This tropical Guava Pineapple Banana Smoothie was inspired by the sunsets in Hawaii.
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| It’s hard to beat the sunsets in Hawaii. |
This summer, we returned to paradise for our family vacation – on the island of Maui (or at least it’s as close to paradise as I’ve been so far!). With our oldest son leaving for college this week, family time has been especially precious, as it is hard to predict how many more family vacations we will be able to share together. I know things will never be the same. We won’t see him as often. Our family dynamics will change. Life will be different. But it’s all good. It’s the cycle of life.
My husband and I honeymooned on Maui years ago, so this island has a special place in my heart. We returned here nearly ten years ago for a friend’s wedding where the twins were the ring bearers. Although the plane ride was long, my kids fondly remembered the beauty of Hawaii, so we brought them back last summer. They were right – there’s no place like paradise. The weather was near perfect every day, and we could see the ocean and the mountains from almost any view. And the sunsets were just breathtaking.
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In fact, our stay on Maui last summer played a huge part in the inspiration for this blog, only a year ago. I had just purchased my first DSLR camera and went cold turkey by bringing it solo to record our summer memories. I took lots and lots of pictures of our family, the stunning landscape, exotic flowers, fruits, and of course, the sunsets. I remember being impressed by all the local produce served in the restaurants and returning to the East Coast exploding with ideas for my blog.Â
In fact, it was after I started using my new camera last summer in Hawaii that I really started taking pictures of the food I was making and posted them here on my blog. Once I started taking photos of food, I was hooked. I’ve learned a lot over the past year and have so much more to learn, but that’s what makes food blogging so challenging and fun.
Nearly a year has passed, and I am so thankful that we were able to return to Maui this year. Rest, peace, living without a schedule, being still and simply enjoying the view…these are all things I need by August, right after summer baseball ends and before school starts again.
We stayed at a hotel for the first part of our trip to give Mom (that’s me ;)) a break from cleaning, laundry and cooking.Â
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| There are so many beaches to choose from. This is Wailea Beach. |
We then moved to an island home up in the mountains. As we drove up the mountain, our three teenage boys gave my husband and me a few strange looks. They like to be in the thick of things, where all the action is, near a bustling town. It became apparent that no town was going to be within walking distance. In fact, the house was so remote that they surmised if anything happened to anyone, no one would know for days.
The advantages of staying in a more remote location, however, became apparent as soon as we arrived at the house. The views were spectacular, and seemed almost unreal – we had panoramic views of the ocean from the backyard and mountain views from the front.
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There were only outdoor showers which took everyone a bit of getting used to (but the boys ended up loving them!), and a very cool pool with ocean and island views. A special bonus was the small sustainable farm on property, which was full of fresh fruit trees! We could see the islands of Lanai, Molokai, and Koolawe from the house.
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| A view of the island of Lanai. |
My kids accused me choosing this house because of the mini-farm in the backyard! I protested that I did not – I didn’t even know about it until just before we left for Hawaii. However, I will admit that I was over the moon when I found out. Â Of course, one of the first things I did when I got to the house was to explore this backyard orchard to checkout what was growing.Â
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| The fruit orchard in our backyard! |
There were loads of guava trees and orange trees, lime trees, mango trees, pomelo trees, banana trees, passion fruit trees, and a few other trees bearing fruits that I did not recognize.
Although most of the fruits were still not ripe enough to pick, there was an abundance of guavas, some ripe, and many close to ripening, hanging low, ready to pick. I couldn’t resist and grabbed a bowl of fresh guavas. Guavas have a sweet exotic scent. They go from peak ripeness to overripe mush quickly, so enjoy them while they last.Â
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| Guavas, ripe for picking. |
Although the inside pulp contains lots of seeds, the flesh is perfect for smoothies, mixing into pancakes or muffins, making salad dressing or a fruit salsa, or just enjoying straight up.
The first thing I decided to try making was a smoothie using all these fresh guavas.Â
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| Fresh, fragrant guavas just picked from the orchard. |
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We ate guavas until they came out of our ears, there were so many!Â
I have a feeling we’ll be coming back to Hawaii.
Tropical Guava Pineapple Banana Smoothie
Be sure to scoop out all the seeds from the guava.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups guava flesh
- 1 1/2 cups fresh pineapple
- 1 banana
- 1 cup pineapple juice
- 1 1/2 cups ice
Directions:
- Scoop out the entire core of the guava.
- To remove guava flesh, use a spoon and glide it along the inside of the guava, as close to the outside skin as possible.
- Blend all ingredients in until smooth.
Makes 3-4 servings.
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| Scoop out the entire core to remove all the seeds. |
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| Use a spoon to scoop out the flesh after seeding the guava. |
This post was submitted to August 2011 Strut Your Stuff hosted by Dine & Dish.
jeanette, i love guava! and this pink is the prettiest smoothie color i've ever seen. wow.
i remember when i left for college, my parents were so sad. i hope the transition goes well. hugs for you!
I have never been to Hawaii and your story makes me day dreaming. I think you're right, it's Paradise. and the house you got, the backyard orchard, I, for one, couldn't ask for more.
I'm disappointed I was on the mainland while you were here! Looks like it was a fabulous and memorable vacation for you all.
I have never seen what guava looks like whole and then it's fruit inside. Love learning new foodie things everyday. I love the color of this smoothie and sounds like the perfect breakfast treat to enjoy in paradise or just to pretend. I really hope the transition goes well for you when your son goes to college. I'm dreading the day my son moves out. I would like to invite you to visit my blog to enter my giveaway. Check it out if you are interested. http://imapretendchef.blogspot.com/2011/08/food-should-taste-good-giveaway.html
This sounds beyond amazing and what a great fun that looked like!
Gorgeous photos and I love the smoothie!
I've never seen or tasted a guava before, but heard of it! Finding a guava at where I am, well that's like digging for gold or oil! Or at least I think 😉 I never thought of searching for guava before but when I saw how pink the smoothies were, I thought you added strawberries (remember, never seen guavas before) until I looked at the ingredients list. I will have to look out for guavas.
Try goya guava juice instead to make smoothies!
What a dreamland and gorgeous photos! I love goiabada, and the smoothie will fit me perfectly. Thanks for sharing your beautiful memories.
I was fortunate enough to have guava trees in the backyard to try guavas in this smoothie. Of course, you could substitute mango, papaya, strawberries, blueberries or any of your favorite fruits in this smoothie.
Jeanette, thanks for taking us on this journey to Maui with you and your family. As the summer draws to a close I am all ready clinging to the family memories that have been made. Sentimental.
The trip you were on sounds perfect. The photos are so pretty. I bet you will enjoy many of those beautiful pink smoothies here on out 🙂
Oh my goodness, Jeanette, what awesome photos! I'm so glad your family had that time in Maui. I've only been to Maui once (for our 20th anniversary), but we loved it! Paradise indeed. When were chartering a sailboat in the BVIs years ago, the captain's wife who was also our chef/bartender for the week made me Smoothies using guava. Hers were cocktails, but they look just like these. I think the ingredients were the same except there was a little rum added. She sprinkled fresh grated nutmeg on top, too (as is done for the Painkiller drink I shared the other day). I loved those drinks and sometimes did have the virgin version, which would be your recipe or close. 😉 Now I need some guavas! I know I can buy the juice at the grocery store. That might have to do. Lovely, lovely smoothie and post, Jeanette!
Hugs,
Shirley
Could you share where you found that house for rent? We go to Maui every other year and that looks so cool. We usually stay in S. Kehei just north of Wailea.
Oh, Jeanette, I just loved reading and viewing this post…. the photos are truly spectacular. I must make it to Hawaii one of these days; talk about inspiring… Isn't it great to have a break from cooking and cleaning? I just love that too! Your tropical guava smoothies are gorgeous – the photo with the orchids is crazy beautiful but it's the ones with the scooped out guava that really tug at my heart… just loved this post!
What an amazing get away. Staying in paradise and eating/drinking guava smoothies. Tough life! Looks like you had a great time.
You do NOT seem old enough to have a son heading off to college. Wonderful pictures, it looks like an amazing vacation.
I am so coveting your trip and that fantastically gorgeous guava recipe. I'm planning a trip to Hawaii for my man's bday in Oct.–need intel in where you stayed because it looks like it was stripped out of a movie set.
Oh my goodness, what an absolutely beautiful vacation! Maui is my favorite place in the world (so far). Kudos to you for venturing to the upcountry for part of your stay – the views look just incredible. One of our favorite places to visit on the island is the Kula Lodge on the road to Haleakala. We have Maui onion soup and stare at the ocean. 🙂
ooo isn't Hawaii beautiful! I've been to maui once and I just loved it!!
This is a beautiful looking dink and I LOVE LOVE the plumerias that you have on the glasses! I have the exact same one/colored ones tattooed on my foot 🙂
Those pictures have me itching to go… how gorgeous!
I was just on Twitter and this lovely recipe caught my eye. I just had to check it out! 😉
Thanks Olivia – so glad you stopped by! Off to check off your blog 🙂
what a amazing beautiful place !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!