Smoothies

[princesspolamalu]

I am a bartender and we make a really easy smoothe all you need is some frozen strawberries, a half a banana, pineapple juice, and some apple juice. Throw all that in your blender and your good to go. Its delicious.

[jeweloflight]

I am known to my friends and family as "The Smoothie Queen". I have tested recipe, after recipe, after recipe. One thing remains constant. There must be certain ingredients present to give a balanced, full flavored taste, with a smooth finish. Remember that fresh fruit with ice never gives the texture of using frozen fruit to begin with.

Always use frozen fruit, it gives the best consistency.

Use either sorbet, sherbert, or low fat yogurt for sweetener, so as not to add sugar.

Use milk (perferably soy)

Use juice (orange is the complementary to most fruits)

These are the four cardinal rules of smoothie creations. Remember, use a mixture of milk and juice for a balanced, full bodied flavor. Unfortunetly, I don't have recipes, I would have to dig back into my archives to find them; so for now, I go on gut feel and taste.

[foma]

Don't forget, if you buy orange juice, there's a lot of sugar content in those, too!!

[skoe]

Well, I have been trying these smoothies. I could get use to them! I really like them in the morning when I don't really want to "eat" anything. Also for a small snack at night if I really need something.

The only thing I had to adjust was the amount of banana to use. If there is too much it is way to thick and turns into goopy goo! My kids love the fruit smoothies.

Thanks again for all the great recipes.

[Roma]

I love, love, love smoothies. I used to make them a long time ago. Then, when Jamba Juice came out, I just would go there and get them. Now where we live there isn't a smoothie place nearby. I miss them. I need to buy a blender or move to be near a Jamba Juice.

I used to make mine with.... Frozen strawberries, a banana, yogurt, and orange juice. YUM!!!

[deerislesmile]

I make a lot of smoothies for work (nutrition education), and I am always surprised that a lot of other people add sugar or honey to a fruit smoothie. I don't- not only do i think it's fine without, but I don't want to teach my clients or kids that you need a little sugar in everything.. (I'm trying to teach the opposite- lol!) I most always use fat free yogurt, and try to use the pulpiest OJ I can, as it has more fiber (same with using whole/frozen fruit- lots of good fiber!).

I especially like freezing the smoothies into popsicle molds and having them as a frozen treat!

I do think that a smoothie is perfectly acceptable as a meal, especially if you can add a protein in with it (PB on crackers, or protein powder mixed in). I do not see it as an empty calorie fest- there are lots of good vits and mins, as well as fiber and calcium!

Afterthought- you can use frozen bananas to make it thicker. This is also good to know because you can freeze those bananas that you were going to use for banana bread by putting them in a ziploc and throwing them in the freezer. Some people peel them, or even peel and slice, but I usually freeze it with the skin on- protects against freezer burn...

[floridadreamer]

Originally Posted by movingoutofCA

Yes, do you want me to post a few? in my cookbook I have recipes for smoothies with:
Beets
Carrots
Cucumbers
Red bell peppers
tomatoes (I know it's a fruit)

But I can't promise you they taste good. I stick with the fruit.

Beet and Carrot Juices taste pretty good so why not? And Cucumbers are very refreshing and light so guess I could picture that one with nice yogurt and some fresh ground black pepper maybe.