Smoothie Ideas

Here are some smoothie-making tips as well as suggested ingredients for smoothies.

 
FRUIT

You can of course use fresh fruit in smoothies, but I prefer frozen fruit, so I buy enough fruit for a month and prepare it as follows:

  1. Wash or peel the fruit.
  2. Cut up large fruit into 2- or 3-inch pieces.
  3. Put in tupperware or plastic containers with lids (e.g., empty yogurt or sour cream containers).
  4. Label each container (use a permanent marker and masking tape).
  5. Keep fruit in the freezer until ready to use.

Then when you want a smoothie, just pull out a container or two, throw some fruit in the blender, and voilà. Some fruits, like bananas, will stick together when frozen, so you might need to break off a chunk with a spoon or metal spatula.

Some fruits that freeze well and make great smoothies:

  • Apricots
  • Bananas
  • Berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries…*)
  • Cantaloupe
  • Kiwi
  • Mango
  • Nectarines
  • Papaya
  • Peaches
  • Pineapple

*Although boysenberries taste wonderful in smoothies, there is one problem – their seeds are so big that they ruin the texture of the smoothie.

Watermelon is great in smoothies too, but it acts more like a liquid. Plus, it’s so big that you might be worried about waste. Never fear: you can freeze it. Just remove the seeds, cut into chunks, and place in blender. Process until liquid, pour into ice cube trays, freeze, and transfer from trays to a container. Then add a few cubes to your next smoothie!
  

LIQUIDS

You always need a bit of liquid or something liquid-like in your smoothie, so here are some you can mix and match:

  • Fruit juice (orange, pineapple, apple…)
  • Milk (soy, rice, nut…)
  • Sorbet
  • Wheatgrass juice
  • Yogurt
      

ADDITIONS

For additional nutrition and/or taste, try adding some of these:

  • Bee pollen
  • Bran
  • Ginkgo biloba
  • Ginseng
  • Honey
  • Mint, fresh
  • Nutritional yeast
  • Peanut butter
  • Protein powder
  • Spirulina
  • St. John’s Wort
  • Sugar
  • Wheat germ
      

RECIPES

Here are some of my favorite smoothies:

 
Mixed berry smoothie

  • 1 c berry juice
  • 1½ c frozen berries (strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries) OR 1 c fresh berries + 3 ice cubes
     

Tropical fruit smoothie

  • 2 or 3 pieces of each of the following:
    – banana
    – mango
    – papaya
    – pineapple
    – watermelon
  • ½ c orange juice
     

Bananastrawberry smoothie

  • ½ frozen banana
  • 1 c frozen strawberries
  • 1 c orange juice
     

Peanut butter and jelly smoothie

  • 1 c berry or cherry juice (if using unsweetened, you might want
    to add 1-2 T sugar or other sweetener)
  • 1½ c frozen berries (strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries) OR 1 c fresh berries + 3 ice cubes
  • 2-3 T creamy peanut butter
     

Peanut butter and banana smoothie