Almond Milk - A Beauty Drink

Childhood memories are so beautiful. Just thinking about those times gives so much of happiness. I wish I could be a small girl again and indulge myself in the natural pleasures of doing small things. Without a care in the world I could imagine things, create, play, laugh, smile and cry. But not anymore.

Almond Milk is a special part of my childhood memories. When I was a small girl, my mother used to make me almond milk because of its varied benefits. I used to have it before sleeping. Still whenever I am home, she makes it. In those growing years I used to hate milk both plain or with any of the mixes. But I loved warm almond milk. And still do, specially in winters.

Full of health and beauty benefits, you could use almonds to make face scrub or moisturizer to soften your skin and prevent aging. Drinking warm almond milk before you go to bed would improve your sleep. For growing children it helps in increasing energy levels and memory. Almonds are an incredible nutritional resource.

Ingredients

10 almonds (blanched and chopped)
4-5 cup milk
pinch of cardamom powder
pinch of nutmeg powder
3-4 tbsp sugar
few saffron strands

Method

* Boil milk in a thick bottomed pan.
* Add sugar and almonds and lower the heat. Keep on stirring till the water evaporates and somewhat thicker consistency is achieved.
* Just before removing from heat, add cardamom and nutmeg powder. Stir and boil for further 2-3 minutes.
* Serve hot in glasses garnished with saffron strands.
* If you want it cold in summers, then chill it for few hours.

Hot 'n' Spicy Watermelon Drink Recipe

During summer, melons are at their best. And to beat the heat of summers, nothing cools as much as the chilled melon salad, soup or drink. But when showers happen, thirst for something cold gives way to something hot. This watermelon drink is hot and spicy and just right for the Monthly Mingle Event, hosted by Chew On That.

This is my first submission for Meeta's Monthly Mingle. I look forward to it in the future too. Its a great idea to unite with other food bloggers and share recipes.

Watermelon Drink is an easy drink to make. Although I have made a hot watermelon drink. If you want to have it cold, you can chill it for few hours.

Ingredients

2 small ginger roots
4-5 cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
6 cup watermelon cubes (seeded)
1 cup water
5 cup sugar
3 lemon slices
1/2 teaspoon salt

Method

* Place ginger, cloves, and cinnamon sticks in a double layer of cheesecloth. Tie ends into a spice bag. Set aside.
* Peel the dark green skin. Coarsely chop watermelon and place in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Process until the watermelon reaches the consistency of coarse
applesauce.
* Place processed watermelon and water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer about 30 minutes, until watermelon is soft.
* Add spice bag, sugar, lemon, and salt to the watermelon. Simmer and cook for an hour, .
* Pour into glasses.

Orange Ecstasy - A Refreshing Summer Mocktail

Oranges add a special tang to any recipe. Not just that they are so full of goodness that they are in desserts, drinks, squashes and then in cosmetics too. An orange is equal to a small world of benefits. The fiber in orange reduces high cholesterol level in the body and the natural fruit sugar, fructose controls the rising blood sugar levels after a meal. Oranges are an excellent source if vitamin C and flavonoids. So eat at least an orange a day, specially in summers.

Normally I don't like juices, still I like having fresh juices. Orange juice is my favorite. In canned juices also, orange tastes better than others. So, for natural flavor try to use fresh orange juice.

Ingredients

2 cups chilled orange juice
3 cups soda
3 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup milk
1 cup vanilla ice cream
sugar to taste
1 tbsp grated rind of orange
A drop of orange color

Method

* In a jar, mix together milk, orange juice, lemon juice, orange rind, sugar, and color
* Stir till everything is mixed and sugar dissolved.
* Add soda
* In glasses, add ice cream and our the orange soda mixture
* Serve chilled

Lemon Ecstasy - A Delectable Summer Mocktail

For those of you who love to have cool drinks to beat the red hot summer heat but don't drink alcohol, mocktails are always welcome. Quick to make, colorful and full of goodness of fruits, a mocktail would give you all the fun of a cocktail along with a quick boost in energy.

The beauty of using superfine or caster sugar is that because of its fineness, it dissolves more quickly than regular white sugar.


Ingredients

6 lemons
5 tbsp Caster sugar/superfine sugar
2 bottle soda
3 cup vanilla ice cream
Crushed ice

Method

* Take out the juice of lemons, discarding the seeds
* Mix together lime juice and super refined sugar and stir till the sugar dissolves
* Add half of the vanilla ice cream and soda
* Whip with a beater till the ice cream is half melted
* Put in a serving glass over crushed ice
* While serving add the remaining ice cream on top

Watermelon Drink - For A Zesty Summer

These days when the temperature is rising, rather than eating we go for drinking cold drinks, shakes, squashes or may be just chilled water to quench our thirst. Watermelon is one such fruit which has about 6% sugar by weight and the rest is water. Rich in vitamin C, watermelon has some very important antioxidants that neutralize harmful free radicals.

On a summer day this watermelon drink is just the perfect thirst quencher. Very easy to make too as are most of my recipes. The only thing is to remove the seeds, which you can do in advance and then store in an air tight container in refrigerator. Whenever you want you can make this. Although this is a drink my mother used to make but dear Julia of A Slice of Cherry make me redo it with a few changes according to my tastes and her ingredients (watermelon & mint) from In the Bag: Cooking the Month of June.

Ingredients

2-3 cups watermelon chunks (seeds removed)
4-5 mint leaves
black salt to taste

Method

* In a blender, mix watermelon and mint leaves
* Blend for few minutes
* Take a muslin cloth or a strainer and strain.
* The pulp is discarded, although can be used to make watermelon salad
* Add black salt and stir well.
* Serve in chilled glasses.
* If you want you can add few drops of lemon juice.

Hazelnut Affogato - The Perfect Coffee Dessert

Served at many Italian restaurants or coffee shops, an affogato is an espresso based dessert or a beverage. Excellent for summers. " Affogato al cafe" means "drowned in coffee" as per the Italian language. You can make an affogato at home all you need is a strong coffee or espresso and scoops of ice cream. For topping you can even add different syrups or caramels.

Hazelnut affogato is a treat in summers. Easy to make, it is equipped with the goodness of hazelnuts, the best known source for Vitamin E. You can either add hazelnut syrup or hazelnut caramel. Both go well in affogato. The good thing is that you can further experiment to make different affogatos, only thing to keep in mind is the ratio of various coffee drinks and ice cream flavors. So brew some coffee and make great affogatos to beat the heat.

Ingredients

* 2 tbsp espresso shot
* 2 scoops vanilla ice cream
* 3 tsp hazelnut syrup

Method

* Take chilled glasses and add the espresso shot in it.
* Over it add the scoops of vanilla ice cream.
* Pout hazelnut caramel or syrup over the ice cream
* If you want you can garnish with chocolate chips.

Black Pepper Iced Tea - Summer Cool Way

For those tea lovers who just can't live without thier daily dose of tea, iced tea is a cool way to steal the heat. Not only iced tea is refreshing but adding spices or lemon juice reduces the negative effect of tannins in iron absorption. I just love lemon tea or iced tea. It is an excellent coolant which will give you instant relief from heat.

Its not necessary to add any sweetner in it. People who are diabetic can drink it without any sweetner. For other people who are health concious, honey will do too. Sweetner, lemon and pepper give iced tea a sweet and salty flavor which is very soothing in summers.


Ingredients

* 2 tbsp tea/ tea bags
* 1 tsp black pepper powder
* 2 tbsp sugar/sweetner
* juice of 1 lemon
* 2 cup water
* ice cubes


Method
* Boil tea in water or boil water and steep the tea bags in it.
* Add black pepper and sugar and stir well
* Remove from heat and strain.
* Leave it for hal an hour so that it comes to room temperature.
* Pour in chilled glasses with lots of ice.
* Add lemon juice, stir and serve.

9j7s5qgvt4

Soy Choco Milk - Nutritive Summer Drink

Soy milk is very nutritive and contains same amount of protiens as cows milk. Hence can be used as an option for milk for those people who either do not like milk or are allergic to it. Kids will love it as much as the adults.





Ingredients

2 cup soya milk

2 tbsp sugar/any sweetner

2 tbsp choclate powder

1 tbsp choclate chips

few ice cubes (crushed)



Method

* Mix all the ingredients in a blender jar except choclate chips

* Blend for few seconds till smooth

* Pour into chilled glasses

* Garnish with choclate chips and serve

Strawberry Smoothie - A Low Calorie Summer Cooler

You know being rich in antioxidants and low in calories, Strawberry is considered as the best antidote for aging and that is the reason why there are many creams, moisturizers and skin care products have it as one of the important ingredients. I never knew this until today. So women, who want to be young forever start having strawberries more and more. And this the season from April to July to have abundant of fresh strawberries.

Do not wait, try out this easy smoothie recipe, one of the ways to have strawberries. If you are using frozen strawberries, then prefer adding sugar or honey or any other sweetener. To enjoy the taste of strawberry, don't blend them too much. When I am telling you about strawberries, then I will give one more tip. While buying, take only the reddest ones ie those which are fully ripe. And for storing for a few days, place them in a bowl with a plastic covering on top.

Ingredients

6-7 large strawberries
1-2 cup of milk or yogurt
2 scoops of vanilla or strawberry ice cream
sugar (optional)

Method

* Blend strawberries in a blender till they form a smooth paste. If you want, then you can add sugar to sweeten your smoothie.
* Add milk or yogurt. Again blend or shake a little, until everything mixes.
* Serve in chilled glasses.
* If you want, you can add vanilla or strawberry ice cream on top.

Strawberries are rich in various nutrients, with vitamin C heading. They also contain significant levels of phyto nutrients and antioxidants,vitamin K and manganese, as well as folic acid, potassium, riboflavin, vitamin B5, vitamin B6, copper, magnesium, and omega-3 fatty acids.

Bael Fruit Squash - A Healthy Summer Drink

Bael, Bengal Quince or Wood Apple is a fruit found in the dry forests of India and the regions around in summers. Rich in riboflavin, it is used to prepare numerous drinks, squashes and candies. Pulp of the ripe bael when eaten acts as a superb laxative. Pregnant women can have in the morning to avoid nausea. With butter and sugar, bael fruit is good for improving memory power for growing children.

I still remember, when I was young my mother used to almost force me to eat ripe bael. But I used to hate it at that time. Actually children in that age have a tendency to dislike everything that their parents ask them to do. Still to make me have such a nutritional fruit, she used to make me the delicious bael squash which I used to gulp down, as soon as I reached back home after school or play. Now when I am grown and fully aware of the qualities of bael and love its refreshing flavor in summers (consists of 61% moisture), I want every mother or wife should make this summer drink and give to their children and husband.

For older and diabetic people, I would advice to avoid sugar. If they want a flavor then they can replace sugar with salt to taste and pinch of blacksalt. Even lime juice is good as it gives the drink a sweet & salty taste.



Ingredients

1 bael
2 tsp sugar (optional)
2 glass water (chilled)

Method

- Extract the pulp of the bael fruit with help of spoon or knife
- Pass through a sieve For removing seeds, pass the pulp through a sieve
- Add sugar and water. Shake well
- Serve in chilled glasses

Masala Lemonade - A Refreshing Summer Drink

One of my favorite drinks in summer is the masala lemonade. Its cool and refreshing. Not just that, it comes with a lot of health and beauty benefits too. Most of the food we have are acidic in nature leading to a lot of health problems. While both lemon and water help in clarifying our system removing toxins and making our skin glow.

In my college days, I used to have lots of Masala lemonade to cool myself from the scorching heat. And still do in summers. I just love it. It gives such a soothing effect. You can also use sugar syrup to make the process quick by saving your time in dissolving sugar.


Ingredients

* Juice of 4 lemons
* Sugar or Honey to taste
* 2 tbsps Chat Masala or Jaljira powder
* 2 Soda bottles (250ml) (fizzy mineral water)
* 1 Cup Chilled water
* Crushed ice
* Lemon slices to garnish

Method

* Squeeze all lemons to extract juice and remove seeds
* Pour water into a large jug. Add sugar and stir well to the get desired sweetness
* Add chat masala, lemon juice and crushed ice. Again stir well
* When ready to serve, add soda
* Serve in chilled glasses garnished with lemon slices

Banana Smoothie - An Excellent Energy Booster For Summer

In summers, if you are feeling tired and low in spirits, then you must go for a banana smoothie. Banana acts as an instant energy booster making it a must to add in our daily diet in summers. As it contains Tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin. Serotonin is a hormone which is known to improve your mood, make you feel happy and relaxed.

You can also add few drops of vanilla essence in the smoothie. And one important tips for making banana smoothie is use chilled glasses i.e glasses which have been kept in freezer for some time before pouring the smoothie into it, so that it doesn't change its color.


Ingredients

* 2 bananas
* 250gm pineapple chopped
* 1-2 cups of milk
* 2 tbsp honey (or sugar)
* 1 scoop of vanilla ice cream
* few chopped nuts

Method

* Blend bananas, pineapple & honey in a blender until smooth
* Add milk then blend again
* Start adding ice slowly or use crushed ice
* Pour the mixture into chilled glasses
* Garnish it with ice cream scoop & nuts before serving

Note: A banana smoothie is not advised for people who have weight problems rather it is good for people who want to gain weight. Hence, excellent for athletes and people interested in body building.