Food Review - Alpro Hazelnut Milk

I'm a bit of a nut freak, and I also happen to be dairy-free. Can you imagine how excited I was when commercially made nut milk started hitting the supermarket shelves?! SUPER DUPER EXCITE! That's how much. My favourite nuts are peanuts, hazelnuts, and cashews.

Hazelnut milk was first shown to me by my sister because both of us grew up loving Nutella. She drinks coffee, and assures me that it is a delicious alternative creamer for coffee - think hazelnut latte. I tried it in tea and didn't really like it much. It didn't seem to add much to the drink at all.

I tried drinking it on its own - pretty plain, to be honest. I had about half a carton left and wondered what to do with it, so I stuck it in my daily shake (see here for recipe). That was a success! Added a delicious nutty quality to my chocolatey healthy shake!

I tend not to buy the Alpro Hazelnut as much as I buy other milk (I'm particularly fond of Coconut Dream and Rude Health Coconut) but I do buy the odd one here and there to add a bit of variety to my morning smoothies!

Food Review - Alpro Cashew Milk

Two words sum this drink up for me:

CREAMY DELICIOUSNESS

It's thick, creamy, luxurious and just wonderful. I think I'm in love. It is fabulous in tea, on cereal, in smoothies, milkshakes, and hot chocolate, and it is actually pretty amazing ice cold in a glass. A 1 litre carton cost £1.80, which is the same as their other fresh nut milks cost. This is a little expensive, but boy is it worth it!

I have long loved cashews, and I've waited for so long for cashew milk to be on the market over here (it's been available in the US for ages). The Provamel was quite disappointing, but fortunately this one smashed it out of the park and made up for it!

Recipe - My Favourite Smoothie

It's more of a milkshake than a smoothie, and really more of a guide than a recipe, but this is what I reach for when I need some sustenance of some description. It's light but filling, and extremely nutritious. Dairy and gluten free, but the best part is how flexible it is!



Ingredients:

1 Super ripe banana
1 tbsp Cocoa
1 tbsp Smooth peanut butter
1 tbsp Date syrup
Nut milk
Spinach

How to:

1) Chuck everything in the blender.
2) Blend.
3) Drink.
4) Thank me for enlightening you.

I tend to put the banana, cocoa, and peanut butter in first, then you can see how much room there is for fresh spinach and put that in next. Then you add the milk to top it up, which is why I don't put an exact quantity. I tend to add the sweetener last because bananas are different shades of sweet.

• For a super cool and creamy twist, try using a frozen banana instead of fresh.
• For a nutrient boost, use raw cacao powder. It is less processed and contains way more good stuff.
• Try chucking in some chia seeds for added filling power, hydration, and a whopping omega oil hit.
• If you don't have any date syrup (you should immediately find some and buy it. It's totally awesome) then you could easily use honey as a sweetener. Manuka honey would add another bunch of goodness.
• Experiment with different types of milk. I like cashew, coconut, rice, hazelnut, and my all time favourite, coconut rice milk (Coconut Dream or Rude Health for the win). Of course, if you aren't dairy free you could use regular dairy milk or any of the many other milk alternatives available!
• Nut butters also come in many varieties. My all time favourite is peanut butter (Meridian smooth!!!), but you can get coconut butter, hazelnut butter, cashew butter, and probably a whole bunch more. Smooth ones blend better, but chunky is fine if you don't mind tiddly bits of nut in your shake (personally, I don't!).
• No, you cannot taste the spinach whatsoever. Yes, you can use a different green if you want, but I like spinach because you can't tell it's there. Sneaky veg level-up! Give it a really good blend to make sure there are no "bits".
• A little dash of vanilla extract is a luxurious but totally delicious addition, and so is peppermint or orange extract!