Banana Milkshake

Ingredients:
Ripe Bananas - 2
Oats - 1/3 cup
Milk
Vanilla extract- few drops
Sugar (as per taste)

Method:
Boil the milk and pour required milk in the oats. Cover and keep aside to cool.
Allow the remaining milk to cool.
Peel and chop the bananas. Blend them. Add required milk, few drops of vanilla extract, oats and sugar. Blend well. Pour in glasses and enjoy the healthy milk shake.

Sent off to "Veggie/Fruit a Month - Banana" event hosted by aipi and started by Priya.

Today's weather in the morning (8:00 am).

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Carrot Milk

Ingredients:
Carrots - 4 (small)
Milk - 2.5 cups
Saffron strands - a pinch
Sugar - as per taste
Green cardamom powder - a pinch

Method:
Cut the carrots into pieces and steam them. Grind the steamed carrots.
Boil the milk and remove from heat. Allow the milk to be warm.
Now blend the mik, sugar, ground carrot, cardamom powder and saffron.
Enjoy this carrot milk warm during the biting cold of winter and chilled during the blazing heat of summer.
You can add some dry fruits and nuts to make it more enthusiastic with crunchiness.

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Vaca Preta

It's a very simple and easy recipe which is perfect for summer. We often used to enjoy this dessert/drink in fast food restaurants in Texas and Florida.

Ingredients:
Coke - as required
Vanilla ice cream - 2 scoops

Method:
First, add a scoop of ice cream in an empty glass.
Then pour the coke.

Again add another scoop on the top or blend the two to form like a milkshake.

Sent off to "AWED-Brazil" hosted by Sara and started by DK.

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Brazilian Lemonade/Limonada Suiça

Brazilian lemonade is a beverage prepared with lime (not with lemons). Limonada suiça (lemonade in Portuguese) is also known as "Swiss lemonade" in Brazil. It is prepared with sweetened condensed milk. Instead of condensed milk, another drink named "Caipirinha" (the national drink) is prepared by adding "cachaca". Caipirinha is a cocktail and cachaca is a distilled white alcohol prepared from sugarcane.

Ingredients:
Limes - 2
Sweetened condensed milk - 4 tbsp.
Water - 3 cups
Sugar - ACCORDING TO TASTE
Ice cubes

Method:
1. Cut each lime into 4 wedges. Remove seeds and white piths.
2. Add all ingredients in a blender and pulse for 3 to 5 times or till the froth appears on the top.
3. Strain the rinds and pour the lemonade in the glasses, drop 2 ice cubes in each glass and gulp it immediately.
4. Do not store in the refrigerator. It tastes bitter when kept for a long time.
5. While filtering, the froth too gets filtered. Another method is there to prepare this.
6. Blend water and lime wedges for few seconds. Strain. Now add the juice, sugar, condensed milk and ice cubes in the clean blender and pulse it. Enjoy immediately.

Sent off to "AWED-Brazil" hosted by Sara and started by DK.

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Avocado Mango Smoothie

Ingredients:
Avocado flesh - from 2 ripe avocados
Mango flesh -  from 1 1/2 ripe mangoes
Milk - 1 cup
Yogurt - 1 cup
Sugar/honey - as per taste
Ice cubes -  1 cup or as per taste

Method:
Add all the ingredients in the blender and play with it.
Pour it in glasses and serve.
Enjoy.

Sent off to Spicy Tasty's "Sizzling Summer Contest".

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Avocado Smoothie

Ingredients:
Avocado - 1
Litchi juice - 1/2 cup
Plain yogurt - 1/2 cup
Honey - 1 tbsp.
Sugar - 3 tsp.
Ice cubes - 4

Method:
Scoop out the flesh of the avocado and add in a blender.
Combine all the other ingredients in the blender and of course you what to do with a blender.
After blending, pour the smoothie in a glass and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Serve chilled and enjoy.

Sent off to Divya's "Show Me Your Smoothie" event.

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Cucumber Lassi

Ingredients:
English cucumber - 3 (medium size)
Curd/Yogurt - 2 cups
Roasted ground cumin - 1 tsp.
Chaat masala - 1/2 tsp.
Ginger - 1/2 inch
Green chilies - 4 (medium)
Black salt - 1/2 tsp.
Sugar - 1/2 tsp.
Ice cubes - 5-6


Method:
Grind chopped cucumbers, green chilies & ginger in a blender.
Add the remaining ingredients in the blender.
Beat the yogurt till there is a formation of foam.
Pour it in a glass and serve with a mint leaf on top and enjoy.

Note:
You can adjust the spice ingredients according to your taste.

 Sent off to "CWS-Cumin Seeds" (hosted by Saraswathi Iyer and started by Priya).

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Almonds 'n' Jaggery Drink

Ingredients:

Almond – 1 cup

Cashew nuts – ½ cup

Dates (pitted and chopped) - ½ cup

Jaggery powder – 1 cup (or reduce according to your taste)

Mango jam – ½ cup

Method:

Cut the almonds into half. Dry roast them without burning.

Break the cashews and dry roast them.

To the jaggery powder add little water and melt them in low heat. Filter the thick liquid from impurities.

Let it cool.

Now in a blender add the roasted almonds, cashews, dates, jaggery, and mango jam and grind them by adding water.

Serve chill.

Recipe source: From a tamil magazine.

Sent off to the 15-minute event.

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Green Power-Ups!

I planned this drink and everybody in the family said 'NO!' and I just made it for myself only. When I drank this lime mint juice, everybody was looking at me so strangely!

How to prepare the juice:
Lime juice - from half of lime
Mint leaves - 15 fresh leaves
Sugar - 4 teaspoons
Water - 250 ml

Method:
Add mint leaves, sugar, lime juice into the blender with little water.
Grind.
Pour the remaining water into the mixture.
And blend well.
Chill!
Run the juice through the strainer, drop few cubes of ice and enjoy the lime juice with minty flavor.

Honeydew Melon Smoothie
Toss half fruit of honeydew melon, 2 frozen bananas, one cup of ice and blend well! That's it!

Sent off to the 15-minute event.

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Falooda

Ingredients:
Falooda sev – ½ cup
Basil seeds – 1 tablespoon
Milk – 5 cups
Sugar – ¼ cup (or as per taste)
Rose syrup – 6 tablespoons
Vanilla ice cream – 4 scoops

Garnishing:
Pistachios chopped
Almonds chopped

Method:Boil the milk and keep aside. Take one cup of milk and add one tablespoon of basil seeds to it .
Soak the seeds more than 30 minutes and chill
To the remaining boiled milk add ¼ cup of sugar and dissolve it. Chill it in the refrigerator.
Cut the sevs with kitchen scissors to about 1 ½ inch length.
Boil the water and add the sevs.
Sevs will take 3 to 4 minutes to be cooked.
Drain it in the strainer and show the strainer in the cold running water. Keep covered in the refrigerator till the serving time.

Serving time:
Take the soaking seeds in the milk (1 cup milk + seeds), pour it in the milk with sugar (4 cups milk+sugar) and mix all well.
Now add 6 tablespoons of rose syrup and mix well.
In a glass first add 1 tablespoon of cooked sev, then pour the milk mixture on the sev.
Add one scoop of vanilla ice cream on the top.
Garnish it with chopped pistachios and almonds.

Note:
Falooda sev is made of corn flour. It's like spaghetti but unlike spaghetti, it is formed in circles. It's thin and yellow. If you want to use vermicelli, then there is no need to cut as they're already cut.

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Strawberry Smoothie

I had plenty of strawberries in my back yard (in the last night's dream........hmmm!!! deep breath). I love the color of strawberry with green leaves combo.

Ingredients:
Strawberry – 10
Banana (frozen) – 1
Fresh orange juice – squeezed from one fruit
Vanilla flavored low fat yogurt – 2 tablespoon
Ice as required.

Method:
Toss the strawberries and frozen banana in a blender and blend.
Then add the orange juice, vanilla yogurt and ice.
Blend till smooth.
Pour it in a tall glass and have a healthy drink!

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Cantaloupe Smoothies

Just be sure that all fruits are ripe before making a smoothie!!!
Cantaloupe. It has Vitamin C.

Ingredients:
Cantaloupe - half fruit
Frozen banana (peeled) - 1

Method:
Cut the fruits into pieces.
Throw them in the blender.
Blend till smooth!

Here is another type of smoothie.
Use half fruit Cantaloupe, one frozen banana, 1/2 cup plain yogurt, ice and little honey. Blend them all and you will have a great drink!

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Water Melon Smoothie

This was a breakfast on a Sunday.

Ingredients:
Water Melon - ½ fruit
Vanilla Low Fat Yoghurt - ½ cup
Ice - as required.


Method:
Toss in everything in the blender and blend until smooth!

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Strawberry Lemonade

Strawberry lemonade

Ingredients:
Fresh ripe strawberries - 20 pieces
Lemon juice - squeezed from one lemon
Water - 1 1/2 cup
Sugar - 3 tablespoon or according to your taste

Method:
Add ripe strawberries, lemon juice , sugar and 1/2 cup water in a blender and blend well.
Add remaining 1 cup of water and again blend well.
Voilà. Drop few ice cubes and serve.

Note: Add water according to the sourness of lemon juice.

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