Healthy Treat For Today: Smoothies
ByThere really is no limit when it comes to smoothies.
Whip out your blender and you can make them with just about any combination of ingredients:
Yogurt or kefir…berries…peaches…apples…bananas…juice…cream…milk…
How about spinach smoothies?
Yes, and they’re good too. Really. I’m not kidding.
I made myself one yesterday. Ain’t it purty?
Heather mentioned some smoothie suggestions a few weeks ago at the beginning of the NO SUGAR Plunge. Here are her great ideas:
The Ultimate Smoothie:
half a Banana
four to six frozen strawberries
half cup plain yogurt
half to one cup orange juice
one Tbsp Flax seeds (ground in coffee grinder)
one Tbsp whey protein powder
In a blender add the banana, strawberries, yogurt, and orange juice. Blend until smooth. Add the flax seeds and whey, blend until evenly distributed. Pour in two glasses and enjoy! Makes 2 smoothies or cut ingredients for a solo one!
Change the fruits to make a whole new kind of smoothie.
Tropical- Fresh banana, frozen mango, pineapple juice
Very Berry- Fresh blueberries, frozen raspberries, pomegranate juice
Peachy Dreams- Fresh strawberries, frozen peaches, orange juice
Thanks Heather for sending us those!
I really like mixing my homemade yogurt or kefir (kefir is a lot like yogurt, just a little runnier) and a variety of frozen fruits, a tiny bit of vanilla and a few drops of stevia to sweeten. Blend it up…you’ve got breakfast or a snack or a side dish at lunch…
And I know you’re dying to find out how I made my spinach smoothie…’cause you really want to hop right up and make one yourself!
It was a banana, and apple, a big handful of spinach leaves, about a half cup of water and a few drops of stevia. Trust me, it mostly tastes like banana and apple. You can use any kinds of greens…I just happened to have spinach on hand.
Hey, how about we call it a Shamrock Smoothie and make it on St. Patties Day?
My kids drink the green ones…in lesser amounts. They do like the all fruit and kefir ones better. (Yeah, well, so do I) :)
The main point is…for a sweet, refreshing treat…that is loaded with good-for-you stuff…make a smoothie!
What do you put in your smoothies?
Tomorrow’s recipe: Coconut Macaroons
These sound good except for the spinach one…that just has no appeal to me whatsoever.
[Reply]
Thanks for the spinach smoothie idea. I tried it and we all LOVE it!
[Reply]
Great ideas for smoothies. I need to get me a coffee grinder so I can grind up the whole flax seeds I have. I bought some milled flax seed at the store yesterday and I used some in some whole grain pancakes I made this morning. The pancakes turned out wonderful!
Hope you have a great week!
Karen
[Reply]
Can you explain the difference between kefir and yogurt? And is one better for you than the other?
[Reply]
I’ve done the green smoothie before; not bad at all!
[Reply]
I put a dash of cinnamon and a little splash of vanilla extract in most of my smoothies. A few packets of Splenda too, since I am type 2 diabetic.
Smoothies are a good way to use extra fruit. I peel bananas and put them in the freezer when I have too many. No ice needed, and it is all ready to plop in the blender.
[Reply]
We add raw egg yolks into ours! There’s no taste, just lots of great nutrition! St. Patricks day smoothies will be a HIT!
Just a FYI…after I purchased a huge bottle of stevia liquid, I found this information on it…wish I would have known, so I’m just passing along the info!
from the Nourished Kitchen via face book… (www.nourishedkitchen.com)
On stevia: white stevia powder and liquid stevia are heavily processed and do not remotely resemble the native, natural plant. Moreover, stevia (despite its acclaim in low-carb circles) was never traditionally used as a sweetener; rather, it was traditionally used as a contraceptive by indigenous South American peoples. Very few studies have been… See more carried out on stevia, and those that focused on its purported contraceptive effects have been contradictory: some say it’s contraceptive, others don’t. Interestingly, the same factors that make stevia sweet are those that are thought to have contraceptive effects. In the end, I always fall back to tradition and food history: in this case, stevia never held a place in traditional societies as a sweetener. That said, if you still want to use stevia make sure to only use the green stevia which is simply the stevia herb powdered. Do not use processed stevia: white powder or liquid.
[Reply]
To make a delicious green smoothie that tastes NOTHING like spinach…try this:
2 c water
2 or 3 handfuls of spinach
Puree in blender
then add
6 (or so) frozen strawberries
and 1 or 2 frozen bananas.
Ice crush these and then puree it all.
Adjust the ingredients if you need to…to make it taste more like bananas (or more like strawberries, etc.)
YUM!!! We LOVE this here at our house!!
[Reply]
We like to make island smoothies:
1 Frozen banana
1/4 c crushed pineapple
1 tsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tbs. ground flax seed
kefir – enough to cover but we like to make our smoothies thick (like a Wendy’s Frosty)
Blend till smooth.
We also like chocolate smoothies:
1 frozen banana
1 heaping teaspoon of cocoa
1 tbs ground flax seeds
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp coconut oil
kefir
Blend until smooth.
[Reply]
Once I was making a green smoothie with bagged kale. That stuff was bitter! So I looked at the bag and it was actually mustard greens. I hate wasting food, but there was no salvaging that.
[Reply]
I make smoothies almost every day for breakfast. My favorite combinations are:
1. Strawberries (frozen)
Mango (frozen)
small banana (fresh)
1 tsp flax
2 tbsp homemade plain yogurt
2-3 tbsp Pom juice
2. Pineapple (frozen)
Mangos (frozen)
small banana (fresh)
2 tbsp homemade plain yogurt
2-3 tbsp Orange juice or Goji berry juice
3. blueberries (frozen)
Strawberries (frozen)
small banana (fresh)
2 tbsp homemade plain yogurt
2-3 tbsp Pom juice
I didn’t put my measurements cause I just “eye-ball it” I don’t add any sweeteners to my smoothies cause I think they are sweet enough with all the fruit :)
[Reply]
Low Carb diet is really the best diet if you want to reduce weight and also to maintain a healthy body..,.
[Reply]