Mar 01 2008
Early morning vim and vigour
Fancy early morning eating has a mixed reception…
- Go Get ‘Em Smoothie
This is a breakfast drink, designed to be wholesome enough to be a decent start to the day. Like Nigella, I regularly find myself with over-ripe bananas, so I had followed the good lady’s advice and chopped them up and bunged them in the freezer. They certainly meant that the drink was lovely and cold whilst also quite substantial.
We cheated slightly on ingredients. I have been unable to find Chocolate Ovaltine anywhere in its pure form; Chocolate Ovaltine Light, yes, but not the normal. I dare say in a milk-based drink it probably makes little difference, but I am morally objected to Light versions of things, so I have not purchased. I decided to make up for the absence with some cocoa and chocolate. The result was a little grainy. Better would have been some maltesers, I feel sure!
When we had these for breakfast on Christmas day were were lacking the Choccy Ovaltine, but we also didn’t have any Camp Coffee Essence. At the time I made a small pot of espresso and added some of that; this time I was able to add the correct volume of scary black syrup. We both found it a little over coffee flavoured, a bit bitter. But again that might have been the cocoa.
We were neither of us that impressed, but I still feel I have somewhere to go with this recipe. I would like to make it with the ovaltine, and I’d also like to try the child friendly version (substitute the Camp Coffee for some smooth peanut butter)(I don’t even like peanut butter!). So you may see this recipe again. There are still bananas in the freezer after all, and the ones in the fruit bowl are looking spotty….
The texture on the outside looks like some alien weather pattern on a dirty planet.
I was thinking “Jupiter”, but that’s close enough.
I can’t imagine life without Ovaltine. Granted, I don’t indulge much any more, but I drank a LOT as a kid.