which means they may help to prevent cancer and heart disease. What’s more they may help to fight infections, boost memory and be anti-ageing.
I love this nutritious drink, full of vitamins, calcium and probiotics. It only takes a matter of minutes to prepare. In my house, I promote this as a blueberry milkshake and my boys love it as a breakfast treat.

Blueberry Bliss

Ingredients
150g (5½ oz) fresh or frozen blueberries
2 bananas (sliced)
1 tsp vanilla extract
500g ml (17 fl oz) thick natural bio yoghurt (Glenisk) or yoghurt of your choice
300mls milk

Method
1. Peel the bananas and roughly chop.
2. Put them into the blender with the rest of the ingredients.
3. Whiz in the blender until the mixture is smooth, thick and creamy.
4. Pour into 4 tall glasses and enjoy.