Banana Milk

Have you ever made banana milk? It's really good! There are many variations as to how to make it. With water, with milk, with a plant based milk. I've always made mine with cold water from the refrigerator. 

You can drink the banana milk as is or pour over cereal and or oatmeal. You could also add other frozen fruits and or nuts.

Ingredients:

1 frozen banana
1 cup of water -  or liquid of your choice
dates - optional
fresh or frozen fruit - optional
vanilla - optional 
cocoa or cacao for a chocolate milk 

Add ingredients to a blender, blend until smooth.
 
For the photo above, I added one peeled, sliced, frozen banana, 1/2 cup of peeled, chopped, frozen mango and a handful of fresh blueberries, you could use frozen if you prefer, to my mixer. I added about 1/2 cold water and blended until thick, smooth and creamy. I like the little specs the blueberries created in this one. Yum!  

For this one I added 1/2 cup each of frozen blueberries, frozen mulberries, pineapple and one chopped, frozen banana. I added just enough pineapple juice and water so the mixer could blend to a thick consistency.
Delicious!

Oat Milk

Have you tried making oat milk? I just love how easy it is
to make this tasty, dairy free, milk alternative. I've been experimenting with different ingredients. So far my favorites are blueberry, chocolate and vanilla. Yum. 

There are several online places that state to soak the oats for several minutes before blending, then some sites that say that soaking will make your milk slimy. I have tried both ways and do find the soaked oats to be a little slimy, so I chose to not soak. 

After trying different ways of straining, I have found that using a clean dishcloth works the best. I do however use a strainer for that first straining as that gets the biggest amount of blended oatmeal out making the next 2 strainings easier.


Ingredients: 

1 cup of old fashioned oats
4 cups of water
dish cloth
high speed blender
fine mesh strainer
small bowl
dates for sweetener - optional
vanilla - optional
fresh fruit - optional
spices - optional
cacao or cocoa - optional
 
Add 1 cup of old fashioned oats, 4 cups of water and any other  
ingredients to your blender and blend for 30 to 45 seconds, strain 
through a fine mesh strainer. 

oats, frozen blueberries, cacao

Next, wet the dishcloth with water, squeeze as much water out as you can. Lay the cloth across the top of a small bowl. Slowly pour the oat milk into the enter of the cloth, gather the ends and squeeze out the liquid into the bowl. Repeat until all the milk has been strained. Rinse the cloth good and repeat the straining one more time.

Refrigerate until chilled then enjoy. Drink it plain, pour over cereal, add to your coffee. I use it for making chia pudding. Yum. So many possibilities. 


The milk does separate as it sits in the refrigerator. That doesn't change the flavor at all. Just give it a good shake and you're good to go. Should be used within 3 days.

cacao, blueberry, cinnamon vanilla, oat milks

Berries - for a healthy immune system

Berries, not only delicious but packed with immunity boosting antioxidants.  

strawberries, blueberries, blackberries

Antioxidants work at protecting and repairing the cells from cellular damage - thus strengthening the immune system.

What causes cellular damage? 

Poor nutrition = Lack of fruits and vegetables in our daily diets. 

The chemicals in our food sources;  artificial colors and flavors, nitrates and monosodium glutamate, aka - M.S.G. Reference

Smoking - According to the lung association there are 600 ingredients in cigarettes, and when burned that cigarette creates over 7000 chemicals. Wow. 😲

Mental and emotional stress, excessive worrying. If you stop and think about it, what positive change does stressing and or worrying create? All it does is create more experiences for you to stress and worry about. It's like a vicious cycle that only worsens any situation.

Lack of sleep - weakens your immune system's defenses against viruses like those that cause the common cold and flu. You are more likely to get sick when exposed to these germs. Reference

All these factors, and there are more, contribute to the weakening of our inner cellular structure - resulting in illness and at times, disease.

Isn't it amazing how something so simple as eating berries can assist in creating and maintaining a healthy balance within our bodies? Of course eliminating as many of the root causes of  cellular breakdown is important for maintaining that healthy balance. 👌

Other antioxidant rich foods, spices and herbs; 

dark chocolate

blueberry, mulberry, pineapple, banana smoothie

pecans
elderberries
mulberries
cranberries
pomegranates
pineapple
cilantro
kale
kidney beans
artichokes
broccoli
squash
tomatoes
carrots
sweet potatoes
clove
allspice
cinnamon
oregano
peppermint
sage
rosemary
garlic
ginger
turmeric

Blueberries for Good Health

I just love these beautiful, vibrant, sweet tasting little berries! Used to be a time when food was just something to fill me up when I was hungry. I didn't really think of food in the sense of how it actually helps in healing our body when it's out of balance and how what we choose to eat on a daily basis is so instrumental in our overall health. Take the blueberry for example;  


Did you know this berry is one of the most antioxidant rich fruits in the world? In brief, antioxidants work by protecting and repairing our cells from cellular damage. What causes this type of damage? Diets that lack fruits and vegetables, consuming too many unhealthy fats, the artificial colors, flavorings and other chemicals  in our foods, drinking water, bath and beauty products. Also, air pollution, smoking, stress, lack of sleep. All these factors are what contribute to the weakening of, and damage to, our inner cellular structure. Over time this leads to an imbalance in our bodies, which can then lead to the manifestation of illnesses and diseases - like heart disease, cancers, diabetes, high blood pressure, auto-immune disease and skin issues. So eating foods that contain antioxidants is pretty important for our overall health.

Urinary Tract Infections 

These berries contain a compound called proanthocyanidins. What they do is prevent infectious bacteria from attaching to the walls of the urinary tract and bladder. With no place to attach to, the bacteria is flushed out with your urine. Bye bye UTI. 😉    


Where do they get that beautiful blue color ?

From a natural plant pigment called anthocyanin. This is also where other fruits, veggies, leaves, stems, roots and flowers get their red, blue and purple coloring. There are many health benefits and medicinal properties associated with anthocyanins as well. 

anti-cancer - inhibits the growth of cancer cells by reducing inflammation within the body.  

anti-viral - inhibits the development of a virus. Giving your immune system a boost which helps your body fight off and shorten the duration of a virus and reduces the severity of symptoms. 

anti-inflammatory - food allergies, consuming foods high in sugar, unhealthy fats, smoking, lack of exercise, carrying excess weight, emotional and mental stress, all contribute to creating chronic inflammation in the body. When your body reaches this point, you leave yourself open for heart disease, stroke, cancers, diabetes, arthritis and autoimmune disease. Eating foods with anti-inflammatory properties reduces inflammation in the body. However, if a change in lifestyle is not introduced, there is no way any anti-inflammatory is going to be able to help heal the body from any illness brought on from chronic inflammation.  

 
 Regarding chronic inflammation - Resources

The best way to get the health benefits from blueberries is by eating them in their natural form. Raw. You can freeze them, although some feel this does hinder some of the health benefits and medicinal properties and then again, some feel that it does not. I don't know whether it does or not. I do know that I love eating them frozen as well as fresh. I especially like adding the frozen berries to my oatmeal. Yum.  

The leaves of the plant have the same health benefits and medicinal properties as the berries. Sipping on a warm cup of tea made from either fresh or dried leaves will give your immunity a boost and also help in the recovery of colds and or the flu.  

I could go on and on here about the benefits these sweet little berries have to offer health wise, but then this post would end up being waaay too long. Be sure to do some more research and incorporate them into your daily diet. Your body will thank you with healthier skin and hair, stronger bones, healthier digestive system, enhanced brain health.