Papaya- Asian Pear Smoothie

I have a ripe papaya and asian pear which I got from the Korean market and they look really yummy but I didn't feel like munching on so them so I turned them into smoothie which is an easier way for me to get my daily fruit requirements. They are so easy to make and involves just a few steps but they are packed with nutrients and are so good.


Asian pears are basically the same as their counterparts which are sold at the regular American store except that they are shaped like an apple They are naturally sweet and juicy. Papaya, on the other hand, are abundant in Asia as well as South America. They can be consumed raw or used in dishes. They can also be eaten unripe or ripe depending on the dish. In most some asian cuisines such as that of Vietnam and Thailand, unripe papayas are served as salads. In the Philippines, they are used in dishes such as tinolang manok (chicken soup with papaya) and achara (pickled papaya).


Ingredients:

1 small (about 1 lb) papaya
1 Asian pear
sugar, according to taste
ice cubes

1. Peel papaya. Remove seeds using spoon and then cut into chunks.
2. Core and peel Asian pear and cut into chunks
2. Place Papaya and Asian Pear in blender. Add sugar according to desired sweetness.
3. Puree fruits and sugar until smooth.
4. Add ice cubes and about 30 to 60 cc water and blend until smooth. NOTE: the proportion of pureed fruit to ice cubes should be 1 cup of ice cubes for every cup of pureed fruit mixture or you can adjust it according to your taste.
5. Transfer to tall glasses and serve immediately

Mango-Cantaloupe Cooler

Last day of summer 2011! Whoa, time flew by so fast. It seems like it was only yesterday when 2011 started and now we are entering the fourth quarter of the year. I am so not ready to bid goodbye to this year because it would mean I will be turning a year older. Ah, I was just coming to terms with the fact that I entered a milestone,make that two milestones, this year and now what? I am turning another year older? Does that even make sense? I guess that's life. Although we cannot make it slow down, the least we can do is make the journey as enjoyable as possible right? Enjoy each passing moment because once it is gone, it is gone for good...no second chances,no undoing, and yes, it it becomes part of a memory. Some memories are good for reminiscing, others are best left where they are... the best memories though are those that makes us feel happy and contented...


I made this refreshing drink as a way to send off summer and welcome autumn. Hopefully the weather cools down considerably so I can turn off the air conditioner and open the windows. I am getting tired of using the exhaust vent instead of opening the windows to get rid of the smell from the cooking that I have been doing these days. The weather outside though has been too warm, at least to me, to allow me to open the windows :( Actually, living in LA makes me long for cool autumn nights in Tennessee where the weather dips down slightly but not too low like other parts of the country. Funny how man is never really satisfied with what he has. I remember complaining about the cold weather when I lived in Tn but now longing for them since I live in LA where it is practically summer all year long...ha ha ha.


Ingredients:

2 cups roughly chopped cantaloupe
1 cup chopped mango flesh
1/2 tsp orange blossom water
sugar, according to desired sweetness
30 ml water



1. Place cantaloupe, water, and mango in a blender and blend until smooth.
2. Add orange blossom water and sugar and blend some more until sugar is dissolved.
3. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or until well chilled then serve.

Apple and Raspberry Smoothie

This was part of my very fruity breakfast today. Hmmm...2 more and I would reach my 5 fruits a day quota...hahaha. THis is a nice refreshing drink albiet needs a little bit more work than my usual shake recipe. I had to strain myapple raspberry mixture after I pureed them to get rid of the raspberry seeds and apple skin. The resulting mixture looks like an apple-raspberry sauce. I had to rinse my blender before I returned the strain mixture and finish the shake. The overall taste and outcome though was quiet nice. The shake might be a little too early for breakfast but who cares? certainly not I...hehehe...besides I really needed it since it was already too warm outside by the time I went out. This is the only way that I would be able to "drink" my juice since I am not a big juice drinker :)



Ingredients:

1 apple, cored and chopped roughly
1/2 cup raspberrries
sugar according to taste
100 ml water
ice cubes

1. Place chopped apple and raspberry in a blender.
2.Add about 50 ml water and puree.
3. Strain mixture in a bowl and rinse blender. Discard what is left on the strainer.
4. Return apple raspberry mixture to the blender.
5. Add sugar ( according to desired sweetness) and the rest of the water and blend until sugar is dissolved.
6. Add crushed ice and blend until smooth.
7 Adjust sweetness , if needed
8. Transfer to glass and serve.

Banana Milkshake

Summer is not one of my favorite seasons because it is just too hot especially here in California. Ughhh...can't even stand to go out for a few minutes. I think this is the reason why I have been mking a lot of frozen drinks and shakes lately...hahaha.

Bananas were on sale the other day when I went grocery shopping $0.59/lb... really cheap so I wan tempted again to buy some....okay, I bought 6 of them and they are Ha! I think I am getting my money worth on the blender lately...I think I have gotten more mileage on it the last few days than I did for the last three years combined...hehehe



Ingredients:

1 banana, peeled and cut up into large chunks
1 1/2 cups milk
1 Tbsp sugar
handful of ice cubes


1. In a blender, add banana, sugar, and about 1/2 a cup of milk. Blend.

2. Add the remaining milk and ice cubes. Blend well until smooth.

3. Tranfer to a glass and serve immediately

Green Mango Shake

Green mango shake has become one of my favorite drinks. My first encounter with this drink was in January of this year while I was vacationing in Bacolod, Philippines. Ripple's @ L'Fisher Hotel serves this drink and out of curiousity, I tried it. Of course, it was after I asked the waiter repeatedly to make sure that the ice they use for the shake is from bottled water and not tap water. So far, this is the only place in the Philippines that I would dare drink juice with ice or fruit shakes since everywhere else seem to be using ice from the local ice plant. There's really nothing wrong with that but based on experience, tap water and my stomach don't go well with each other...hahaha...

Green mango has a slightly sour taste which gives the shake its distict taste. Unfortunately, unripe philippine mango are hard to come by as most of the ones that are being sold in the Filipino stores are already ripe. Since I cannot find green philippine mango, I opted to use the ones that are sold in regular supermarkets. Although they are technically unripe, the fresh is slightly yellow in color. Nonetheless, the flavor is almost the same despite the difference color.

Ingredients:

1 green, unripe mango
sugar
water
ice cubes



1. Peel and dice mango.




2. In a blender, add 1/2 cup diced mango, 1 tsp sugar, and 1/4 cup water
NOTE: You can add more sugar if you want it sweeter. I wanted the shake to retain
a slightly sour taste so I only added 1 tsp of sugar.



3. Blend until the mixture reaches a pureed consistency.
4. Add ice and blend some more until smooth. Transfer to a glass and serve immediately.



Update: Bought some green mangoes and so happy the flesh was actually less yellow so I am posting pictures of the ones I made today.