Chocolate Frappe

It's the last day of summer!
To those of you about to enter autumn, I hope you've enjoyed the warm weather. And to those coming out the other end, I hope you're looking forward to the warm weather!
I love summer and do not look forward to the weather getting cooler. 
Being the last day of summer, it inspired me to post this before it's too cold to drink it for a while!
I hope you find it a nice refreshing treat to have just as much as we have :-)

Chocolate Frappe

(Serves 2)

2 trays ice cubes
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
1 Tablespoon dry sweetner of choice (I use coconut sugar)
250ml motherless milk of choice (I use light soymilk)
1 teaspoon vanilla essense

Empty the ice cube trays into a blender and pulse until broken down into crushed ice. Add the remaining ingredients and blend til desired consistency.

Drink :-)

 

Christmas Drink #12 - Santa Choc-Cherry Milk

Drink #12 - Santa Choc-Cherry Milk

Are you going to leave milk out for Santa tonight?
How about leaving a real treat for Santa instead of just plain milk ;-)


 

In a blender combine:

1/2 cup frozen cherries
1 Tablespoon cocoa         powder
250ml ricemilk



Blend until well combined.



If you live where it's cold - you can always warm this milk treat over the stove & also melt 4 cubes of dark chocolate into the milk.




Serve..... with cookies of course - or other Santa treat!

Christmas Drink # 11 - Christmas Cocktail

Drink #11 - Christmas Cocktail

A cocktail had to come into the drinks somewhere!! I was debating if I should wait til after Christmas and post this as a New Year Cocktail but, then again, no one thinks of green & red as new year colours! So here you have it - the Christmas Cocktail.....

In a cocktail glass combine:
- 1 shot of Midori Melon Liqueur
- 1 shot of rum
- 1 teaspoon coconut essense

Fill the glass to the top with lemonade.
Top with frozen cranberries & coconut shreds.

Christmas Drink #10 - Strawberries & Cream Smoothie

Drink #10 - Strawberries & Cream Smoothie

I decided to include a smoothie in my collection of Christmas drinks. Here's the reason why..... often the morning after a big Christmas meal we don't really feel like having too much, but then I find that skipping breakfast only sets us up for eating more later in the day! Here's a great way to start the day with a festive feel to it! Or, a great afternoon snack!
 

Combine in a blender:

250ml orange juice (that's the juice from 2 oranges, give or take - depending on how juicey the oranges are!)
1 cup frozen strawberry pieces
1 frozen banana
1/4 cup coconut cream

Blend until all the pieces are broken down & well combined.

 

Christmas Drink #9 - Christmas Time Tea Punch

Drink #9 - Christmas Time Tea Punch

I love punch - and recently I've discovered the amazing taste that adding cold tea can create. Here's a great festive punch that everyone can enjoy.

I suggest brewing the tea the night before & then storing it in the fridge overnight to chill.

 

In a punch bowl combine equal quantities of:

Chilled white tea (any flavour - I used peach -                 1 bag per 250ml water, brew as normal)
Lemonade
Orange juice

Top with ice, torn mint leaves & frozen raspberries.


The red & green on top looks very festive & the raspberries will melt into the punch & make a lovely red colour.

 I know I said that last time would possibly be the last of my Christmas creation pictures but I couldn't resist showing this one either:

They are my fudgey slice (minus the nuts) topped with icing & rapsberries. So easy and yet they look amazing on the Christmas table (even if I must say so myself!!!).

Christmas Drink #8 - Cranberry Apple Joy

Drink #8 - Cranberry Apple Joy

I couldn't resist the urge to use the word 'joy' in the name of this drink! Honesty I took a sip and just felt like all the worries of the world disappeared!

Sparkling apple juice reminds me of Christmas so much! I think its because the only time of year that we would drink it was Christmas time & it was a real treat to go to our grandparents place & have it! So of course, I just had to use it in another of my Christmas drink recipes!

In a glass (or jug) combine equal quantities of sparkling apple juice, cranberry juice & champagne together. You can use lemonade in place of the champagne for a non-alcoholic version. 
Serve with your choice of either frozen raspberries or cherries.

For great information about vegan alcohol check out http://www.barnivore.com/

Christmas Drink #7 - Coconut Cinnamon Milk

Drink #7 - Coconut Cinnamon Milk

I love the taste of coconut.
But when I eat it part of my inner being is very aware of the large amount of saturated fat in contains!
Here is a great coconutty drink without any guilt!

Whisk together :
250ml soymilk
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon coconut essense

YUM

So smooth & such a lovely coconut flavour! Perfect movie-sipping if you ask me!

This is lovely to have either warmed or cool.
My preference is cooled - but perhaps that's just because its been quite warm here lately!
Also nice with a shot of rum if desired!

Christmas Drink #6 - Sparkling Gingered Apple Juice

Drink #6 - Sparkling Gingered Apple Juice

Here's a great festive drink that you can serve either alcholic or non-alcoholic. 
I decided that I would make a drink that had a slight resemblance to ginger beer but wasn't actually ginger beer as I don't like it at all!

I LOVE this mixture - it has the perfect balance of enough tang & spice to make a fantastic drink - but without any bitterness! 
What a great Christmas treat!

To make 1 litre:                                                To make 1 cup:

1 litre sparkling apple juice                                   250ml sparkling apple juice
1 lime, juiced & zest removed                               1/4 lime, juiced & zest removed
1 teaspoon ground ginger                                   1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Mix the ginger & lime juice into the apple juice & whisk until the ground ginger has dissolved. This will form a froth on the top.

Pour into glasses and serve topped with lime zest.

To make alcoholic - simply add a shot of apple schnapps!

Christmas Drink #5 - Christmas Spiced Mocha

 Drink #5 - Christmas Spiced Mocha

You didn't think I was going to leave coffee off the drinks list did you??
Coffee is very close to my heart!

This is the perfect way to enjoy your coffee and make it feel like a real celebration!
Surprise your guests when they pop over with this wonderful spice-mix :-)


You'll need:

hazelnut flavour coffee (you can use plain but the hazelnut flavour just adds a wonderful aroma & taste to this mix)
150-200ml plant-milk
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch ground cloves

Warm the coffee machine for about 15 minutes before using.
Place the cocoa powder in a mug & then run your coffee on top of the cocoa. Stir to combine. Add the cinnamon, ginger & cloves. Stir well.

Froth the milk & pour on top of the coffee-spice mixture. 
Sprinkle with cinnamon or cocoa.

Don't have a coffee machine? Use a plunger & a milk frother instead! :-)

Serve with treats of course ;-) 

Christmas Drink #3 - Almond No-Egg Nogg

Drink #3 -  Simple Almond No-Egg Nogg

 

Per serving you'll need:

250ml almond milk
1 shot Brandy (more or less to suit you!)
1 teaspoon custard powder  ***
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg


*** if you can't source vegan custard powder you can replace it with this mixture:
1/2 teaspoon egg replacer
1/2 teapoon stevia
1/2 teaspoon vanilla





Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker & shake until mixed well & powder is dissolved. The top of the mixture will have froth.

Pour into a glass & top with nutmeg.

Now here's how I really had my serving ;-)

Christmas Drink #2 - Pine-berry Slush

Drink #2 --> Pine-Berry Slush

This is a great drink for those super hot days we get here around Christmas time! 
Its so refreshing & so easy to make!

(These quantities make 2 large glasses - you can adjust as needed. Fill your whole blender to make a great party drink for many guests!)


You'll need:

  1 cup frozen chopped pineapple
  1 cup frozen raspberries
  1 cup cold water
  1 Tablespoon maple syrup

 





Put all ingredients in a blended and blend until all pieces are broken down!




Serve!

You can't keep this as it will melt & not have the 'slush' texture anymore - though it will make a lovely juice!
Note: I added the maple syrup because I find raspberries a bit tangy by themself - -you can omit it is you like the tang that comes with raspberries!

 

The 12 drinks of Christmas - Drink #1

~Welcome to December!~

Yes, I realise I'm a few days late - but you know what they say.... better late than never!
I cannot believe how quickly this year has gone!!! Does anyone else feel like this year has just flown by? I feel like it should be about March..... but since it's not I thought a little Christmas collection would be nice!
There are sooooooo many recipes everywhere for Christmas meals, so I thought I would take on something a little different...... drinks.

So stay tuned til Christmas day as I present my version of Christmas drinks! :-)

Let's get started!

Drink #1 --> Hoho-Healthy Santa Juice
Poor Santa! Imagine how bloated he feels after all that milk everyone leaves out for him ;-)
Any wonder he has a tummy like he does too with all the cookies on top of that milk! 
How about this year Santa gets a nice healthy green juice!!!
This is great for after a big meal the night before too, you can have it as a fresh morning drink or an afternoon refresher too.

If you make a big batch of this juice you can also freeze it into ice-blocks for a healthy way to get some extra vitamins into the kiddies :-)



What you'll need:
A bag of green leftovers - by that I mean, the ends of broccoli that have been chopped off, buy choy ends, choy sum ends, any stray lettuce leaves that didn't quite make the salad,  zucchini ends.

These items used to be fed to our rabbit before he passed away - but now they are still put to good use!
I don't throw vitamins away!

I also included a few carrot ends, but not enough to make the juice turn a funny colour.

  


Put all vegetable leftovers through a juicer with 2-3 apples, or as many as you like to make the juice sweet enough for drinking!

 Now that is a pile of pulp that I don't feel at all bad if I throw away!!!

 

Now that's sure to refresh Santa on his trip down under where we don't quite get a white Christmas, but a red hot one! ;-)

mmmmmm, red - perhaps that's the next colour drink for Christmas! 

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