I don’t know about where you are, but summer is really just starting where I live outside of Vancouver, Canada. The whole Pacific Northwest area is just so darn RAINY we only get a day or two of sun or mixed sun and clouds each week! It’s crazy. May was such a beautiful month, we had almost 2 weeks of sunshine and as soon as June hit it was like June-Gloom… Now that it’s almost July I’m starting to feel that panic set in that summer is fading away before it even really started…
Do you ever get that feeling? You wait all year for summer and as soon as you’re in the midst of it, you’re already sad that it’s almost over and can’t believe you have to wait so long for it again. Maybe not if you’re in the southern states, or Australia, but it’s sure like that here for me.
On the Eastern side of Canada and the US it’s the total opposite of our weather. They’re getting beautiful warm humid weather and lots of sunshine.
My garden is getting jealous… Already some of the plants have called it quits and shrivelled up and died. First to go was the delicate Thai Basil. They REALLY hate getting too much water and want lots of full sun. They gave up… The dill I transplanted is not happy. He’s turning yellow and shrivelling up. It’s very hard for me to grow dill here it seems, it gets to a certain height and just says “No way, I can’t do it anymore”. Shame, I really really love using dill! It’s awesome in salads, raw dressings, and raw blended soups or savory stews. I have one plant that is from last year and is still alive, but after picking from it the other day I don’t know how much more it will give me before it goes to seed. My cucumber and squash plants are a little unhappy, they were flowering and reaching for the trellis but the leaves are getting that white yellow spotty look from too much rain.
The good thing is I planted a huge variety, so it will help with the disappointment if certain plants completely bite the dust this year. It’s always a challenge growing in a climate that is so rainy and cloudy and you only get patches of sun or a few hours of full sun every few days.
But something that cheers me up when it’s so gloomy is to have a delicious summer fruit smoothie for breakfast. In particular one based on mangoes. I call blended mangoes liquid sunshine because they taste amazing (when ripe of course) and you get so much energy after drinking a glass of them. Even if you were feeling down and bummed out there’s no way you wouldn’t feel at least a little better after having a mango based smoothie. They’re that amazing!
So check out my Mellow Yellow Summer Smoothie down below, I know you’re going to love it!
Fat Free Raw Vegan Mellow Yellow Summer Smoothie
Serves 1-2
Ingredients:
juice from 3 navel or valencia oranges
2 ripe ataulfo/champagne or honey mangoes (flesh only)
1 ripe banana
1 ripe peach or 3/4 cup frozen peach slices
Directions:
Use a hand juicer or citrus juicer to juice the oranges. Place ingredients into blender or Vitamix and blend until smooth. Add a little bit of water if desired for a thinner consistency. Garnish with a slice of orange if desired!
What’s your favourite mango based summer smoothie? Have you ever tried ataulfo mangoes before?
I tried your cabbage soup and it was very good with the bought veg broth but I would like to make my own according to your recip, what basic herbs do you use?
Thanks, Jess
My recipe for homemade vegetable broth is here: http://lowfatveganchef.com/?p=1328 It’s the best recipe I’ve made for it. So much better than store bought!
I absolutely crave Atulfo mangoes when they hit the market. In fact, I have three boxes (15 per box) that I am going to skin, cut, and freeze today for the future. Their season is so short that I just take advantage of them when they are available. I usually put one in my smoothie every morning along with a banana, pineapple chunks (fresh), orange, wedge of lemon, small beet, grapes, strawberries, blueberries (fresh picked from the farm and also frozen–yummee) and whatever else is in season; ie. peaches, nectarines, apricots. I also have been making my own coconut milk from young coconuts which is the liquid for my smoothies. I feel you can’t get enough fruit, and do not selectively mix but use all I have.
Happy slurping.
Claudia
Hi Veronica,
That type of weather is why I now live in Arizona!
Sounds like you need those special lights and a good Vitamin D source for sure!
I love mangoes and the Atulfos are really great. I only drink smoothies with greens in them otherwise it is too much sugar for my body. Mangoes go well with a variety of other fruits; raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, coconut and pineapple, lime and jalapeno.
Trust me if I could live in the US just for the choice of warmer weather I would!
This smoothie sounds yummy. I use mango and banana a lot but never had them together. It’s summer here now and it’s really heating up, can’t wait to try this recipe! Thanks
Man – I’m so sorry for your garden!:( Your poor Thai basil – and your sad dill:( (especially knowing how much you guys love it)…*sniff*…
Hopefully, as you have such a variety in there, there’s sure to be some hardier stuff, yeah? My fingers shall be crossed all (your) winter… Umm, can you not move to the balmy east side? (Don’t mean to be flippant here – I guess you’re near family)
I’m blessed where I am – our summers here can last well into May – and even in the first part of June I was in shorts and t-shirt a few days – course we’ve also had our fair share (well, maybe not our *fair* share;)) of cold days where I’ve had to rug up – but I guess it’s nothing like what you get in the northern hemisphere.
As for favourite mango smoothies – I love any smoothie with mango in it! I try to make as many of them as I can in the summer – I am partial to rasberries with my mango, though…
We’re here because it’s very vegan friendly, has beautiful nature and doesn’t snow. Out East we have family but it’s super humid in the summer and really snowy and cold in the winter. I do not miss the snow! If we want snow we can just go to the mountains here and go snow shoeing or skiing.
Yes i like the ataulfo mangoes best. Lately i’ve been doing mango smoothies with greens, sometimes with cayenne pepper to give it a ‘lift off’. I’m suffering through the caffeine withdrawl thing myself: luckily here in ontario there is a raw tea co. called david’s tea that does beautiful natural blends – found a rooboois tea blend with raw lavendar in it. I would recommend some essential oils for the blues – good general one is lavendar, though rose or bergamot – yes the same bergamot as they put in the earl grey tea – is very beneficial for the blues. Sans caffeine. I also do yoga and meditation for general health – if i don’t do it in full in the morning i try later in the day to make time for it before bedtime. i find it really helps me with keeping the ‘seasonal moodiness’ on an even keel. See website above for more information about therapeutic grade essential oils. Cheers & cheer up!!