Show me Your Summer Cooler Roundup

Summer is fun! And summer can be made more exciting and fun with these delicious and refreshing summer coolers! Here are the various entries I received for Show Me Your Summer Cooler! event. Hope you enjoy them. Also do check out the next in the series - Show me your Dosa!

Nirmala - Mixed Fruit Milkshake
RS - Badam Milk

Rupali - Beetroot and Carrot juice with Coconut Water

Vaishali - Lemonade

Deeksha - Beer Color Mocktail

Vaishali - Honey Dew Cooler

Kalyani - Spicy Buttermilk

Vaishali - Falooda

Vimitha - Blue Berry Mocktail

Vaishali - Mocha Orange

PJ - Oreo Cookies Milkshake

PJ - Apple Frapple

PJ - Dragon fruit - Banana Smoothie

Kaveri - Mixed Fruit Milkshake

Vaishali - Pink Lady

Priya - Rose Yogurt

Radhika - Watermelon Cooler Shruti - Mango SmoothieVaishali - Faalsa SharbatVaishali - Fruit LolliesJaleela - Red Cocktail CoolerMadhusmita - Cranberry Lemonade

Prathima - Apple Lemonade

Vatsala - Cucumber Water

Priya - Mango and grapefruit juicePriya - Strawberry Lemonade

Priya - Ginger and Lime Barley WaterPriya - Mango and Avocado Smoothie Priya -Raspberry SmoothieKrithi - Carrot KheerShama - Sarbath

Denny - Rose Milk

Denny - Minty green Cucumber JuiceJay - Mango Lassi

Divya Vikram - Blueberry LemonadeVatsala - Mixed Fruit Juice

Thanks everyone for participating and sending in your refreshing ideas!

Blueberry Lemonade

Picnics during the summer would be incomplete without some summery juices and lemonades. This is a no brainer recipe for lemonade with a few blueberries floating which provide just the right amount of tanginess and color to your ordinary lemonade. Also, your lemonade will have an antioxidant punch from the blueberries! This can be served during parties and during picnics and can be made in no time. They can also be made ahead and stored in a pitcher in a refrigerator. The blue color increases with time.

I found this idea to make blueberry lemonade when i was browsing for recipes to use up my berries. i made these using frozen berries. They taste great when made using fresh berries. The lemonade can also be made using different berries like raspberries, strawberries, cranberries etc.

Ingredients (serves 2)
Lemon juice, freshly squeezed - 3 tablespoons
Sugar - 3 tablespoons
Ice cold water - 2 glasses
Blueberries, fresh or frozen - 3 tablespoons or more

Directions

• In a bowl, stir together the lemon juice, sugar and water until the sugar dissolves completely. 
• Add in the blueberries and with the back of a spoon, just press a few blueberries, so that the blue color dissolves into the water. 
• Adjust sweetness and pour into a glass with ice cubes and enjoy!

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#6

Show me Your Summer Cooler!

It is summer in most parts of the world and it is time to chill out with some refreshing summer drinks! It might be so hot outside and you might not feel like slaving yourself cooking up meals at the kitchen. Go make yourself a refreshing drink to chill yourself and beat the heat! Summer involves so many activities like outdoor water fun, gardening, beaches, bike rides, beach trips and outdoor games. Top all these fun activities with summer coolers!

All you have to do is to whip up a quick and refreshing summer cooler, blog about it and send it across to me. It can be any type of drink - lemonades, sodas, ice teas, fruit juices etc.

Here are a few guidelines..

• Post a recipe of your favorite summer drink in your blog during the month of May. Archived entries are not allowed.
• Please link back to this announcement and feel free to use the logo.
• Also do shoot me an email to divyablogs[AT]gmail[DOT]com before May 31st with the following details.
• Name
• Blog Name:
• URL of the post:
• Picture of the drink:  

Thanks for sending your lovely entries for Show Me Your Muffin event. Will be posting the roundup soon.

To start, check out this watermelon lemonade recipe! Now, GO chill out with your favorite drink!

Superfood Smoothie - A perfect quick breakfast!

No time for breakfast?

Even if you are rushed in the morning to get to work or school, you still got time to refuel yourselves and break your fast with this quick smoothie. Breakfast eaters think and perform better. if you are someone who does not have time for breakfast, or are just lazy to make a hearty breakfast, go for this smoothie. It has the heartiness of acai berry juice which is called a superfood, bananas, oatmeal, antioxidant rich berries and yogurt.

The recipe for this smoothie is very forgiving. I picked up the acai berry juice at Costco and found this recipe in the bottle. The juice can be replaced with any other fruit juices like orange juice, apple juice etc. Any type of berries - blueberries, strawberries, raspberries can be added. I just added low fat strawberry yogurt since that is what I had in hand. It can be substituted with any greek yogurt or just plain buttermilk.

It does not take more than two minutes to make this super healthy smoothie. Just add all ingredients in your blender. Give a few pulses, pour into a tall glass and enjoy!

Ingredients (Makes 2 servings)
Acai berry juice - 1 cup
Frozen berries - 1/2 cup
Banana - 1
Any yogurt variety - 1/2 cup
Flax seeds - 1 tablespoon
Quick cooking oats - 1 cup

Directions
Add all the above ingredients in the blender. If not using frozen berries, you could add a couple of ice cubes if you like your smoothie to be cold. Pulse for about 30 seconds. If you find the smoothie very thick, add a little water.

Pour into a glass and enjoy a hearty and filling breakfast!

Sending this chilled smoothie to Fun n Sun event

Badam/Almond Kheer

Badam kheer is a rich and elegant drink/dessert which is so easy to make. I have always had the MTR badam drinks, and have never ventured into trying my own version. You could adjust the amount of sweetness as per your taste when you make it yourself. It is a healthy drink as well with all the protein and good fat from the almonds and the calcium from the milk. You could use any type of milk -full-fat,2%fat or fat free. If you are planning to make a rich dessert - evaporated milk would be the optimal choice! Forget the calories!!

Ingredients (Makes two tall glasses)
Almonds - 1 cup
Milk - 2.5 - 3 cups
Sugar - 3 tablespoons
Saffron - 1 pinch (optional)

Directions
Soak the almonds in some hot water for about 15 minutes and peel the skin.
In a blender/mixer, grind the almonds along with the sugar and milk.
Simmer in low heat for about 5 to 10 minutes.
Garnish with the saffron threads.
Serve hot/cold.

Sending this Kheer Festival and JFI:Wedding Feasts along with the following entries
Paasi Paruppu Payasam
Aval Payasam

This can be served chill on a hot day and hence am sending this to Col-summer challenge and Twenty-20 event.

Green Monster for Breakfast

I know this title sounds like something fishy! Yes, it is called Green Monster in the blogosphere!
It is another great breakfast I discovered recently. This is a slight variation of the spinach- banana smoothie which most of you guessed correctly. I made this with swiss chard which I recently grabbed from the farmers market. It was my first trip to the farmers market near our new home and I was thrilled to see all the fresh vegetables and fruits fresh straight out of the farms. I did all the vegetable and fruit shopping for the week and above all they are all organic without all those pesticides and wax!!

The swiss chard can be replaced by any kind of spinach or greens.. I guarantee you will never get the weird raw spinach taste. It is masked well by the sweetness of the fruit you add. It has all the goodness of fruits and veggies and I added some cereal to it and it made a great breakfast.

In the mix:
Swiss chard - 1 cup packed
Banana - 1
Milk - 1 cup
Peanut Butter - 1 tablespoon
Any cereal - 1/2 cup (Oats, wheat bran, oat bran, corn flakes, wheat flakes or any regular cereal)
I used Bob's Red Mill 7 grain cereal
Flax seeds - 1 teaspoon (optional)

Wash the spinach/greens thoroughly to remove all the sand particles. Chop roughly. Add all the ingredients to the blender and blend for 30 seconds to 1 minute in order to get a smooth smoothie. If you want more sweetness add a teaspoon of honey to keep it all natural!

Keep the ratio of spianch:banana 1:1 in order to balance the taste of the smoothie.

Makes a great nutritious and power-packed smoothie!!
Sending this to Healing Foods:Spinach started by Siri and being hosted by me,
JFI: Breakfast started by Indira and hosted this month at Veggie Platter and also to Serve me some Juices, Shakes, Smoothies

You have a left to send in your entries for the following events:
Tried and Tasted
Healing Foods
Sunday Snacks -Healthy Snacks

Spinach Banana Smoothie

I'm Popeye the sailor man!!!

I got several interesting answers for the guessing game yesterday!

My smoothie consisted of
Spinach - 1 cup
Banana - 1
Cold Milk - 3/4 cup
Oats - 1/2 cup

Wash the spinach thoroughly. Chop the bananas roughly. Add all the ingredients to the blender/juicer and pulse till you get a smooth smoothie!

Just delicious!
The banana masks the raw taste of spinach. If the banana is not ripe enough you could add a spoon of honey/ agave nectar for more sweetness. I did not add it though.

This smoothie contains the goodness of the superfoods - spinach, oats and banana and has a good serving of fruits n veggies. What more could one ask for! There was no compromise in the taste aspect as well.

Do try this and get hooked on to its taste!

Also do check out my other smoothies!

Peanut Butter and Banana Smoothie
Quick breakfast Smoothie
Dates Milkshake
Blackberry Smoothie
Mango Lassi

Sending all these recipes to No Cook Event and also to Cooking for Kids - Creative food hosted by Sara and started by Sharmi