mango, banana and ginger smoothie

We’ve been living in Australia for eight years in December.  Eight years!!!  It feels like a life time ago that we packed up our then family of six, with our meagre belongings stuffed into four suitcases, to embark on a new and exciting life.  We’d never travelled overseas before our move but we had itchy feet and were not overly daunted by such a drastic shift.  Yes we were sad at leaving behind loved ones, but excitement filled us at the adventures that lay ahead. The first two years were spent living in sunny Queensland but we still felt a little unsettled so after a bit of discussion we decided to hightail it over the country to Western Australia where we’ve been living somewhat blissfully, ever since.

Despite having lived here for so long I still haven’t gotten used to the heat.  Winter is only fleeting compared to my country of birth but summer…holy, you ain’t ever experienced summer until you have suffered through a Western Australian one, it’s a total scorcher! and every summer that follows seems to be getting hotter than the last.  I am already bracing myself for this year and we’re still in spring.  A day when the temperature is over the mid twenties sees me cringing…I am a total heat wuss which is ironic given where we live…so you can imagine how bad I am at summers height.

Speaking of heat, please tell me I am not the only one who struggles to eat when it’s so hot outdoors and in? (we have no air-con so there’s little relief) About the best I can do is slurp on a smoothie or eat ice cream like it’s going out of fashion.  The great thing about a smoothie is that they are a meal in themselves, unlike a heaving bowl of ice cream, and no rules apply as to what you can add.  Some of our better concoctions have been those that we’ve haphazardly thrown together.

I’m on a bit of a ginger bender at the moment and throwing it in to everything I make.  It’s zing rounds out the sweetness of the mango and banana quite nicely here.


Mango, banana & ginger smoothie – serves 3-4

Ingredients:
I ripe mango - preferably frozen
2 banana’s - preferably frozen
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
1 Tbsp flax meal
1 Tbsp coconut oil
1 – 2 tsp grated ginger

topping:
chopped glace ginger – optional
toasted/raw desiccated coconut – optional

Method:
Place all the smoothie ingredients into a blender and blend till smooth.  You may have to scrap down the sides of the blender bowl a few times.  Serve topped with glace ginger and toasted coconut

Notes:
- 1 tsp of ginger gives a subtle taste, for a bit more zing add another tsp or more
- I prefer to use frozen fruit in my smoothies for a thick cold mix, feel free to use unfrozen fruit in which case you may want to add a few ice cubes to thicken and chill
- I used home made coconut milk but any coconut/nut or dairy milk would work fine
- I don't tend to sweeten many of my smoothies unless the fruit is particularly tart, feel free to add it to your liking