I like to play pretend a lot. It's one of those childhood habits that I never fully grew out of. In our household, it translates into me treating the kitchen and dining table as an actual cafe, even when it's just the two of us at home. We've affectionately called it Cafe Lilo, and it's a cafe that's fully equipped with drop lights, a blackboard, and vinyl letterings on the wall.
Sometimes on the weekends, we'll ask each other if we want to go to Cafe Lilo to do some writing. Jonathan's been working on a book, in addition to his blog, and I work on blog posts for The Worktop to get a head start for the week. We'll set up our laptops and notebooks, and sit at the dining table like we're at a cafe. I'll make us a coffee or tea, and bring it out on a tray with some snacks. We put on atmospheric music (the Spotify playlist for Your Favorite Coffeehouse works great for these occasions) and we get cranking.
We're both homebodies, so it works for us since we are often too lazy to leave the house on the weekends. There are also unlimited snacks and refills at Cafe Lilo, free of charge! Plus, if we are really lazy, which we often are, we will just go to Cafe Lilo in our pajamas.
To change things up from the usual cup of coffee or pot of tea, I recently served up some Coconut Matcha Smoothies, which has become the new house favorite for its subtle earthy flavor and exhilarating ride. Depending on how much Matcha you put in, downing one of these can be like having two cups of coffee!
This Coconut Matcha Smoothie is made by blending Matcha tea with coconut milk drink and frozen bananas. We used Coconut Drink from Rude Health, but you can find different brands next to the other milk alternatives. Not to be mistaken, it's different from coconut water, and it's not the canned coconut milk used for cooking. The drinkable carton-based coconut milk drink is often made with coconut cream blended with rice, almond or filtered water. Different brands use different ingredients, so check the nutrition label to find one with minimal additives. You can also make your own by first boiling unsweetened coconut flakes in water, then straining them out.
I'm still on a bit of a tea-kick from last week, and in case you missed it, Bonnie from Thirsty for Tea shared a bit about mornings on her worktop. If you're looking for more Matcha inspiration, Bonnie has a whole slew of Matcha breakfast recipes, including Matcha Croissants, Matcha French Toast, and Overnight Matcha Vanilla Oatmeal.
Happy St. Patrick's Day and don't forget to eat something green!
Coconut Matcha Smoothie (Vegan, GF, Dairy-free)
Print RecipeIngredients
- 1 ½ cups coconut milk drink
- 2 frozen bananas
- 2 handfuls ice
- 1 teaspoon coconut palm sugar (you can use more or less, depending on your preference)
- 2 teaspoons Matcha powder (depending on the quality of your Matcha powder and how strong you like it, you may use up to 1 ½ tablespoons)
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.
- Serve immediately.
Rude Health provided me with the Coconut Drink and compensated me for the ingredients used in this post. I love the vintage small bowls from Minor Goods.
Stefanie says
You two are so cute! This is an awesome idea. I'm going to get Rob on it next time he has some work to do at home! Usually he's just a massive distraction to me! :)
Tina Jui says
It's a lot of fun in a pretend cafe and it helps us be super productive. Give it a go :)
Cheylene says
It was great meeting you today at brunch! That smoothie looks ah-mazing. I definitely need more matcha in my diet! Look forward to seeing you at another instameet soon!! :)
Tina Jui says
Nice meeting you too! Yay for Instameets :)
Laurie | New Yorker Meets London says
Wow Tina, this recipe is simply a combination of all of my favourite things, matcha, banana and coconuts. <3 I know what you mean about being homebodies, Simon and I often put on Your Favourite Coffehouse as well! Great minds think alike. x
Tina Jui says
Thanks Laurie! Maybe I'll serve it at a future pop-up brunch :)