What do you use to make smoothies?

[gentlearts]

I've posted this before, but the main secret is frozen fruit instead of ice.
1 frozen banana, cut in 5 pieces
1 c. frozen strawberries
1 c. orange juice
1 cup plain fat free yogurt
6 Equal packets, or sugar.
Blenderize it. Makes 2 big thick smoothies, about 230 calories each. I have an ancient old blender and it works fine.

['M']

Didee, my personal favorite blender is the VitaMix...you'll never need to buy another blender. It makes smoothies very smooth, even with ice cubes. One book that I really like is the Green For Life book by Victoria Boutenko. The member who mentioned using frozen fruit instead of ice gave a good suggestion...1-2 ice cubes at the very end of blending may be added to get it to the consistency that you like. With the VitaMix it doesn't matter as much with ice, because it blends everything very smoothly.

One of my favorite smoothies is to use 2-3 frozen bananas (chopped into small slices) with either cow's milk or almond milk...maybe add a little greek yogurt...add some sugar - or horrors! artificial sweetener - and possibly a few ice cubes at the end. To freeze bananas, wait until they are ripe and not green. When cut, place in gallon size zip lock bags....place about 1-2 bananas in the bag because it prevents them from freezing too hard. Once the bag is sealed, I used my hand to separate the bananas so that they are well spread out in the bag. For best results freeze for 24 hours and use to make a banana smoothie. This banana smoothie is so good you almost think you're eating a regular milk shake. A handful of frozen berries can be added for flavor and color. During peach season, make a banana peach (freeze the peaches, too) super smoothie Enjoy!

Emily

[PJSaturn]

I just use fat free vanilla yogurt and whatever berries are on hand.

I use a cheap smoothie-maker I got for about $15 at KMart a few years ago.

[didee]

Thanks for the tips, everyone. I think I might have had too much frozen stuff and not enough liquid going on.

'M', I would love a VitaMix, but they are oh, so pricey! It looks like a phenomenal product, though.

[Opyelie]

I have 3 - my magic bullet which gets used at LEAST once a day for something - an immersion blender and an Oster glass blender.

It kind of depends what I'm mixing and the quantity.

My FAVOURITE (smoothie kinda) is iced coffee with milk and icecream - and I use the bullet for those. If I want a fruit smoothie I just omit the coffee and make a fruit puree first then add the milk/icecream or ice/water.