The summer is passing by so fast! My daughter started crawling and is now all over the place! It’s amazing the fascination and curiosity with which she discovers the world around! She is still exclusively breastfed but I introduced the first solid foods in her menu. We started with single-ingredient vegetable purees, then moved to blends of 2 vegetables, added fruit purees and now she is having combinations of vegetables or fruits with gluten-free grains (quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat and brown rice). She definitely has my curiosity for new tastes but happens to like one taste today and to reject it tomorrow. This is though natural for babies. They need time to get used to new foods. So I gently offer to her new tastes and let her decide whether and how much she wants. As for myself, I’ve been drinking a lot of smoothies. Maybe because this summer I have the chance to buy lots of fresh produce (including organic produce) and one of the best ways to consume it is through smoothies. Maybe because they keep me hydrated (it’s been really hot the last few weeks!) and satisfied. Or maybe because smoothies are so quick and easy to prepare, and time is a luxury these days! Every mother with a baby will confirm that between baby feeding, walking, shopping, cleaning and doing other house chores, you don’t have much time available to fix your own meal. So whenever I feel hungry in mid-morning or mid-afternoon, I often go-smoothie or take a smoothie-to-go. As you can guess, I have tried various combinations but below are 5 of my most favorite summer smoothies! I serve them really cold and they are the perfect summer treat. The lists below contain only the main ingredients but I usually add some super-foods to my smoothie e.g. hulled hemp seeds, flax seed, bee pollen, chia seeds, etc. Which are your favorite smoothie combinations?

Antioxidants-packed blueberry smoothie

• 1 frozen banana (you need to peel, chop and freeze the banana at least a few hours in advance; I usually keep a few chopped bananas in the freezer)
• ½ cup blueberries
• 150 ml water
• 2 ice-cubes

Creamy pear and figs smoothie

• 1 ripe pear, peeled and chopped
• 1 cup ripe figs
• 1 tbs tahini
• 1 cup nut milk
• 2 ice-cubes

Refreshing watermelon and lime smoothie

• a big slice of watermelon, seeds removed, chopped into pieces
• the zest and juice of ½ lime
• 1 tbs honey
• 2 ice-cubes

Energizing raspberry smoothie

• 1 frozen banana (see above)
• 1/2 cup raspberries
• 1cup nut milk or natural youghurt
• 1 tbs oats (optional)
• 2 tbs freshly-grounded seeds (sesame, hemp, pumpkin, sunflower)

Green smoothie full of chlorophyll and pmega-3

• 1 frozen banana (see above)
• ½ avocado
• 1 cup of leafy greens
• 1tbs raw pumpkin seeds
• a small slice of ginger (approximately 1 cm), peeled
• 1 cup of water
• 2 ice-cubes