Winter warming Chai & Chia smoothie

Do you also love smoothies? Throughout the spring, summer and autumn a delicious smoothie with fresh local fruit or vegetables pimped up with some super foods are part of my daily life, ideally for bfast. This unfortunately changes drastically when the temperatures get colder.. Yes, also here in Malta it can get extremely uncomfortable, chilly and cold. (Don’t ask for details or I won’t stop talking about how much I miss my Austrian central and underfloor heating – ahhh!)

Anyways, as soon as it gets colder my smoothie love changes into tea addiction and somehow it was obvious that a warm smoothie with my favorite tea had to be created. The result was a Chai Chia Smoothie which gets his special kick by adding warming spices such as fresh ginger, cinnamon and cardamom but also energizing substance through Chia seeds and almond butter. So it’s warming, comforting and is a real energy boost at the same time! But try it for yourself …

What you need…
(Ingredients for 2 smoothies)

1 hot cup of your favorite chai tea ( I like Chai Vanilla or Chai Red Bush)
1 cup warm nut milk (almond, coconut or soy)
2 teaspoons of chia seeds (soaked over night in water or chia tea)
1 pinch of ground cinnamon
1 thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger
1 ground cardamom capsule (Attention, the shell belongs to the bin 😉 alternatively use ground cardamom
2 teaspoons almond butter
1 tablespoon molasses sugar syrup (particularly high in iron, magnesium and folic acid), if you can’t get that use honey, agave or maple syrup
4 dates

What to do…
Blend all ingredients in the blender . Voila – here’s your first warm smoothie 🙂

Love,
N xx

P.S. I want to dedicate this recipe to my friends P and R from Vienna who were brave enough to quit their jobs and set up their own company for super foods in Germany, Austria and Italy. Guys – you rock and are an inspiration! If you want to check out their Facebook page (in German only) go and check out Green Panda – Superfoods with love. I wish you all the best of luck with it!!

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Soulful Smoothies

All summer long I’ve been hooked on my morning smoothies. They got like a friend to me. I have them for breakfast or as an afternoon pick me up, when I need a little energy during work or I get hungry before dinner time. Everyday a little different, depending on what I have at home. I normally try go along with the 2/3 – 1/3 rule of thumb to keep it alkaline. So, 2/3 greens or veggies and 1/3 fruit. To get an idea about the alkaline way in a nutshell read this article on one of my favorite cooking websites Honestly Healthy.

As for veggies you can choose all different kinds of things… fresh spinach, chard, herbs like basil, mint or cilantro, zucchini, cucumber.. they all work well and don’t taste too strong. As for fruit I always like a banana, or some other sweet fruit like melon, pineapple, nectarine or apple.

It’s always nice to throw in some nuts like almonds, cashews, chia seeds or sunflower seeds to add a bit of protein or you add a teaspoon of protein powder (I like hemp or pea protein). Feel free to give it a special kick with the wide variety of super foods available: maca to balance your hormones, raw cacao full of antioxidants, spirulina, wheatgrass, lucuma for sweetness, acai – you name it!

Finally top it up with liquid. You can take water, coconut water, your favourite dairy free milk (almond, coconut..) or what I like as well cold tea like green tea, mint tea, redbush tea etc. I always make a hug jug of tea everyday while I work and you can easily use those leftovers in your smoothies! Last but not least add a tiny little drop of oil (flax seed, coconut) to ensure the maximum absorption of vitamins of all ingredients. Remember when we were kids, they used to add a drop of oil to your fresh carrot juice in the pharmacies? That’s why.

Now, put your lid on your blender and get started 🙂
Get creative and make it a habit – your body will love it ❤

Enjoy your smoothies & big love,
N x

Alkalising smoothie creations on the photo above:

Top left: Melon zucchini morning bliss
1 handful of cantaloupe, 2 small zucchini, lots of mint, coconut water, maca, lucuma & spirulina

Top right: Spinach Banana Smoothie
Fresh spinach, coconut water, banana, maca, lucuma & spirulina.

Bottom left: Basil Booster
Lots of basil, mint, half a cucumber, 1 banana, some Brazil nuts & maca powder.

Bottom right: Mexican banana chocolate smoothie
This is a sweet kick off for the day which can also be used as a delicious afternoon pick me up.
1 banana, raw cacao powder, maca, almond or coconut milk, tiny pinch of cayenne pepper (careful!)

Enjoy!