Blending it down

I've recently started making smoothies for breakfast. I've been constantly exhausted lately, and I really don't want to be. There's just so much to do and accomplish! Work has been piling up and requires more energy than ever, I want to do all of the above plus bake and entertain (which I have, two weeks in a row), and go out with friends.

Breakfast has never been my suit. I love the idea of breakfast and breakfast foods (waffles, bacon, sausages, baked eggs), but my stomach has the tendency to react violently in the mornings. There was a point when I spent every morning rushing for the toilet. This went on for a couple of weeks. So I more often than not skip the meal, making do with a cup of coffee and a few biscuits.

In an attempt to feel better, I have been making myself smoothies, blending soymilk, oats and a banana in the morning and drinking this for breakfast. It's way more convenient than my usual hot oatmeal concoction - no need to cut up the banana and I can drink this during the drive to work. It gives me a nice boost of energy and helps me not feel like a ravenous lunatic by lunchtime.

I really love my morning fixes smoothie fix now - you basically get all the goodness of whole, fresh foods in a convenient, yummy mixture that tastes more like a treat than anything else. I expect I'll get bored with the combination soon, so of course other experimentations are in order. I'm thinking papaya, peanut butter, avocados, coconut milk/juice, almonds, chia seeds, toasted wheat germ, just to name a few of the stuff I might put in.

But all that fancy stuff can really add up, and it really doesn't have to. Just a few (mostly) cheap, basic ingredients have worked so well for me. .

The addition of the molasses really does it for me. I pay about 30 bucks for a large bottle, and consume 1 - 2 tablespoons today. Funny enough I purchased the molasses to bake Thomas Keller's chocolate chip cookies, which called for 1 tablespoon of molasses for an entire batch of cookies. So what was i going to do with the rest of the bottle?.

To my pleasant surprise there is a whole host of health benefits to consuming this stuff. A good source of iron, magnesium and calcium, plus the fact that it metabolises very slowly (unlike refined sugar)..

It makes a much better addition than honey or agave nectar, I think..

Your Basic, cheap, easy smoothie:.

1 banana (I refuse to buy the Dole brand bananas stores all over the Klang Valley are selling these days. Why pay for the fruit to be shipped all the way from South America by a giant American corporation when our own backyard yields sweeter, better-textured stuff???.

1 cup soymilk (organic and unsweetened).
2 tablespoons instant oats (I use Quaker).
1 - 2 tablespoons unsulphured blackstrap molasses (optional, but highly recommended).
Whiz everything in a blender and serve (duh). To bulk up Ak's smoothie I add 1 tbsp of peanut butter to his version. So I double the amounts above, whiz then pour out half for me. I then add the peanut butter and whiz again for AK's smoothie..

Avocado Smoothie (a meal in itself).

I made this for my younger brother, who loves avocado and is looking to bulk up. Just spoon the insides of 2 avocadoes (or 1 avocado and 1 banana) into a blender, add a handful of ice cubes and a teaspoon of sugar. Add a little cold water to help get everything going. You should get a smooth, sorbet-like texture. Taste and adjust the sweetness, or you might want to add a bit of lime juice for a little kick. If it's too thick, add more cold water and blitz again..

Oh, and as a general guide, here's a list of best and worst vegetables to eat I got off the web.

"Worst" List, buy them organic if you can afford it:

- Peaches
- Apples
- Sweet bell peppers
- Celery
- Nectarines
- Strawberries
- Cherries
- Lettuce
- Grapes
- Pears
- Spinach
- Potatoes

"Best" Produce, i.e. save your money and buy regular:
- Broccoli
- Cabbage
- Banana
- Kiwi
- Asparagus
- Sweet peas (frozen)
- Mango
- Pineapple
- Sweet corn (frozen)
- Avocado
- Onion

Foolproof granola

I'v made granola a couple of times now, and while I still search for that perfect savoury granola recipe, I think I finally landed on a recipe for the sweet version that's pretty much foolproof.

Granola Recipe (foolproof)

1 kg rolled oats (I buy them in 1 kg packets)
1/2 cup virgin coconut oil
1/2 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tsp sea salt flakes
2 tsps vanilla extract
1 egg white and 1 whole egg
3/4 cup natural sugar

Mix and match 2 - 3 of these (or all). Note all nuts must be raw.
1 cup peanuts, skins on
1/2 cup each of roughly chopped almonds and cashews
1 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

I don't add dried fruit, simply because I don't like most dried fruit (except maybe coconut flakes), but feel free to add them with the nuts.

Preheat oven to 160 deg C. Spray 2 trays with nonstick spray.
In a glass measuring jug, combine the oils, egg and egg white, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Whisk to combine. I find pre-mixing the sugar with the wet ingridients easier - the sugar tends to pile at the bottom of the bowl if mixed with the dry.
Mix the oats and nuts in a large bowl.
Pour the sugar-oil-egg-vanilla-salt mixture into the dry, and stir to combine.
Try to make sure that everything is mixed as evenly as possible.
Pack the mixture into 2 trays (10 x 14"). Pack them as tightly as possible - this is what will make your granola cluster and clump.
Bake for 20 - 30 minutes, until the granola appears a dark golden brown.
Don't take them out too pale - it's the crisp caramelization that you want here. You might want to rotate your trays halfway through baking, or use foil to cover and prevent "hotspots" from turning too brown.
Cool, then break into clumps. I use a butter knife.
Store in airtight containers.