A Hint of Spice

                        Although its not officialy summer yet,its really hot here in Charlotte.Some people may say the heat is nothing compared to Indian Summers ,but believe me you really need something to cool yourself.We prefer Shakes,Smoothies and Lemonade any day over carbonated drinks.You have so many options for Shakes etc......that if you have all the ingredients,you don't have to repeat any for a week(unless you have a favorite).
     The Banana Milkshake is such a simple recipe,but really yummy and you can have so many variations.This is one way to sneak milk and fruits at the same time into kids.If you have a young(or old) picky eater,believe me you can sneak so many calories in these shakes and no one is wiser.If you are watching calories,again you have variations you can follow.
3 tsps sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
Blender
Tall Glasses

DIRECTIONS
1.Place the Banana pieces,2-3 tblsp of milk,sugar and Vanilla essence in the blender.Cover and blend the shake until smooth and there are no banana pieces left.
2.Add the remaining milk and ice cubes and blend it once more for a minute,till the Shake has uniform consistency and is smooth.
3.Pour the Shake into glasses and serve.
'njoy!!!

With Ice Cream

INGREDIENTS
1 Banana
1 Cup Milk
3 Scoops Vanilla Icecream
1 Tsp Sugar
4-5 ice cubes
Blender
Tall Glasses

DIRECTIONS
1.Place the Banana Pieces,1-2 tblsp Milk,Sugar and Ice cream in the Blender.(You can increase or decrease the amount of Icecream to change the consistency of Shake and according to your Taste.)
2.Blend for 45 seconds until the shake is smooth.
3.Add the ice cubes and remaining milk and blend till it has uniform consistency.
4.Serve Chilled.
'njoy!!

VARIATIONS
1.For a Picky Eater or an Underweight Person:-Along with Icecream,you can add 1 tblsp of whipping cream for every glass of milkshake.Also instead of sugar you can add 1 tblsp of honey.There are times when dietician's suggest protein powder or whey powder being added to our meals.This is the best way to mask the taste of these powders.One more way to make it a fattening milkshake is to use Whole milk instead of 2% milk or 1% Milk.All these tips ,I am giving from personal experience.My son was underweight and his dietician had given me all these tips for him to gain weight.
2.Plain Yogurt and Lemon Juice add an extra tang to the Milkshake.For this variation,replace 1/4 cup of milk with 2-3 tblsp of plain yogurt.
3.Instead of Plain yogurt you can also add Vanilla Yogurt.
4.Give the shake tropical twist with Pineapple,Mangoes and Coconut.Just add the fruit pieces with Banana pieces and for coconut you can add 1-1 1/2 tblsp coconut cream.Add the coconut cream at last and then just blend for 30-40 seconds.It's important not to blend the coconut cream for more time otherwise,the coconut cream will start leaving oil.That's ickky taste.
5.You can also add strawberries to give it a classical strawberry-banana taste.