Musk melon peach coconut smoothie

Bear with me. I hate that I missed my one promise that I made to myself as a New Year's resolution: to post a monthly meal on the first of each month.

I'll get there. About two weeks ago, the hubs and I drove up the east coast from Florida to New York. Then we drove back down. It is difficult to eat healthfully on the road, and I want this MoMe to reflect a bit of on-the-road eats. So if you have any travel savvy tips, share below.

The best parts of our trip so far were getting to visit friends and family in Chapel Hill, Baltimore, Atlantic City, New York City, and northern parts of the Garden State. Drivers become much less efficient the further south one travels. I do not understand drivers that hang out in the left lane. When I learned how to drive, the left lane was for passing. Drivers in these states failed basic understanding of efficient travel flow on interstate driving: NC, VA, GA, AL, and FL. NC drivers were the most annoying for hanging out in the left lane. On road trips you think you'll get to a city and feel like spending a few hours exploring before you hit the road and head on. We almost ran out of gas twice in NC (thank you S&K for the top-up), then again in Washington DC. These "events" drain patience when asking dear travel partner if they have checked the gas meter for the 6th time in two days. In DC, the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival was pretty neat, and we got to eat at Founding Farmers, although we dined at their more suburban location. Philadelphia was on our list. I've heard it has a neat beer scene, and is full of American history so I thought it would make it as a half-day on our list. We saw Philly fly by from a bridge that we crossed twice due to an smart phone navigation user error (another patience draining "event"). With as many miles as we logged, we were often too exhausted from the driving to head back, or deal with parking. It was fun to travel in our own car, see our country for what it is, and appreciate the heat of near triple digits. Since we stayed pretty close to I-95 on the way up, we ventured through West Virginia on the way back down, and skirted the Blue Ridge Mountains.

One of the main goals of the trip was attending a family wedding in Atlantic City (NJ). It lasted 4 days. The events came fully catered (the first night dosa, idli, vada, and sambar were served), and I still have some orange tints of mendhi/henna leftover. It was a lot of fun. I haven't done garba and raas for a few years, and it's a strategic calorie burning event among the days of rich eating.

We are on the move again (both in terms of travel and relocation) doing some housing search in the deep south. I have yet to share the mystery of the relocation back to the states, but it does have to do with a new, and exciting job for me.

I have gleaned some important on-the-run eats from dear friends, and have had lovely meals packed. Travel tip: do not travel with ripening cantaloupe in the car. It makes for random accusations of asking who passed..ahem..gas.

Now, when your cantaloupe finally ripens…


Musk melon, peach, coconut smoothie
Yield: approx 4 cups


Ingredients:
2 cups ripe musk melon (or cantaloupe)
1 ripe peach
1 cup coconut milk
1 tsp honey
ice
1/4-1/3 cup rum, optional

Directions:
Blend all together and serve immediately. Rum is an optional ingredient. Garnish with skewered melon pieces and raspberries, or other fruit.

Picture and MoMe to be uploaded

Smoothies

Smoothies.

I was at a health food store recently and noted how marvelously expensive the smoothie-drinks were: $4.95-$6.95 for a smoothie? The cost for one of their smoothies could fuel a week's worth of morning breakfast smoothies. If you have a good blender the household smoothie idea should be revisited. I mix yogurt with soymilk, and toss in about a cup of mixed fruits, and some cinnamon. Fruit juice could be added, but it really oversweetens things and is unnecessary if using real fruits. I opt out of adding protein powders because there is plenty of protein from the soymilk and yogurt. You can add peanut butter to increase the protein if you are in to that kind of thing, a banana-peanut butter chocolate smoothie is a divine breakfast food. Best of all homemade smoothies let you control what goes in them so you can experiment to come up with something you love. This is one of my favorite breakfasts. It is simply perfect. Plenty of fruit, some protein and calcium, and enough to carry you into mid-morning without feeling hungry.

One note about blenders. I truly believe they can make all the difference in the world. I have found the carafe style, 2-3 speed setting, counter-top blender to be excellent. Screw-off bottoms can make a mess if turned the other way. I've found that you don't need multiple speed settings. You need the appropriate liquid ratios in a blender to keep things moving around. When done using your blender, rinse with water, add a little dish soap and put back on the blender on the lowest setting. Rinse the carafe and cap off and set aside to dry. Never keep the blades immersed in water or extra smoothie to store because it will dull the blades. I have a Waring Pro throwback-style blender. My sister, Chokri, swears by them and has had hers for over 8 years and loves it.

I usually have yogurt, peanut butter, and soymilk in my house at all times so purchasing a few frozen fruit bags along with any other fruits should give you some fairly easy mixins without adding too much on your grocery bill. In late summer there are so many good fruits available you can buy in bulk and freeze for later use.

Serves 2 huge smoothies, or 4 for more moderate smoothies

The base:
1/2 c plain yogurt or more. Sweetened flavored yogurts make it too sweet.
OR
1/4 c peanut butter or more

The liquid:
1 cup soy milk or regular milk

The fruit:
1 cup any fresh or frozen mixed variety. Choose plain frozen fruits instead of sweetened frozen fruits (avoid in syrup, in lite syrup). Frozen fruits keep the smoothie cold. A few mixed frozen fruit bags will run you the cost of one smoothie.

Essentially mix in 1/2 cup of the base with 1 cup liquid and place frozen fruits on top. If adding cinnamon or cocoa powders place on top and set on low-speed. Adjust liquid as needed.

Here are my favorites, just add these to the yogurt/milk base:
Banana-berry smoothie
1 banana
1/4 cup mixed berries
dash cinnamon

Peach-blueberry banana smoothie
1 peach
1/2 banana
1/4 cup blueberries
dash cinnamon

Strawberry, pineapple, mango smoothie
1 cup mixed tropical fruit blend
dash cinnamon
sprinkle of shredded coconut

Banana-Peanut Butter Chocolate
1 banana
1 T cocoa powder (or more)
dash cinnamon
(I've also mixed in frozen pineapple, yum!)