I love this fruit! I knew it was good for me, take a look at this article

I eat bananas that are only just ripe before a longer run, or an almost over ripe one after a run (or any time I need an energy boost). The underripe ones are slower burn, ripening breaks down the carbs into sugars.

It's really great for weaning babies too, especially mashed in with an avocado and a large spoonful of natural greek yoghurt, stuffed full of nutrients. (HEALTH WARNING: this recipe is totally lush, but not so good for the waistline)!

Inspired by one of the most beautiful ladies I know at The Beauty of Yoga I decided to buy a juicer and some fruit. Lots of fruit. Also lots of veg. Oh joy! It came with a ‘free’ recipe book, which actually does contain loads of fabulous recipes to provide some inspiration.

Juicing is a great way to get vitamins and minerals into yourself and your kids (kids love to have a go at dropping the fruit in – mine takes whole apples, because I’m too lazy to cut them up!) In just a couple of weeks I’ve already noticed my skin looks healthier and I have more energy. I'm not sure if it's coincidental, but I feel more cheerful too. I don’t feel the need to eat so much,  so a happy side effect for me is having dropped a few pounds. My daughter loves it too and it's a great way to sneak in some of the vitamins from veg she is not so keen on (although fortunately she does enjoy most fruit and veg). And we're finding that, because we have so much choice of fruit and veg in the house now, we are actually eating more fruit and veg too, not just juicing it. So we are getting the additional roughage we need, not just the vital nutrients.

I’m looking forward to trying out lots of new recipes. The first one I was from my beautiful friend Haley:

2 green apples
Handful of spinach
½ cucumber
Chunk of fresh ginger (I usually don’t like this, but it really adds some zing)
1 lime

It’s yummy, try it. And if you don’t have a juicer then core the apple, grate the ginger, squeeze the lime by hand and then whizz it all with a hand blender (I think you may need to peel the cucumber as well, but I’m not sure, try it either way).

Enjoy! And if you are a juice or smoothie fiend, do please share your recipes.

Photo copyright of Kanua CLM