Monday, October 18, 2010

Guide to the Perfect Smoothie

Think you need a recipe to make a smoothie? Think again!

Follow these basic tips to make deliciously fun, fruity smoothies everytime ^_^

Blueberry Banana Smoothie

Most of the smoothies I make are simply a combination of my favorite fruit, milk or juice.  I have listed a basic smoothie recipe below, and then below that, are some specific options for different ingredients:

1 cup fruit (fresh or frozen)
1/2 - 1 cup frozen banana
1 - 2 cups of liquid
1 - 2 tsp natural sweetener or nut butter
1tsp - 2tbsp supplement (optional)

FRUIT:
Frozen: bananas, pineapples, strawberries, blueberries, mangoes, peaches, cherries, or a mix of any!
Fresh: honeydew, cantaloupe, mango, peaches, oranges, blueberries, strawberries

Liquid Options (or the blender's not gonna blend)
Non-Dairy Milk (I love almond milk, but soy, rice or hemp work well too)
Non-Dairy yogurt or silken tofu
100% citrus fruit juice (orange, pineapple, mango) apple juice
Water (if you're doing RAW)

Nut Butters/Natural Sweetners:
Almond butter, all natural peanut butter, cashew butter, tahini, pure maple syrup, evaporated cane juice

Supplement:
Vegan protein powder, ground flax seed, fresh ginger

Helpful Hints: 
  • Instead of making banana bread with those over-ripe brown bananas, try peeling, slicing, and keeping them a ziplock bag in the freezer.  Frozen bananas for smoothies anytime!
  • Trader Joe's has amazing, resonably priced bags of frozen organic fruit like strawberries, blueberries, mangoes, pineapple, and a tropical mix that's really yummy!  I have these in my freezer at all times for whenever I'm out of fresh fruit
  • Be creative! There are really no "bad" mixes of fresh or frozen fruit: strawberry/banana, strawberry/banana/blueberry (pictured above), Pinapple/banana/OJ, rasberry/peach,
  • 1 TBSP ground flax seed is a great way to add thickness to a smoothie, and boost your Omega 3s.
HAPPY BLENDING!

3 comments:

  1. yea!! I didn't realize you had a blog - you are too cool - you might make me a vegan yet!

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  2. Yay! I'd even take vegan "part time" :) The blog gets my creative-cooking obsession out of my system! I hoping to get Lauren to tweek a few layout things for me too... Look for our cupcakes a bit closer to Halloween!!

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