Banana Smoothie

I make this every morning as I live in a banana producing country and they are so cheap to buy. This smoothie isn't the most exciting in the world and is fairly basic really but it's delicious and very nutritious. A great way to start the day, this will keep you full for a good few hours. It's also a good way to not waste bananas when they're starting to ripen too much but you don't want to eat them, for whatever reason, just throw them in the freezer! Peel them and put them in a plastic bag and freeze, so easy!

You need:

one banana, frozen
about 1/2 a pint of milk
a pinch of cinnamon
a tablespoon of ground flax seeds
sugar to taste

You basically just put all these ingredients in to a blender and blend until smooth. As long as you don't use too much milk, they mixture turns in to a thick, almost ice-cream like texture. If you prefer it not so thick, just add more milk - the measurements are really just approximate.

The flax seeds are entirely optional but they add a lovely nutty taste and this is a great way to fit them in to your daily diet. They are incredibly good for you and usually pretty cheap. Just grind them in to a powder in a blender and store in an airtight jar in the fridge. Use the powder up in a couple of weeks and the seeds can go off after a while.

I have experimented with spices but cinnamon seems to work the best. I tried a touch of cloves and cardamom, both on their own. The cloves weren't too nice but the cardamom was interesting. I think cardamom and cinnamon would be a great combination as long as you use the cardamom sparingly, I keep experimenting with these things because I think the Indian chai tea flavour could work in a smoothie. Try it and let me know how you get on!

Lastly, I would take a photo of the smoothie but it really doesn't look very picturesque, just white with flecks of brown.