Summer smoothies: 6 homemade recipes

This summer, forget about fizzy drinks and fruit juices loaded with sugar and additives! Not only are they not great for your health, but these drinks are often high in calories and best enjoyed in moderation. That said, you don’t have to stick to plain water all day, ladies! To mix things up, enjoy a drink with friends or swap out your usual snack: homemade smoothies are a delicious alternative. First, find out what makes them so appealing, then try 6 easy summer recipes: watermelon, melon and strawberry; apricot, peach and plum; avocado, lemon and banana; mixed berries; coconut, strawberry and banana; and a veggie version with tomato, celery and lemon.

Homemade smoothies: the essentials

We’re talking about homemade smoothies here! Store-bought versions very often contain added sugars and ingredients beyond just fruit. If you do buy a smoothie at the supermarket, always take a moment to read the label.

Homemade, 100% fruit smoothies are a great way to boost your daily fruit and vegetable intake. Wash your fruit thoroughly and leave the skin on where you can to keep as much fibre as possible. You can also go for organic. Bear in mind that a smoothie is still sweet, even with no added sugar, because blended fruit contains its own natural sugars. One glass is plenty, ideally with a meal or as a snack rather than something to sip on throughout the day. Smoothies shouldn’t make up all of your daily fruit intake either, so alternate them with whole fruit.

Smoothies are a brilliant way to load up on fibre, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, all valuable nutrients as part of a balanced diet! To make the most of these nutrients, drink your smoothie as soon as it’s made.

My summer smoothies: watermelon, melon & strawberry

Ingredients

• 1 slice of watermelon (about 1/8 of the fruit)
• 1 slice of melon (about 1/8 of the fruit)
• 10 strawberries

Method

1. Wash the strawberries, remove the stems and place the fruit in the blender.
2. Cut the flesh from the watermelon and melon and add to the strawberries.
3. Blend until you reach the perfect consistency!

My summer smoothies: apricot, peach & plum

Ingredients

• 2 apricots
• 2 small peaches
• 2 small plums

Method

1. Wash the fruit and peel the peaches.
2. Halve all the fruit, remove the stones and place in the blender.
3. Blend until smooth.

My summer smoothies: avocado, lemon & banana

Ingredients

• ½ avocado
• 1 lemon
• 1 banana
• 1 tbsp honey

Method

1. Squeeze the juice from the lemon.
2. Peel and chop the avocado and banana, then place them in the blender.
3. Pour in the lemon juice and add the honey. Blend!

My summer smoothies: mixed berries

Ingredients

• 5 strawberries
• 10 raspberries
• 10 redcurrants
• 10 blackberries
• 10 blueberries
• 1 tbsp honey

Method

1. Wash all the fruit and remove the stems.
2. Place in the blender with the honey and blend until you reach the ideal texture.

My summer smoothies: coconut, strawberry & banana

Ingredients

• A small handful of coconut flakes
• 10 strawberries
• 1 banana

Method

1. Peel the banana, slice it and place it in the blender.
2. Wash the strawberries, remove the stems and add them to the banana.
3. Add the coconut flakes and blend until smooth.

My summer smoothies: lemon, tomato & celery

Ingredients

• 1 small carrot
• ¼ celery stalk
• 1 tomato
• 1 lemon

Method

1. Peel the carrot and slice it into rounds.
2. Clean the celery and chop it into small pieces.
3. Carefully peel the tomato, remove the stem and roughly chop it.
4. Squeeze the lemon.
5. Pour all the ingredients into the blender and blend until you reach a smooth, drinkable texture.

So ladies, which of these 6 summer smoothies are you going to try first?

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