Detox Green Smoothie

Hello! My name is Melissa and I’m the daughter of MySuit&Apron's creator. I’m currently guest-blogging, to add a new element to Mom's blog that consists of recipes of a greater variety, from our whole family.

When I left for university in 2012, I strove to maintain a healthy lifestyle comprised not only of a strict workout regimen but healthy eating habits. Living alone for the first time enabled me to take greater control of my food decisions, which eventually led me onto a path of a predominant vegetarian lifestyle, now nearing vegan, for most of the week, aside from fancy dinners out once or twice a week.

That being said, after our family vacation to Spain last month and surviving on a diet rich in meat and bread (something my body is no longer familiar to), I decided to embark upon a green smoothie cleanse. Green smoothies have always been part of my diet. Though now, I have greater motivation to allow them to play a larger part, serving as my breakfast substitute, as something to quench both my hunger and my thirst in the mornings, during university lectures, until I manage to find some time to eat. That being said, this recipe I’m sharing today is part of a cleanse, meaning that it has some rather potent detoxifying effects, at least, for the first two days of consuming it three times a day with an accompaniment of a raw vegetable meal for lunch. The task is to not use any processed ingredients in the smoothie - no artificial sweeteners, not even honey - and if you must, liquid stevia is preferred, though opting for a banana to sweeten is a bit better, in my eyes!

Chicken Pimiento

This is my most favourite dish from my childhood. I don't know the origins of this dish, but if I remember correctly, it came from one of those Filipino cooking shows on TV in the early 80s; can't remember anymore. Back then, I was always tasked by my Mom to write down recipes from cooking shows on TV and this was one of them.

The original recipe featured quezo de bola, a sharp, salty cheese we have in the Philippines, shaped like a ball, and coated by red wax, usually eaten during Christmas and New Year's Eve. But I've always found that too salty and when I started cooking this for my own family, I replaced it with just plain cheddar cheese and made the sauce creamier. It's the absolute comfort food for me and my kids!

Squid Ink Linguini with Seafood and Pink Peppercorns

Made this spicy, seafood pasta for Christmas dinner a few months ago. Though the noodles are black, the parsley and pink peppercorns make it a colourful, festive and delicious dish!

If you are intimidated by the squid ink in the linguini, replace it with regular linguini. At any rate, you can't taste any of the ink anyway in the pasta.