Hey guys, how you been doing? First off, apologies for how quiet I’ve been on the blog lately – I’ve been majorly lacking in inspiration! Would you believe it if I told you I hadn’t baked since before Christmas? That’s crazy by my standards! I don’t know what it is, maybe it’s a post holiday funk? Or maybe it’s just one of those things! Either way, hopefully I’ll get my mojo back soon or I might drive myself crazy! I have a few recipes in the figurative lock box still to post, but my lack of inspiration spreads to writing too! That might be more of a lack of motivation, it’s a dangerous spiral really – I need to bake to keep myself level headed and happy, when I stop that I lose motivation to do anything else! But I’m here today because a) I need to force myself back into things if I want any hope of returning to normal and b) I can’t miss Fiesta Friday now, can I?
I think we all find ourselves in funks like this every now and then, it’s part of life. People talk about writer’s block a lot, but you don’t hear much about other blocks – baker’s block, knitter’s block, painter’s bloc etc. They all exist, no matter how much you love doing something, sometimes you just can’t! What do you guys do when you find yourself in that situation? Any tricks you use to get yourself back in the game? Or do you find it’s just one of those things you have to let play out? So far I’ve just been letting it play out, but I think it’s gone on long enough now so I’m taking action! Starting with writing up the recipe for something yummy I’ve had in my list of recipes to share with y’all. Next up I’m going to be baking some things to photograph, recipes I’ve already posted but their photos are terrible so they need updating – that’s what I’m gonna be spending my Friday doing – I’ll be baking profiteroles. I’ll only have time for that one thing though, as I have to take the cat to the vet in the evening and then me and my mum are having some late Christmas drinks (aka an excuse to drink more wine than we should!) – but I think it’ll make a good start and hopefully that will give me the kick up the rear I need to get me in the kitchen properly again!
To get me back into the blogging side of things, I’m sharing a pretty easy recipe with you today. It’s nice and simple to put together, it’s super yummy and it’s good for you – that’s 3 pretty awesome boxes checked there! It’s also pretty customisable – I used raspberries because I had a nice supply of them in my freezer and chocolate and raspberry is one of my favourite flavour combinations, but you could also use cherries or strawberries. I love, love, love my green smoothies – it took me a long time to convince myself to try them, but I’m so glad I did. They’re super yummy and they just make you feel healthy even when, like me, your diet really isn’t! I can’t eat a lot of fresh vegetables because of my TMJ so the green smoothie is a great way for me to get some of that goodness in my diet without cooking vegetables until they’re way too soft and lose most of their nutrients. This smoothie is a great one to start with if you’re still on the fence, it’s got plenty of sweetness and a deep cocoa flavour, you’ll forget there’s even spinach in it! My general rule for green smoothies is to have a 2:1 ratio of greens and fruit – so if I use 1 cup spinach I’ll have 2 cups of fruit (or 1 cup and a banana), that way you don’t have to worry about any bitter aftertastes ruining the smoothie for you. Nut milks are a great addition too to help counteract the bitterness, and the almond milk in this one is just a must, it really adds to that chocolatey flavour.
As a rule, I like at least one ingredient in my smoothie to be frozen to make the smoothie cold without any need for ice. I usually buy fruit when it’s on sale or discounted (buying fruit that’s been marked down at the end of it’s shelf life is great for this), then I divide it into portions and freeze in zip lock bags, that way I have handy portions of frozen fruit ready to go! I do the same with my greens too, 1 cup of packed greens per zip lock bag and I’m always ready to go when the smoothie need hits! Although I do like to keep fresh greens on hand when possible, so I don’t lose out on those nutrients.
I’m going to bring this healthy little treat along to Fiesta Friday, I’ll have plenty of glasses to share around to say thank you for keeping me motivated to keep posting on this little blog of mine! If you’ve not partied with us before, this should definitely be your first week – it’s a great bunch of people sharing recipes, thoughts, photos, poems and much more, we’d love to have you join us! The co hosts this week are the fab Selma and Sue, so it’s gonna be a great party!
You can also come hang out with me on Social Media, I’m always pretty active on Instagram, even amidst baking funks – I also have Twitter and Facebook. I’d love to see you guys on there!
- 1 cup fresh spinach, tightly packed
- 1 cup/240ml almond milk
- 1 cup frozen raspberries
- 1 frozen banana
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- Blend spinach and almond milk until smooth
- Add remaining ingredients and blend again until smooth
- Serve immediately
- Double recipe as needed for required servings
- You can use fresh raspberries or bananas, but I liked to have at least one ingredient frozen to make smoothie cold without the need for ice
Kale Avocado Banana Smoothie
Winter Morning Anti Venom Smoothie
Homemade Ginger Ale
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Yay!! ☺ I know baker’s block all too well and I have it right now 🙁 so sticking to the stove till I get inspiration! I have been on a smoothie kick lately and I’m adding raspberries and spinach to the shopping list (I always have chocolate at home!) I love trying different smoothies and I haven’t given green smoothies a go yet… so this will be my first!
Aww I’m glad it doesn’t just happen to me, but I hope you get unblocked soon – I hope we both do!
I hope you like this one, green smoothies are definitely a good thing in my book – the only downside being they’re not usually very photogenic as the greens ruin the fruity colours!
Yummy Michelle! It looks very very tasty ^^
Thank you Sarah 🙂
Hmmm, it seems like I am not the only only one who lost her mojo. I know how you mean by you’ll drive yoursefl crazy if you can’t bake for too long and I mean, two weeks is too long for me. I will be back to baking tomorrow and hopefully everything will be fine. 😀 And this smoohtie sounds delicious, Michelle! Happy FF! xx
2 weeks is definitely too long for me too! I’m going to be back baking soon (baking today didn’t work out, but that was more of a logistical problem!) Thank you Jhuls, Happy FF! x
I can imagine how frustrating it must be, but sure you’ll get your inspiration back! In the meantime this smoothie looks delicious!
Thank you Caroline 🙂 x
This might be my breakfast in the morning. Like you I keep frozen fruit on hand so I can make a smoothie at any time. Plus I always have spinach in my refrigerator. Thanks for a new recipe 🙂
I hope you like it Judi, thanks! x
This looks beautiful! If that’s what ‘losing your mojo’ looks and tastes like, bring it on! 😉
Haha thank you! x
Oh Michelle I have the same problem with fresh vegetables and that’s why I cook the living daylights out of them usually, or eat them in soup. Smoothies are a friend of mine, too, and it’s so nice to see you bring something a little “different” from your normally baked pieces of art. Good luck with the profiteroles and have a fabulous weekend!
Thank you Sue! I’m glad I’m not the only one who has to cook the hell out of vegetables to be able to eat them!
I love smoothies! What a perfect combination of ingredients to make this one. Yummy!
Thank you! x
How yummy! I love smoothies and this definitely sounds like something I’d love. I’ve also had those moments of not feeling too inspired to blog, but I think what motivates me is knowing that once I post something, all the hard work was worth it in the end. I say instead of forcing yourself to write, that you just wait until you feel inspired again so that blogging is still fun and not something you feel obligated to do 🙂
You’re very right Justine, I did try and write a post sooner but it felt so forced and not fun then I decided to wait. I knew I wanted to bring something to FF though and once I got into it it stopped feeling forced so I was able to finish it!
You are right though, I want to make sure it’s always fun and doesn’t become a chore!
Thanks 🙂
Yum! I have decided I need to make more smoothies after eating so many holiday goodies! This sounds really good!
Thanks Nancy! x
Well Michelle, just put your feet up and enjoy the mini ‘baker break’ . Rest assured you are not alone.All the festive eating and sugar overdose can cause this to anyone.Meanwhile let’s enjoy your healthy smoothie.
And bake us some goodies soon
Thank you skd 🙂
I’ll have something yummy for you guys soon, I’m sure!
I took a couple weeks just to give myself a break and to enjoy my family. It was a bit hard getting started again. I get so caught up in “have to’s” instead of “wants”. One of my goals is to get real with this. I love this smoothie. It’s a great way to start the day.
So healthy and tasty!
Thank you! x
This looks great! What a wonderful way of getting in that little bit of sweet without overindulging. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Thanks Chelsey xx
I’ve been looking for some new go-to smoothies for breakfast–think I’ll give this one a try! Thanks for sharing at Motivation Monday 🙂
Thanks Mitzi, hope you like it x
For some reason, I did not have you under my “followers” list Michelle. No wonder I missed your last post last Friday. I apologize, it did not come up on the Reader and for once I couldn’t keep up with all the posts :). Anyway, a Happy New Year to you, I hope you’ve managed to rise to the top after all the “blahs”. That smoothie sure looks good! 🙂
Aww thank you Loretta 🙂
Happy New Year to you too!
I love the addition of chocolate to a smoothie. Makes it more like a dessert.
It does 😀 Thanks for stopping by x
I needed a new smoothie for my rotation, but will have to wait till after Easter due to me giving up chocolate for Lent! Love raspberries and chocolate together!
ah you have a stronger will than me, couldn’t give up chocolate haha! Hope you like it when you get a chance to try it!