Tell me about smoothies please.

[IrresistibleGrace]

Are smoothies really a healthy alternative to other snacks?

Can you fill in these blanks:

A smoothy is healthier than ______________________________.

A smoothy is not as healthy as ____________________________.

 

Would a smoothy be considered a meal (i.e. breakfast)?

 

What do you put in smoothies? Does anyone here have some terrific recipes?

 

What kitchen tools do I need to make a smoothy? I think I have a blender but it is packed away in a box. I would consider buying a special gadget if it does not cost too much and you guys convince me that I need it :). I would need to make 4-6 smoothies at a time.

 

And last, am I spelling 'smoothy' correctly?

 

 

Thanks!!

[huntchaos]

I often make green smoothies and those are really healthy.

So, for breakfast I make one that consists of spinach (loads of spinach), one banana and about two cups of frozen berries. I split that among my husband, me, and the three kids. Everyone loves it.

 

I have had luck making green smoothies with greens like kale and collard greens too.

 

I have a vitamix - that is all I need tool wise.

[ssavings]

So, for breakfast I make one that consists of spinach (loads of spinach), one banana and about two cups of frozen berries. I split that among my husband, me, and the three kids. Everyone loves it.

 

 

We use a similar recipe.

[Annie G]

I use a good blender- I probably would just unpack your blender and see how it goes.

I can make three servings at once but not four. I guess it depends on how large you want a serving to be.

Edited June 5, 2012 by Annie G

[Annie G]

We eat smoothies for breakfast. One serving usually has a cup of strawberries, half a banana, half a cup of another fruit (it varies- blueberries and pineapple are the favorites), about 2 ounces of yogurt, and a splash of lowfat milk. The strawberries are frozen so it's a very cold, thick mixture.

 

My husband and son don't eat fruit. Ever. But they love a smoothie in the morning.

 

It's more healthy than a Southern Style Chicken Biscuit. I'm getting fruit into them, and they're eating something. Without that, they'd both go until lunchtime without eating and I don't like that.

[Julie Smith]

We eat them for snacks.

 

I put in frozen fruit and plain yogurt. I currently only have a small blender. :glare: (Since I broke my other one).

 

Everyone can mix and match there own smoothy. I buy bags of frozen fruit so you usually have lots to pick from - and fresh bananas.

[IrresistibleGrace]

I often make green smoothies and those are really healthy.

So, for breakfast I make one that consists of spinach (loads of spinach), one banana and about two cups of frozen berries. I split that among my husband, me, and the three kids. Everyone loves it.

 

I have had luck making green smoothies with greens like kale and collard greens too.

 

 

What do these green smoothies taste like? Spinach or the fruit?

 

 

We eat smoothies for breakfast. One serving usually has a cup of strawberries, half a banana, half a cup of another fruit (it varies- blueberries and pineapple are the favorites), about 2 ounces of yogurt, and a splash of lowfat milk. The strawberries are frozen so it's a very cold, thick mixture.

 

 

This sounds good!

[IrresistibleGrace]

We eat them for snacks.

 

I put in frozen fruit and plain yogurt. I currently only have a small blender. :glare: (Since I broke my other one).

 

Everyone can mix and match there own smoothy. I buy bags of frozen fruit so you usually have lots to pick from - and fresh bananas.

 

 

Thanks!

Do smoothies taste 'yogurty'? I tolerate yogurt when I need to but I don't love it. Is the yogurt taste very strong in a typical smoothy?

[Julie Smith]

Thanks!

Do smoothies taste 'yogurty'? I tolerate yogurt when I need to but I don't love it. Is the yogurt taste very strong in a typical smoothy?

 

Mine don't. I don't like yogurt, but am trying it since it's good for me. I just started adding more and more to mine till I found the right balance for me.

 

So if you want just start with a small spoon full.

[Walking-Iris]

Smoothies are fun and yummy and I've been drinking them as long as I can remember.

 

Smoothies are healthier than a chocolate doughnut, a Big Mac, french fries, beef jerky, cheese puffs, potato chips....

 

I mean it just depends on your definition of "snack."

 

A smoothie is not as healthy as ...I don't know...nothing comes to mind.

 

I have a blender with a dispenser---that's all you need. Basically there's a million ways I've made a smoothie over the years. fresh or frozen fruit---strawberry, mango, peach, berries, whatever, greek yogurt, banana, flax seed, almonds, wheat germ, soy milk, almond milk, rice milk, regular milk, splash of apple, orange, acai berry, carrot or any kind of juice, some shredded kale, spinach, honey, whatever. Mix and match how you like it.

 

A smoothie and an everything bagel with hummus and pepperjack cheese is a favorite snack around here.

[Guest submarines]

Thanks!

Do smoothies taste 'yogurty'? I tolerate yogurt when I need to but I don't love it. Is the yogurt taste very strong in a typical smoothy?

 

Typically, not. My kids don't eat yogurt, but love smothies. They don't know I put yogurt in them. :tongue_smilie:

[IrresistibleGrace]

Thanks so much guys! I am going to have to give them a try.

 

I get the "mix and match any way you like", but until we get to know what we like I will need specific recipes. Once we get a feel for them we'll go hog wild!

 

Also, if I can't find my blender or it turns out I don't even have one:001_smile:, what gadget should I buy?

 

 

I've also never had an everything bagel -- I'm going to have to try one of those too!

[LarlaB]

We are on a juice/smoothie kick... Essentially, I juice kale first, then use that liquid to make a smoothie. :)

 

I have a Jack Lalane juicer and a Ninja blender (similar to a Vitamix power wise, but only $100 instead of 5x the cost).

 

Juice 6-8 stalks of kale, celery and 1 lime (lime juice brightens almost every drink/smoothie). Put 10 ice cubes, 2 cups of spinach, 4-5 strawberries & 1 banana in our Ninja blender w/ kale juice and that's it. ) I will say its not very sweet- we try to really limit a huge amount of fruit in the smoothies.

 

IMHO, you can add spinach to just about any fruit based smoothie and not taste it- just blend for a while till you get a smooth texture. :)

 

You can add yogurt or coconut milk for protein-we've really started to love coconut milk based smoothies...

[NanceXToo]

I don't like vegetables in my smoothies. I often have smoothies for breakfast and they will consist of a cup of milk, half a cup of vanilla yogurt, 4-6 ice cubes, and various fruits- whatever I feel like. Usually a banana, maybe 4 strawberries, maybe some chunks of pineapple and peach. Sometimes we throw in some other fruits, fresh or frozen. We just put it in the blender. This will usually make enough for dh and I at least.

[wintermom]

We drink a lot of smoothies. They are healthy because you get the whole fruit with it fibre as well as the natural sugars. We add in yogurt, milk, often a little juice, and usually some protien powder. It is filling, much more than white bread/bagel/chips or other carb snacks.

 

You can follow recipes, but it is fun to just experiment with fruit and flavours that your family like. Mango is a big hit here.

 

We've not done the green smoothie at home, but the pre-made ones we've tried are awesome! Good reminder to try out the green ones at home.

[Rene']

Here is my smoothie recipe:

 

1 1/2 cups yogurt

1 1/2 cups milk

1/4 cup sugar or honey

1 cup frozen fruit

1 tsp vanilla

 

My blender is a 6-cup capacity - this makes 4 to 5 servings. We vary the fruit - sometimes just blueberries, sometimes blueberries and strawberries, whatever we have on hand and feel like. We don't do bananas because some of us don't like them, but you could do banana and peanut butter. :)

 

Sometimes I use coconut milk in place of regular milk, and I'll add a couple tablespoons of coconut oil. Those are very good!

 

In addition to just drinking it I also pour it into popsicle molds and make Smoothie Pops that are fabulous during the summer!

 

HTH!

[Jen in PA]

We have smoothies for breakfast. My kids like milk or oj with fruit. My standard smoothie is 1/2 a banana, 1/2 an avocado, 1/2 cup pureed pumpkin, 1 cup milk, 2 Tbsp cocoa powder, and half Tbsp. honey.

[littlebug42]

I make them with yogurt, fruit of some sort, and some honey or a little orange juice. The girls also like them with vanilla yogurt and frozen orange juice concentrate which makes sort of a dreamsicle type smoothie. In normal smoothies, Sweet-pea likes hers with frozen blueberries and Boo-Boo likes bananas and sometimes berries or peaches in her.

 

At the health food store smoothie bar, Boo-Boo loves one that is bananas, blueberries, apple juice and spirulina, which makes it very green. She won't drink green ones at home though.

[Belacqua]

We drink a lot of smoothies. They are healthy because you get the whole fruit with it fibre as well as the natural sugars. We add in yogurt, milk, often a little juice, and usually some protien powder. It is filling, much more than white bread/bagel/chips or other carb snacks.

 

 

Can you tell us about the protein powder? What kind do you like? Where do you get it? Does it significantly change the flavor or texture of the smoothie? How much do you use?

*end protein powder interrogation*

[tammyw]

We have a vitamix and use it quite a bit in the summer. My favorite is making slush out of watermelon, oranges, and ice. Yum! We also like to make our own Popsicles - whatever you want in them basically. Watermelon adds a wonderful amount of liquid to your smoothies - otherwise sometimes they can be too thick. I've never tried vegetable smoothies, but I have blended up spinach into my tomato sauce, so that's another good use for the vitamix, if you're looking for one.

 

Fwiw, I had a nice blender from Williams Sonoma. That thing is useless next to my vitamix. The motor is so good, and the tamping mechanism allows you to really push things around, so they get blended really, really well!

 

The other day I made a peanut butter smoothie that was good, though I'm having trouble finding the recipe at the moment. It had milk, banana, peanut butter, flaxseed, and a few other things I believe.

[Miss Peregrine]

For a fruit smoothie I use frozen bananas, grape juice and about a cup of frozen mixed berries. I have also thrown spinach in there and the kids never noticed.

 

Right now my favorite lunch is 1 cup unsweetened chocolate almond milk, 1 frozen banana and a big spoonful of peanut butter.

 

I don't like ice in my smoothies so I use frozen bananas instead. :)

[Mommy22alyns]

I usually have a smoothie for my lunch. My favorite recipe:

 

1 banana

1/2 cup yogurt

1/2 cup milk

2 tsp. protein powder

1 scoop (spoonful) of frozen oj concentrate

4-5 strawberries

6 ice cubes

[stripe]

Are smoothies really a healthy alternative to other snacks?

Can you fill in these blanks:

A smoothy is healthier than

a soda, a cookie, or a bag of chips.

 

I think they're kind of high in calorie, so I don't think they're a cure-all. But they do taste nice. I like strawberries, orange juice, and banana.

[LizzyBee]

I make smoothies with fruit, greens, and crushed ice. I'll add a little water if the fruit I use is not juicy enough to blend. I'll have a smoothie for breakfast along with a handful of nuts or a hard boiled egg for protein. We use at least half fruit, so we can't really taste the greens. I've thought about using protein powder for the kids' smoothies because they're so thin, but I haven't because I'm trying to stick with real/whole foods. I have a Vitamix.

Edited June 5, 2012 by LizzyBee

[ocelotmom]

The health level of a smoothie depends totally on what you put in them and your personal definition of healthy. As you can see from the replies, there's a huge range of potential ingredients. But regardless of what you put in, they're most likely going to be healthier than most processed foods.

 

They tend to be high in sugar (even if you have no added sugar), and tend not to be as satiating as a non-liquid meal, so you're more likely to overeat.

 

I see them more as a healthy dessert/treat option than a good regular meal replacement.

 

If you have an ice cream maker, many smoothie recipes work well for that, too.

[KungFuPanda]

I've been mixing up this smoothie recipe lately. It gets bagged and frozen in individual portions so I just have to toss it in the blender with my liquid and it's ready in about a minute. I consider this a healthy breakfast or snack.

 

http://onceamonthmom.com/green-smoothie-bags/

 

If you take the time to explore the website, you can adjust the recipe for the number of servings you want to put in the freezer. Each individual smoothie will have half a cup of greens and about 3/4 cups of fruit. It also has yogurt and milk, so I think it's a nutritional winner.

[kewb]

Smoothie fans. This is the one I make my dh for breakfast lately:

1 banana

glug of kefir

1 Tbl coconut oil

2 Tbl aloe vera juice

1 Tbl sunflower seed butter

1/2 cup cooked quinoa

handful of cranberries

1/3 cup blueberries

handful of a leafy green-usually spinach or kale

a little water to thin if necessary

[Annie G]

Can you tell us about the protein powder? What kind do you like? Where do you get it? Does it significantly change the flavor or texture of the smoothie? How much do you use?

*end protein powder interrogation*

 

Thanks for asking...I want to know, too!

[Alyeska]

We have smoothies for breakfast.

 

I put in frozen fruit and orange juice. Thats it. 100% fruit.

 

Dd is allergic to dairy. If she weren't, I might try adding yogurt.

[AngieW in Texas]

My smoothies are all nondairy. I don't like the flavor in smoothies with yogurt or milk.

 

I like smoothies with frozen banana, cherries, and mixed berries. I add enough orange juice to cover and then I blend it up. It has the same sugar content as eating a bowl of fruit and drinking 6-8 ounces of orange juice. I don't add any sugar. I have a smoothie every night.

 

My youngest likes sweeter smoothies. Hers is just frozen cherries with enough apple juice to cover and then some sugar to sweeten it. Since it's the only way I can get her to have any fruit at all, I figure it's worth it. It's certainly better than drinking a soda or one of those fake juice drinks that has 10% or less actual fruit juice in it.

[acurtis75]

Dh and dd have smoothies for lunch most days. I usually have juice so I put green juice in smoothie and/or with milk, Greek yogurt because it is high protein, banana, whatever frozen fruit we have on hand, a handful of spinach, some flaxseed and a little honey. I found it is the best breakfast option for dd and fills her up the longest.

[Kelly1730]

 

 

Right now my favorite lunch is 1 cup unsweetened chocolate almond milk, 1 frozen banana and a big spoonful of peanut butter.

 

I don't like ice in my smoothies so I use frozen bananas instead. :)

 

Yum, I think I'll try this!