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)
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?
These sound good except for the spinach one…that just has no appeal to me whatsoever.
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Thanks for the spinach smoothie idea. I tried it and we all LOVE it!
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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
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Can you explain the difference between kefir and yogurt? And is one better for you than the other?
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I’ve done the green smoothie before; not bad at all!
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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.
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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.
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Jennie K Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 4:53 pm
Be carefull with raw egg. Don’t know if it is true but I hear if you wash them before you crack them it reduces the chances of getting sice. Eliminating the chance of and unseen feaces being on the eggs.
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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!!
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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.
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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.
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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 :)
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Low Carb diet is really the best diet if you want to reduce weight and also to maintain a healthy body..,.
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I tried your Ultimate Smoothie and loved it! I’m just curious….why do you put whey protein powder in it? I bought some and used it, but I was just wondering.
Thanks!
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Here’s a smoothie recipe that my kids and I just love.
2 cups milk
1 ripe avocado
2 Tbsp. honey or agave nectar
A little bit of ice
I sometimes add in 1 Tbsp of wheat germ or flax.
Blend until smooth.
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My 3 year old and myself start our days off everyday with a green smoothie:
1/2c Kale
1/2c spinich
1/2c Dandelion greens
1 pear
1 banana
1/2c yogurt
2tbsp whey powder
1c liquid – either coconut water, milk or water
1tsp agave nectar or 1tbsp honey
We usually each get about 10-12 ounces of it and often I add in chia seeds or flax seeds.
Pears tend to really cut the bitterness of the greens.
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My kids LOVED this drink! Even my 2 year old- who is a very picky eater :) we put 1 banana, one peeled cut up golden delicious apple, 1/2 c vanilla organic yogurt, 1/2 c 2% milk, and a HUGE handful of spinach leaves- you oculd not even taste the spinach. GREAT idea :)
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The Ultimate Smoothie was delicious!
We all loved it.
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I make a green smoothie almost everyday. I use frozen strawberries, blueberries, banana, celery, mango, broccoli, spinach, squeeze some lemon juice out of a lemon, dump some yogurt in and add some apple or orange juice. It’s fantastic. I can’t get kale around here, otherwise I’d use that too! Pineapple is just starting to come in season, so I’m looking forward to putting some fresh pineapple in it too.
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My son LOVES green smoothies. We use spinch or chard from the garden. I never let him see me put the greens in because he would never drink it!
He calls them his Grinch smoothies. :)
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Cheryl Reply:
June 2nd, 2011 at 5:20 pm
You could also call them Oobleck smoothies – if you like Dr. Seuss :D
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