Watermelon Strawberry Coconut Slush / Арбузно-Клубничный Лед

This fruit ice is a very handy finding for our hot summers!
We love being in Istanbul, enjoying every day here. Especially summer period...I wish it was summer all the time:) Thick curtains or window blinds on windows is a must here, it's not like it used to be in our Dutch apartment ..we had..nothing on our windows and so we enjoyed every ray of sunshine whenever the sun visited us:) But no, the weather in the Netherlands is not that bad actually. It just changes quickly.

Summers in Istanbul (really warm and pleasant weather lasts from mid April and lasts until...almost begining of December, but summer is baking) can be really hot, but luckily quite dry. And sometimes the only thing you can eat is a piece of fruit. You are actually mostly thirsty than hungry. So this kind of *food* is indeed a finding! Plus - watermelons are so cheap!:) I eat it at breakfast or throughout the day any time. It's delicious and filling and beautiful!:) So yeah...if you feel like losing some weight...come and stay with us for the summer!:)

Makes about 6 servings.

1 cup strawberries (or almost two handfuls)
2,5-3 cups cubed watermelon
2 medium sized bananas
100ml coconut milk

Place watermelon cubes and chopped banana into an airtight container and freeze (overnight).
When ready to make this ice:  take frozen fruit from the freezer. Transfer into a blender and whiz until smooth. Add fresh strawberries and whiz again. Now pour coconut milk and mix until incorporated.
Serve immediately and enjoy!

* It delicious as soft serve, but also can be frozen entirely and eaten at sorbet, if you like

Summer Morning Smoothy/Летний Утренний Смузи

Warmth and a lot of sun is coming quickly here in Turkey. So I switched to summer mode already some time ago. This is my usual summer time all-in-one breakfast. Here is my portion of morning coffee, protein (yogurt and nuts) and fruit. Healthy and delicious!

1 large banana (or two for eating with a spoon)
4-5 heaping tbs. light Greek yogurt
1,5t.s. coffee powder
vanilla extract
small handful (about 5) walnuts or other- but softer types of nuts work best (like cashews or pecans)

Blend them all together and enjoy at breakfast, lunch or any time. Sometimes I replace nuts with rolled oats and here is the recipe or let's say, variation.

Raspberry Mint Green Tea/Малиново-Мятный Зеленый Чай

This is a health boost drink! Plus, very fragrant! Exactly what is needed for the spring time, when not much energy is left after long winter.
This one keeps me away from starchy cosy snacks, that I got used to during winter time. I just take a glass of this tea and forget for a while that I wanted another muesli bar or fifth slice of bread...
Can be served warm or cold -  depending on the weather:)

1 litre boiling water
400g frozen raspberries
vanilla bourbon
sugar to taste (I try not to put any, can be added already into a cup, if needed)
2 green tea bags
some mint leaves
lemon (optional, but good to add, if preparing this drink with sugar)

Prepare tea by adding tea bags into hot water (3-5 minutes). In the meantime on low heat boil raspberries with sugar, vanilla and 2-3tb.s. water. Simmer for about 5 minutes.
Sieve raspberry syrup. Pour the syrup into prepared tea, add mint leaves. Serve with lemon on the side, if desired.

Chocolate Yogurt Energy Drink/Шоколадный Энергетический Коктейль с Йогуртом

Eating sweet and staying fit is possible! And with such an energy booster cocktail in the morning your day is going to start with a smile:) Oh, yes, eating, because this one is really thick.

3tb.s. cottage cheese
1 tb.s. cocoa powder
200ml thick yogurt
1tb.s. honey
1/3cup oat flakes
50ml coffee

Blend all ingredients together. Set to freeze for 30-40 minutes. Sprinkle some crushed nuts and enjoy.

Cafe Latte yogurt Sorbet

Just my favourite summer drink...in a shape of sorbet.

800ml greek yogurt
200ml milk
2 tb.s. espresso coffee powder
5-6 tb.s. vanilla sugar powder

MIx all together and freeze. fter a while blend well and freeze until needed.

Green tea sorbet

Kind of healthy sorbet here:) At least if you are convinced it will work!:)
Very nice on a hot day, in between courses and even nicer as a dessert with some prosecco in it!

1 l water
160g sugar (or to taste)
2 green tea bags
1cm peeled ginger root
rind and juice of a lemon (to taste)

Bring water, sugar, ginger root in it and tea bags to a boil and simmer for some 10 minutes. Set aside and let the flavours infuse.
When it has cooled off, add lemon zest and juice to your taste (I added half of lemon) and freeze for several hours. Then blend and freeze again. Serve with additional lemon rind

Energy Smoothy with Frozen Berries/Энергетический смузи с замороженной ягодой

Nice way to start the day:)

7-9 frozen blackberries
150-200ml greek yoghurt
2 bananas
app.50g oat flakes (optional)

Actually, there is no special direction how to do it- just blend everything together until smooth and enjoy, enjoy...

Lemonade

A very simple recipe, but it is so good!

3 lemons
120g sugar
1 l water

Cut lemons into pieces, place them in blender, add sugar and 500ml water. Blend well and squeeze the juice out of lemon remnants.
Pour into a bottle and add 500ml more water. You can serve with ice cubes or cool it in the fridge. Also nice with some mint.

Saudi champagne

Refreshing non alcoholic drink, but you can add some gin if you wish. Quite nice.

1 l sprite or 7up
or 75g sugar, 1 l sparkling water, 5-6 lemons and oranges- juice
2 l apple juice
mint and apple

Mix everything together and serve, possable with ice. If using lemons- then first heat lemon/oranges juice with sugar, cool it and then mix.