Fruity Fun with the Philips Jamie Oliver Hand Blender

We all know the benefits of fruits. They are nature's rainbow medicine packed with minerals, vitamins, micro-nutrients and anti-oxidants which help to optimise our health, boost our immunity level and protect us from ailments and diseases.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Did you know that eating apples can lower 'bad' cholesterol levels too?

I have always tried to cultivate the habit of eating fruits daily in the house but it is the kind of thing where it is easier said than done. There are times when the platter of fruits just looks b.o.r.i.n.g. Dull. Plain. Uninviting. Even to me. So it's not a surprise that many a time, I tell my girl "Let's eat some fruits" in a highly enthusiastic voice and she returns with a monotonous "I don't want" and runs off to play instead.

So, I decided to inject jazz up things a little in the hope of raising her interest. With the help of my Philips Jamie Oliver Hand Blender, a dream item I have always wanted in my kitchen, I found some simple, quick and effective ways to make eating fruits a fun affair.

The Philips JO Hand blender comes with (from left) a whisk, motor unit and bar body, chopper unit and bowl, 1.0L beaker with lid

A hand blender is a great, inexpensive tool to have in the kitchen and it is ideal for blending, pureeing, chopping and whipping. The Philips Jamies Oliver hand blender features a strong, titanium coated blade which ensures it stays sharper for longer and the use of ProMix technology makes it deliver the finest and evenly cut results. In fact, the blender feels like my third hand in the kitchen and as a mum of two, that is very much helpful and time-saving indeed.

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1) Let's shake it!

Remember to hull the strawberries and divide the banana into chunks.

What's easier than having to chew and eat fruits? Drink it. One morning, we made a healthy strawberry banana breakfast shake. All we had to do was combine the ingredients into the beaker and blend! If there are any leftovers, you can just pop the lid on and store it in the fridge.

I love the pink colour of the breakfast shake!

Now, how's that for breakfast? If you like, you can also add in some breakfast oats to make it more wholesome and for the lactose intolerant, try using yoghurt or orange juice instead.

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2) The kind of Traffic Lights we like

To get the coloured layers, simply freeze the puree in parts. Each will take approximately two hours.

If there's one thing I love on a hot summer day, it's ice cream. The thing about ice cream is that you don't always perceive it as something healthy for your kid. What if, you made an ice lolly completely out of fruits? Using three types of fruit, we blended, sifted out the seeds, mixed in two tbsp of water in each portion and froze them separately into the popsicle molds.

I got the cute little molds from Daiso which even come with sticks.

Ta-dah! The traffic light ice lolly was all ready to greet Angel when she got back from school!

Her favourite was the yellow light just because the mango was the sweetest.

*lick lick yum yum* Now that's a healthy ice lolly my kid totally loves and I don't mind her having every other day.

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3) Fancy a sweet dessert?

With the hand blender, making sorbet is a breeze!

I have always liked sorbet but the thought of how much sugar goes inside lessens the appeal somewhat. The great thing about homemade sorbet is that you have total control over what goes in. We had some ripe and sweet-smelling mangoes at home so that was the perfect choice for our dessert. Just to add in that tangy flavour, I added in some lemon juice and zest.

All we did was to heat the water and dissolve the sugar (you can omit it if you prefer), mix in the juice and zest, combine everything into the chopper bowl and blend! Be careful of not going beyond the indicated maximum level or it will overspill.

The handy size of the blender means you can only make small portions in one go. This is perfect for us to share.

Freeze the mango and you will have a nice, sweet dessert that the whole family will love.

She ate the fruits before trying the sorbet. But once she started, she couldn't stop!

I actually thought Angel will not like the lemon taste since she dreads anything sour but she ended up taking bite after bite and telling me "Mummy, very nice!". Kids, they just surprise you, don't they?

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4) A little something for the baby

 I cut the fruits into cubes, boiled them to be on the safe side and to soften them a little.

One of the best things I like about the blender is that being handheld, that means you can blend directly into your pot! Can you imagine how convenient is that and how much washing it saves? *phew* Now that my little one is starting on solids, this is my perfect tool to create healthy, homemade puree for her. Leaving some water in the pot, I immersed the bar body, blended and it turned into a perfect mash. There is even a turbo button you can use to speed things up!

Minutes of blending lead to a fortnight's worth of supply, how easy!

What I love to do is to store the puree in portions after blending. These ice cube trays come with lids and help to keep the puree clean and safe in the freezer. All I need to do every time is to heat up one cube and voila, healthy fruits for my baby girl.

Baby Ariel always make such cute sucking noises when she eats fruit puree.

Does she love it? Well, that wide smile during eating, plus the loud whine when it is finished, say it all.

Do your kids like to eat fruits? Make it a fun affair and they will love it more!

Keep life simple with the PHILIPS | Jamie Oliver range which includes a food processor (S$268), blender (S$128) and hand blender (S$108). Available at leading electronics and departmental stores. 

Disclosure: This advertorial is part of a series of sponsored conversations between Philips and A Happy Mum. Product attributes are from Philips and all opinions are my own.