Christmas Cranberry Detox Smoothie

Eaten too much over Christmas? Well now is a perfect time to start a healthy plan for the New Year and this smoothie recipe is a great one to get you off to a great start without losing the Christmas spirit already!

Ingredients:

2 cups of fresh cranberries

2 bananas

4 tbsp honey

1 cup of orange juice

Method:

1. Put all the ingredients together into a blender and BLEND!

There you have your finished Christmas Cranberry Detox Smoothie.

Old adventures . . . of Christmas in Fortaleza, Brazil

FIRSTLY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND ALL!!! 

PRIMEIRO, FELIZ NATAL A TODOS GENTES!!!!

Christmas 2005 was spent in Brasil in the city of Fortaleza, before going on holiday to Salvador for a few days. It was strange that it was so hot and sunny over Christmas and we actually spent Christmas Day on the beach :)

We were working with a church in Brasil, so as part of the children's work we arranged that they do a nativity play in the church at one of the Christmas services...Mary got stage fright, so it went a bit pear-shaped.

Mary, Joseph & Baby Jesus in a Brasilian Christmas Nativity - Igreja Batista Alianca

Brasilian's are not into Christmas as much as they are New Year, but there were, a few decorations up, these are a few in the square in the city centre. Looking carefully there is a star above the clock tower and a white Christmas tree to its right, which was lit up at night.

City Centre Christmas Decorations

Advents Kalender Tee - Day 24 - Good Evening Tea

Advents Kalendar Tee

As you may remember last year my sister-in-law created AdvenTea which we used to count down to Christmas and blogged about (see my AdvenTea blog posts from 2012).

Well, for Christmas last year from my mother's friend, Eva, in Germany we were given this...

...so we have kept it in a "safe" place until now to do a German "Advents Kalendar Tee".

The twenty-fourth tea is: Good Evening Tea

It's ingredients are:

Balm

Chamomile

Sage

Lavender

Hops

Smell: calming chamomile with s hint of lavender

Taste: more sagey

Score: 7/10

Advents Kalender Tee - Day 23 - Happiness Tea

Advents Kalendar Tee

As you may remember last year my sister-in-law created AdvenTea which we used to count down to Christmas and blogged about (see my AdvenTea blog posts from 2012).

Well, for Christmas last year from my mother's friend, Eva, in Germany we were given this...

...so we have kept it in a "safe" place until now to do a German "Advents Kalendar Tee".

The twenty-third tea is: Happiness Tea

It's ingredients are:

Cocoa shell

Rooibos

Cinnamon

Anise

Licorice

Vanilla Pod

Smell: Christmassy with cinnamon & vaguely chocolatey

Taste: of bitter chocolate without the creamy aspect

Score: 8/10

Advents Kalender Tee - Day 22 - Peppermint Tea

Advents Kalendar Tee

As you may remember last year my sister-in-law created AdvenTea which we used to count down to Christmas and blogged about (see my AdvenTea blog posts from 2012).

Well, for Christmas last year from my mother's friend, Eva, in Germany we were given this...

...so we have kept it in a "safe" place until now to do a German "Advents Kalendar Tee".

The twenty-second tea is: Peppermint

It's ingredient is peppermint

Smell: minty

Taste: minty

Score: 9/10

Advents Kalender Tee - Day 21 - Vital Tea

Advents Kalendar Te

As you may remember last year my sister-in-law created AdvenTea which we used to count down to Christmas and blogged about (see my AdvenTea blog posts from 2012).

Well, for Christmas last year from my mother's friend, Eva, in Germany we were given this...

...so we have kept it in a "safe" place until now to do a German "Advents Kalendar Tee".

The twenty-first tea is: Vital Tea

It's ingredients are:

Lemongras

Green Tea

Lemon Verbena

Orange mint

Indian basil (tulsi)

Orange Peel

Lemon Peel

Smell: vaguely citrusy

Taste: like green tea with a hint of lemon

Score: 7/10

Advents Kalender Tee - Day 20 - Lemon Green Tea

Advents Kalendar Tee

As you may remember last year my sister-in-law created AdvenTea which we used to count down to Christmas and blogged about (see my AdvenTea blog posts from 2012).

Well, for Christmas last year from my mother's friend, Eva, in Germany we were given this...

...so we have kept it in a "safe" place until now to do a German "Advents Kalendar Tee".

The twentieth tea is: Lemon Green Tea

It's ingredients are:

Green Tea

Lemongrass

Lemon Verbena

Lemon Peel

Smell: lemony

Taste: of green tea with a hint of lemon surprisingly!

Score: 9/10

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Ingredients:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcake

Cake:

55g margarine

225g soft light brown sugar

115g crunchy peanut butter

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

225g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

100ml milk

chocolate spread

Icing:

100g butter

200g icing sugar

1-2 tbsps milk

2-3 tbsps peanut butter (or more as required)

Method:

Cake:

Add half a tsp of chocolate spread

1. Preheat oven to Gas Mark 4 or 180C.
2. Beat well together the butter, sugar and peanut butter.
3. Gradually beat in the already lightly beaten eggs and add the vanilla extract.
4. Add the flour and baking powder and fold into the mix gently whilst adding the milk slowly.
5. Spoon 1 tsp of the mixture into each of the paper bun cases and make a small well in the mix.
6. Add half a tsp of chocolate spread into the centre of each bun and top with another tsp of the cake mixture.
7. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Allow to cool.

Icing:

Cool the cakes before icing

1. Put icing sugar and butter together in a bowl and add the milk very slowly whilst mixing very well until it is a thick consistency.
2. Add the peanut butter and continue to mix well.
3. With the back of a spoon spread the icing onto the tops of the cooled cakes.