Cheeky Chikoo Smoothie..for the Maman and Gourmand Smoothie/Shake Recipe Contest!

An excerpt from our life; the morning of April 28th 2009.

DH: “Hun I don’t want to have anything for breakfast…not feeling like it.”

Me: “ What…not again…I am not letting you go till you have breakfast…it’s the most important meal of the day.”
DH: “In that case just give me liquid breakfast…one of your fruit smoothies/milk shakes…you have chickoos in the fridge..right?!”

Well that is how the Sapodilla fruit smoothie came about. In my quest to provide wholesome nutrition (without tipping the balance) to ourselves,at breakfast. Here is my Cheeky Chikoo smoothie (pardon the pun). ;p




I am a fruit-person (from the dessert-first type category). If you are a regular reader ….you would know the concoctions I have made using fruits.
Try my Austrian Walnut-Strawberry Torte, or spoon out my Bluberry-Papaya Syllabub, or my prize winning Persimmon & Walnut Croquants Trifle, or the Dragon fruit brownie in true fusion style, the Berry Jam, or the more recent Alphonso milk shake...to name a few. I love fruits and I love having them plain as well as in innovative forms.

I added a little ground almonds to this smoothie to make it healthier and it imparts a beautiful nutty flavour to the drink. Since the chikoos were extremely sweet I did away with the sugar too. It’s a simple, no-hassle smoothie prepared in a jiffy.
(Ideal for working couples with/without kids, especially if their significant half/child doesn’t like the idea of having to ‘eat’ breakfasts.)

The fruit of the Sapodilla tree is called Chikoo /Sapota in India.
The use of ripe chikoo in our diet gives agility and freshness.
It activates the performances of intestines. It eliminates the excessive bile in the body.
Infact the Ayurveda has held this humble fruit in high opinion…just do a google search and you will know what I mean.
It is one of the few fruits that have edible skin. I just wash them and slice the ripe brown fruit. However I skip the skin when preparing my smoothie/shake.

Not many of us know that the latex extracted from the chikoo stem forms the base material for the chewing gum.

Cheeky-Chikoo Smoothie

Ingredients-
2-3 ripe medium sized frozen chikoos/Sapodilla fruit, washed,peeled & de-seeded
1 ½ glasses skimmed milk, chilled
1-2 tbsp sugar (optional)
3 tbsp ground blanched almonds (which I keep ready in the fridge at all times)


Method-
In a blender puree the chikoo fruit with the ground almonds. Now add the milk with sugar, if using.
Blend on high and serve chilled.
This smoothie is pretty filling and a glassful only keeps you satiated till lunch.

Update: I have edited this post as a few friends wanted to vote for my drink for the contest. However thats not happening as I am not listed. Just a tiny glitch in the contest rules and my entry. No problems. Thanks all ..anyways!

Frothy Banana-Cognac Smoothie

“On a traffic light green means go and yellow means yield, but on a banana it's just the opposite. Green means hold on, yellow means go ahead, and red means where the hell did you get that banana at..”

Weekends are ours'....no hurry..no work...no botheration. Sleep till late..its catching up on the lost sleep of the week days.We woke up real late in the morning on Saturday, had a good tall glass of Banana-Cognac smoothie(talk about weekend drinking...lol), then decided on a restuarant we would go to for lunch...err brunch.It was a good start to what was going to be a tiring day, ending up in an unexpectedly harried search.

While on our way we spotted a huge gathering and hustle-bustle in place of what used to be the beautiful quiet Victora Park here. The HKBPE fair.
We decided that we would go for our meal, after a quick stop at the Hong Kong Brands Products Expo. It was mere curiosity that led us to the exhibhition, but we are glad we allowed our inquisitiveness to take the better of us. It was simply w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l! With so many top brands and so much to see...like all the vibrancy...all the colour that Hong Kong has ...was all at one place.

It was fun visiting each stall and trying out new things...like putting your palm in a tub of (mild) hot liquid wax (which initially you thought was water) so that I can get my skin tested..(ughh! it was sticky) and well my baby-skin was just fine for my age...lol. Then we went on to the Food-Zone (my favourite) trying all the sweet and savoury dishes on offer..the exotic fruits....sun-dried sea food...wines, sauces,blackbean garlic pastes etc, wafers, home made steamed cakes, varieties of green tea..even a guava tea....the sheer variety was mind boggling! After six hours of endless shopping and ending up buying so much stuff...that we exhausted all the cash(cards not accepted) we had just drawn from the ATM in the morning (and which was plenty because it was worth four three-course meals for two people). It was only then that we stopped...or rather had to..lol.

Now for the unpleasant and frantic part of the day--We came back home to drop off our shopping before we headed for an early dinner. While unpacking and sorting out the stuff , we realized that we had lost a big packet of stationery that I had lovingly picked as gifts for my nephews and sis back in India and (since I am crafty and creative) for myself too. A few picture frame balloons,paint-me and blow-up pictures, glitter fabric colours, stain glass cut outs and some D-I-Y stuff.

As the HKBPE visit was undecided, we weren't carrying our back pack..so all the packets were hand held, and one of it might have slipped without us noticing, in the heavily crowded fair. :(
We searched high and low but to no avail...it was S-A-D...I am batting my moist eyes even now as I write. We did register our concern at the Informations/Lost & Found Stall at the fair, though I do not expect any outcome of it. :(

I tend to get upset if I lose anything....my hunger had vanished...I wasn't tired anymore...my legs weren't paining any longer(or I couldn't feel )....I was searching frantically....all I wanted was my lost packet. Hubby dear made me some Banana Smoothie again to comfort me a little. He is the calming factor in my life...I am the one who gets worked up easily.
Anyways, after a lot of consoling and banana drinks...we did go for dinner. Whatever has to happen...happens! (s-i-g-h!!)

Banana-Cognac Smoothie

Ingredients-
(for two tall glasses)

1 cup eggnog (Cognac-rum flavoured)
1 cup rum
2 bananas
2 cups of 2% milk, chilled
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of cinnamon
2 tbsp brown sugar
chocolate shavings for garnish

Method-
Blend everything (except chocolate shavings) in a blender. Serve garnished with dark chocolate shavings.
Note: I skipped the natural/flavoured yogurt as I am a milk-child. :)

This is one of the few treats you only get this time of the year--eggnog, so we combined that delicious eggnog flavor with a smoothie-- a calming drink for harrowing nights like ours.



This goes out to Lubna (of Yummy Food) who is hosting FIC-White, an original creation by SunshineMom/Harini (of ToungeTicklers).