Cooling slushie

I recently posted this refresher on my other blog. For you who don't read it I post it here as well because I can't recommend it enough to you. It is soo soothing at a hot day.
A watermelon slushie. It's so easy and refreshing.

Cut watermelon in cubes, throw in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer. I buy whole melons and freeze the excess. If the cubes are deep frozen, let them soften for about half an hour. Put them in a blender and mix until you get a smooth slushie. If you like add water or soda.

Juicing

We didn't get a single apple last summer, it was so rainy and cold. This summer, on the other hand has been so sunny and warm and my appletrees are almost breaking of the weight of apples. A good thing is that the apples of my 3 trees doen't get ripen at the same time. I have three different sorts and they have different purposes.

I can highly recommend to juice the apples and store it in the freezer to get good summer vitamins during the whole winter.

It is important to rinse the apples first to get rid of bug and eventual dirt. Another note; I pick my apples from the trees, not the ground.

The apples doesn't need peeling, cut them in chunks and remove kernels and the little twig.

When juicing, you get a foam on top and sediment at the bottom of the can. Skim the juice and try to avoid the sediment when pouring up in bottles for the freezer. 

For serving, you can add a third of water. I have to add a little sugar as well to get the children to drink.

My juicing machine looks like this, the brand is OBH Nordica. Waste comes out to the left and the juice in the can to the right. It is a bit limited when using. For example you need to stop adding apples and rinse the clogged strainer/separator every other minute.

If you don't own a juicer or can afford one, at least here in Sweden, there are farms that have juice presses where you can leave your apples to get juice in return for a fair price.
I'ts a huge problem here (well for me) were people don't bother to take care of all the fruit but they buy their juice and jam in the store instead, weird or what?

Blood orange

I highly recommend you to buy fruits and vegetables depending of the season. Right now it's the season for buying the Italian blood oranges. They are sold cheap in nets right now.

These oranges are actually ordinary oranges. What makes them red in the meat and peel is the temperature differences between cold frosty late winter nights and warm days. The red colour is antocyanin an antioxidant  good for your immune system. So beat the winter flu with a glass of fresh pressed blood orange.

Green smoothie post

So how about three apples, one banana, a lemon, a huge plate of greens for breakfast. Does it seems too much to eat? That is an example of what I eat for breakfast in the form of a smoothie. I know the internet is flowing over with those green smoothies and about the benefits of them.

So for those who thinks, oh another green smoothie post, you can stop reading now and wait for next post ;)

Our old family relic, the starmix from the 50's is still running strong. The pitcher holds about 1 liter and I pack it loosely with baby spinach leaves and maché sallat.

Three apples are chopped in pieces with the stem and seed house removed. I press these in my juicer and receive a large glass of fresh apple juice. One lemon is pressed + a bunch of  chervil is also added.

 After mixing all the ingredients in the mixer I get half a litre of green thick and chunky smoothie. I fill my 250ml glass containers all the way up to keep the smoothie fresh. If there is space left, just add water. In this way I can make it the day before and drink it at work the morning after.

The only limit for a green smoothie is your own imagination. Add wich fruits and leafs you like and make your own favourite.

NOTE: At first when I drank the green smoothie I got a terrible headache. The trick is to drink and chew for a long time and not starting the day with the smoothie until you have been up and running for a while. Don't forget to drink plenty of water as well.