A delicious refreshing smoothie with coconut milk, banana, mango and pineapple.
Last Friday I discovered that I’m a finalist in the 2016 MAD Blog Awards for best food blog. My first thought was shock, I mean seriously shocked. I’ll admit I’d gently nudged a few friends and family to nominate me, but I’d never in a million years expected to be shortlisted. That was replaced by excitement – the awards do last year looked amazing. Then I hit panic…
The awards do looks amazing because it’s all fancy, there’s a red carpet and all the girls are dressed up in stunning dresses. I DON’T DO DRESSES! The last time I attempted to wear one (when I headed down to London to watch Strictly last autumn), I realised I really didn’t look my best and quickly changed into my standard black trousers and pretty top.
I could probably cope with the idea of squeezing myself into a dress if I wasn’t going to be in a room of such Instagram-happy people. I quickly learnt on my visit to the River Cottage that bloggers actually have cameras surgically attached to them and not only that, they love sharing their pictures with as many people as possible. This all means that I’m on a mission…
I have 141 days (and counting) to get myself looking fabulous, so instead of sharing the oh so yummy Nutella cupcakes I had planned for today, here’s a super healthy* smoothie instead (don’t worry the cupcakes will be here soon, I just needed a few days of proving to myself I have some degree of willpower before I have too much temptation around).
You’ll also be impressed to know that I’ve set my alarm at 6am every day so I can do a kettlebell workout (and less impressed to know that every day I’ve turned off my alarm and gone back to sleep 🙂 ).
* OK it’s quite high in sugar but it’s all natural from the fruit so I don’t feel too naughty.
This smoothie was inspired by the lovely weather we’ve been having recently. It’s made such a pleasant change to have bright sunshine pouring in through the windows and not having to wrap up warm for the walk to school each day. Usually when I make breakfast smoothies I’ll add something like oats to make it more filling but this really doesn’t need it. I drink it for breakfast and it keeps me full until lunchtime.
I use frozen pineapple and mango. I only want a small handful of each and so using frozen avoids food waste, it also makes the smoothie thick, cold and refreshing. Also, who has the time to peel and chop pineapples and mango first thing in the morning? They’re pretty much the most hateful fruit to prepare even when I have plenty of time. I love smoothies for breakfast because they’re so quick and easy, taking time to prepare all the fruit would mean I’d quickly resort back to a bowl of cheerios.
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Tropical Smoothie
INGREDIENTS
- 200 ml coconut milk
- 1 ripe banana
- Small handful of frozen mango - about 50g
- Small handful of frozen pineapple - about 50g
INSTRUCTIONS
- Put all of the ingredients into a powerful blender (I use a Vitamix G750 - it needs to be powerful to cope with the frozen fruit).
- Blitz until smooth and serve
NOTES
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.
Watch a video if this recipe and get some more delicious banana smoothie inspiration…
Free From/Suitable For…
- Suitable for Vegetarians and Vegans
- Dairy-Free
- Gluten-Free
- Nut-Free
- Egg-Free
- Corn-Free
- Soy-Free
The ingredients for this recipe are easily available free from all these allergens. However, please ensure you double-check allergen information for all ingredients.
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