This is a great way to be creative and get both your fruits and veggies quickly and effortlessly. There is no major prep time involved and no cooking. All it takes is a basic understanding of how to make a smoothie, chose your ingredients, do a little chopping if necessary and blend until smooth.
A smoothie can be juice, yogurt or milk based. Lots of juice based smoothies start with orange juice, but you can use any healthy, organic, low sugar fruit juice of your choice to complement the other fruit flavors. For instance, you can use exotic fruit juices like Noni juice, Acai, or Mangosteen juices. You can try pomegranate, pineapple or apple juice to make your smoothie even more interesting. Just make sure the juice is low in sugar and organic when possible. The list can be as long and varied as you like in order to help keep your creative “juices” flowing.
For yogurt based smoothies you can use plain, vanilla or fruit flavored yogurt, Kefir(yogurt liquid) or frozen yogurt. For a thicker, creamier smoothie opt for using real Greek yogurt not Greek style yogurt. Greek yogurt gives you more protein than just regular yogurt and its thicker. The yogurt can be paired with milk for a less thick smoothie and to help get it blending. If you don’t have a very high quality blender, you must have a liquid in order to get the blender going, otherwise it won’t blend. For a milk based smoothie use 1% milk or a milk alternative like soy or almond milk. Using milk as your liquid makes for a smooth and creamy blend, plus the benefits of calcium and vitamins. If you don’t have either of these liquids on hand, you can always just use plain water. Coconut water as your liquid base is even more beneficial and adds a tropical flavor. But when you use plain old water you may need to use more sweeteners.
When making a smoothie, it is helpful to have a good blender or one especially manufactured for creating smoothies. The more power it has the better. Avoid investing in cheap blenders for making smoothies because they are not built to handle crushing ice and frozen fruits, the blades tend to stop during blending and you have to help loosen the contents. This is one kitchen appliance that you want to get the best quality, in this case the more expensive the brand the better it should perform. VitaMix is one of the best quality blenders used for smoothies as well as Blendtec. Although they are expensive, and used commercially in many restaurants that serve smoothies, they are available for home use. If it is out of your budget just check around to find a reasonably priced quality blender within your budget or work with what you got. Don’t make any excuses for not drinking smoothies.
Smoothies can be a powerful arsenal in the quest for weight loss, weight maintenance and overall health. They can be simple or they can be complicated. Many people may not know how to whip up a smoothie or they just learn by trial and error. But, here is a very simple and basic template for making a smoothie to get you started. It is the building block for creating simple smoothies. For this very simple smoothie template you can choose fruits that are low on the glycemic index and have a low glycemic load like apples, oranges, mango, peaches and watermelon to help keep you on track for weight loss and help control your blood sugar levels.
Very Simple Smoothie Template (one serving)
1). Choose 1 cup of liquid or yogurt
2). Choose 1 cup fruit(s), fresh or frozen
3). Optional: add sweetener to taste (avoid artificial sweeteners)
4). Add handful of ice cubes
5). Optional add in: like 1 tbsp flaxseed oil, a scoop of protein powder or a veggie
Here are a few examples of simple smoothies:
Blueberry Smoothie:
1). Blend 1 cup 1% milk or soy milk
2). Add 1 cup frozen unsweetened blueberries, (add optional sweetener)
3). Blend together for 1 minute, then transfer to glass
4). Stir in 1 tbsp flaxseed oil or a few spinach leaves
Pineapple Smoothie:
1). Blend 1 cup 1% milk or soy milk
2). Add 4 ounce can pineapple tidbits in juice, (add handful ice cubes)
3). Blend together for 1 minute, then transfer to glass
4). Stir in 1 tbsp flaxseed oil
Banana Raspberry Smoothie:
2 medium ripe bananas, peeled
1 ½ cups Dole Pure & Light Country Raspberry Juice chilled, or equivalent substitute
1 cup frozen vanilla yogurt, softened
1 cup fresh raspberries
1 tbsp grapeseed oil
1). Place all ingredients in blender except grapeseed oil and process until smooth.
2). Transfer to glass, then stir in grapeseed oil.
If you chose to make a smoothie as a meal replacement or post workout recovery drink, then you’ll need to add in some protein, a vegetable option and a power option. By adding a protein powder, you help feed your muscles after working out. You add a vegetable to increase vitamins and minerals. If you are like me, I do not get the proper amount of vegetables so by disguising them in a smoothie its perfect. Adding a power option increases a smoothies nutritional potency. Your power option can be a strategic choice based on your current dietary needs. For weight loss, you can chose a superfood that specifically targets belly fat. You can chose a filler like oats to help you feel fuller longer or something to boost your immune system. You can even add nut or seed oils to add omega-3. Your power option can be anything that helps give you a natural energy boost. Here is a template for creating a basic power smoothie. Once you know the basics, you will be able to whip up a power smoothie in a matter of minutes.
Basic power Smoothie Template(one serving):
1). Chose your liquid (1 cup or 6-8 ounces): fruit juice, water, coconut water, Kefir, 1% milk, milk alternative(almond, soy, rice etc.), yogurt or frozen yogurt just make sure to select one that is low in sugar
2). Add Protein: choose a protein powder like Vega Sport, Life’s Basics, Sun Warrior Raw Protein or Solaray Soytein. Stay clear of Whey or Casein if you are Vegan or avoiding dairy. Instead look for Pea, Hemp, Brown Rice or Soy. Can also opt for a green plant-based superfood powder
3). Add 1 cup of fruit: add a few ice cubes if using fresh fruit, or opt for frozen fruit, this can be more than one fruit
4). Add sweetener: use a little Agave Nectar, Stevia or honey to your taste
5). Add a vegetable: usually green vegetables are a good choice like frozen broccoli, kale, spinach or celery. Carrots are a pretty good choice as well because they are naturally sweet. You only need a little vegetables like a few broccoli florets or few kale or spinach leaves so as to not make them over powering, you’ll still get the benefits
6). Add a power option: choose a super food like Chia Seeds or Goji Berries, nut or seed oils(1 tbsp) like flaxseed oil, wheat germ, oat groats or steel cut oats(add enough for desired thickness)
By following this power smoothie template, you can whip up a power smoothie in minutes as an excellent post workout recovery option if you drink within 30 minutes after a workout. Forget those store bought meal replacement shakes that are loaded with sugar and don’t quite satisfy your hunger. Power smoothies are relatively easy to create based on what you have available.
Power Smoothie Recipes
Berry Power Drink
1 cup cranberry juice
1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries
8oz vanilla low-fat yogurt
2/3 cup Quaker Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked) or 2/3 cup Oat bran hot cereal
Sugar to taste (optional)
1 tbsp wheat germ
1 cup ice cubes
1). Place all ingredients except ice in blender, cover and blend on high about 2 minutes
2). Gradually add ice, until smooth, transfer to glass and enjoy
Power Protein Smoothie Recipe
Ingredients (one 24-ounce serving):
1/4 cup hemp or brown rice protein powder
1-2 tbsp chia seeds
1/2 frozen acai smoothie packet
Liquid stevia to sweeten
½ tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. vanilla extract
Green Detox Smoothie
Ingredients:
2 cups kale, stemmed and chopped
1 cup spinach leaves
½ avocado (optional, makes it creamier and more filling)
1 banana
1 apple, chopped (no need to peel)
1 cup orange juice, preferably fresh squeezed
1 cup fruit flavored kefir or vanilla yogurt
1 cup ice
1 Tbsp. chia seeds (optional)
Instructions
1). Combine all the ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth
Kate’s Power Smoothie
Recipe by Our Best Bites
Ingredients:
1 cup orange juice (preferably the good stuff, like the not-from-concentrate orange juice)
3 tablespoons oat groats or 2 tbsp steel cut oats (optional…kind of…)*
3/4 cup fat-free vanilla Greek yogurt (make sure it’s Greek and not Greek-style)
1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries
3 cups baby spinach leaves
1 1/2 cups crushed ice
*To help your blender out, you can soak the oak groats in the orange juice overnight (either in the jar of your blender or in a glass). This will make it easier to blend and will also eliminate a lot of the grittiness from the oats.
1). Combine ingredients in the jar of your blender and blend. You may (read: probably will) need to run it through twice. Serve immediately. Makes 1 giant smoothie, 2 smaller smoothies, or 3 snack-sized smoothies.
If you still need more ideas and recipes for making smoothies here a few websites you can check out to get your creative juices flowing.
Smoothie recipes
www.smoothieweb.com
Breakfast smoothie recipes
http://www.wholeliving.com/135929/smoothie-recipes/@center/155850/healthy-breakfasts
Fruit Smoothie Recipes from Recipe.com
http://www.recipe.com/recipes/drinks/smoothies/how-to-make-fruit-smoothies/
How to Make Delicious Creamy Smoothies from the Smoothie Handbook
http://www.smoothie-handbook.com/how-to-make-smoothie.html
If you have an iPhone try this pocket smoothie app
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pocket-smoothie-recipes/id367926029?mt=8
The way that Kandie’s Health and Fitness Project is designed, each week’s new tweak should be incorporated into your diet everyday. However, some of them are not suited for everyday use like weight training which should be done every other day. You may not have to trade up your dairy everyday if you limit dairy to only 2-3 days a week. This can be true for your smoothie as well, you may not whip up one everyday just as long as you make one a few times a week. You may begin to enjoy them so much that whipping up a smoothie everyday will be no problem.
Assignment
This week’s assignment is straight forward and simple, whip up a smoothie. Find a website or cookbook as a point of reference that has a variety of smoothie recipes and compare to the smoothie templates to see if you need to add protein or a power option. Create at least 3 very simple smoothies and 3 power smoothies that you can whip up whenever you need quickly and easily. Just remember to be creative and enjoy the many flavors that can be created and by all means share with a friend and swap recipes.
Weekly Checklist (Weeks 1-17)
Drink 8 glasses of water every day
Eat a Hearty Healthy breakfast
Get movin’ by walking or aerobics
Eat an Apple or Pear everyday
Say no to your poison, ditch the junk food
Go a little nuts by eating a handful of nuts
Toss Up a Big Bowl of Salad
Take Your Vitamins
Pump It Up!!!
Trade Up Your Drinks
Sprinkle Some Flax on It
Abs are made in the kitchen
Trade Up Your Dairy
Grab a Superfood
Plan Your Healthy Day
Trade Up Your Oil
Eat Lower on The Glycemic Index
Whip Up A Power Smoothie
References
“Flat Belly Diet” by Liz Vaccariello
“The Lean - A Revolutionary and Simple 30 Day Plan for Healthy, Lasting Weight Loss” by Kathy Freston
Kate’s Power Smoothie Recipe by Our Best Bites
http://www.ourbestbites.com/2012/01/kates-power-smoothie/
Green Detox Smoothie
http://www.pbs.org/parents/kitchenexplorers/2013/01/01/incredible-hulk-power-smoothie-green-detox-smoothie/
Power Protein Smoothie Recipe
http://kimberlysnyder.net/blog/2012/01/23/power-protein-smoothie-recipe/
“Light Cooking: low fat, low calorie, low cholesterol”, Publications International, Ltd
Picture Sources
Smoothie Blender
Green Smoothie
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