Specials Board: Apple and Ginger Revitiliser

Apple & Ginger Revitiliser & Vegan Mofo Day 10

I was still feeling rather sluggish this morning when I woke and I needed a pick me up, a tonic to help me feel more myself. I was feeling nauseous and I couldn't face my normal breakfast of homemade muesli or toast. 

I was craving something fruity and zingy, obscure I know but I'm a great believer in your body will tell you what it is missing. As long as you don't confuse this with comfort eating or sugar craving, your body will thank you for listening.

I knew ginger would help with the nausea, but I couldn't face its overpowering taste, not this morning, a little goes a long way. Then I remembered I still had two Ribston Pippin Apples from the Millennium Garden where my parents live. What if I combined the two, surely that would help? An intake of Vitamin C first thing in the morning and help reducing my nausea. 

There's a lot in the news about coconut water at the moment too, even the supermarkets are getting in on it and you can find it in most places. If your Supermarket doesn't sell it try Holland and Barrett. It is said to be the ultimate hangover remedy, if only I had remembered that on Sunday morning! It quenches your thirst and boosts hydration, facilitates digestion and is full of nutrients. So with that knowledge I set to and made what I thought was the perfect solution; a smoothie.

Ingredients
2 Ribston Pippin apples, peeled and cored
3g Ginger, peeled
200ml Coconut water

Method
Add all three ingredients to a blender and whiz up into a smoothie. If you haven't got a powerful blender you may want to sieve the smoothie a couple of times to remove the apple bits that haven't blended fully.

I must admit it was the perfect pick me up and I actually felt a lot better after drinking it.

Specials Board: Creamy Apple & Coconut Water Smoothie

Creamy Apple & Coconut Water Smoothie and Vegan Mofo Day6

I've had so much to do today and done none of it! I was planning a mammoth cooking session today but that has gone out of the window! So tomorrow will have to be a gigantic mammoth cooking session. I have so much veg from my garden that needs whipping up into something tasty and now I have my freezer I am hoping to fill it up with work day meals. Well, that's the plan anyway!

When I say I've done nothing I don't mean that I've sat on my back side all day, Marco and I have been out exploring and found a secret place full of sloes! I think they need a couple more weeks so I just hope someone else doesn't find them first.

I'm lucky enough to have parents who live in a village which features a Millennium Green, which has a lovely wild flowers meadow, an extensive community orchard, a nuttery, a herb garden and a small willow maize. A few years ago volunteers worked tirelessly to raise sufficient funds to buy the land from a local farmer and transformed the land into a peaceful community area, which also includes a Millennium Wood. It offers an amazing range of habitats, from woodland to meadow, from pond to hedgerow and is a haven for wildlife as well as people. I love spending time there, its so tranquil and you will always spot some form of wildlife. Marco loves it there to, racing around the Millennium Wood, chasing sticks and balls we throw for him.

One special part of the Millennium Green is the community orchard, containing many different varieties of apples, pears, cherries, damsons, plums and nuts. All of the trees are individually sponsored and are mainly old species that are the origin of many modern varieties. The orchard has become a hotspot for biodiversity, supporting a wide range of wildlife. The fruit and nuts are enjoyed by many and contributes to a healthy diet without the food miles which accompany a lot of fruit these days. On visiting the orchard you are allowed to pick the fruits with respect for the sponsor and other visitors. Unfortunately we live in such times where there are people out there who think its a free for all and go in (sometimes in the dead of night) and strip the trees bare, breaking off branches just so they can get to some of the fruits. It makes me so mad!

The trustees have had to resort to putting signs up around the orchard asking people to behave respectfully and to just pick a handful of fruits at a time. However, I fear these will not deter them and its such a shame that the orchard can't be loved by all. 

I was lucky enough to be able to pick a handful of apples, pears and damsons on my visit last week, so watch out for some recipes featuring them throughout September. Today, when I visited I was so sad to see the broken branches and the trees stripped of their fruit, it actually made me cry. I almost felt like the trees were weeping too, it was a very sad day.

I reminded myself though that I was lucky enough to have enjoyed some of the fruits I picked last week for my breakfast, creamy apple & coconut water smoothie and I cheered up. 

The apples I used in this smoothie were the variety Ribston Pippin.

Ingredients
100g Apple
100ml Coconut water
2 Tbsp Soy Yoghurt

Method
Put all the ingredients into a blender, I used my beloved Vitamix and blend, easy! If you haven't got a high speed blender the apple might not blend totally, but if you pass the smoothie through a sieve that should help.