Green Tea Blueberry And Banana Smoothie
To prepare this smoothie featuring antioxidant-rich green tea, simply heat 3 Tbsp. of water in a bowl in the microwave until its steaming hot. Then, add 1 green tea bag and allow it to brew for 3 minutes. Remove the tea bag and stir in 2 tsp. honey until it dissolves. Combine 1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries, 1/2 medium banana, and 3/4 cup calcium-fortified light vanilla soy milk into a blender. Add the tea and process all ingredients until smooth.
Nutrition :269 calories, 2.5 g fat, 3.5 g protein, 63 g carbs , 38.5 g sugars
Protein Powder For Kids
Choosing protein powder for kids is preference. I have multiple protein powders I use and love .
One of my favorites is Orgain protein powder. This protein powder is allergy-friendly , has no added sugar and no artificial sweeteners. It actually won Preventions Cleanest Packaged Food Award! You can use code mamabear30 for 10% off your first-ever order.
My thoughts on protein powder for kids: I think that as long as you have a quality protein powder and trust its the source, its okay.
When checking out new protein powder, especially if my kiddos are going to be using it, I like to look for a few of these points:
- no random flavored added
- no carageen
- no processed oils
However, if youre not into protein powder- thats ok! Instead of the powder, collagen powder is a great substitute! Collagen is not only full of awesome protein but its also awesome to help boost your immune system- double win.You can grab collagen powder packs from Perfect Supplements and use code mamabear10 to save some money.
How To Make A Smoothie With Or Without Ice
If you want to skip the iceand the resulting brain freezeyou totally can. This is the beauty of making your own smoothie you can make it however you want.
I adore lots of ice in the summertime months which makes it fluffy and cold, and none in the winter, where it’s more comforting and dense, says Adler.
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How To Measure Smoothie Ingredients
I too am guilty of looking at a smoothie recipe and then throwing a bit of everything into the pitcher. I could end up with a 12 ounce breakfast or a 24 ounce drink-me-all-day. Sometimes though, its nice to know exactly how much smoothie Im going to end up making.
Maybe you are counting calories. Perhaps you dont want to end up with leftovers. Maybe you never make enough for your kids to share. No matter your reason, sometimes its just makes life easier to know.
How do I do this without dirtying a pile of measuring cups and spoons? A kitchen scale!
Simply place the pitcher on your scale and hit the tare button to zero it out. Add the ingredients, pressing tare between each one, to measure exactly how much goes into the pitcher. Best of all you do it without dirtying a single measuring utensil.
How Can I Make My Smoothie Healthier
The smoothie recipes below are plain, but if you want to expand your smoothie horizons, go for it! Toss in chia seeds or protein powder or hemp seeds or flax or whatever else makes your heart happy. If you have a standard set of mix-ins you like, you can even freeze them into booster packsgreat for really quick and easy smoothies!
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Buy Produce In Season
This is when its at its juiciest, sweetest, and most flavoursome. The natural sugars in fruit are usually at their highest when theyre fully ripe. This is the time when fruits taste their very best.
If youre adding strawberries to your smoothies in winter, chances are theyll taste pretty bland . But if you consume strawberries when theyre in season then theyll be super sweet and pack the most flavour.
Fruit and veg thats in season also tends to be at its most nutritious. This handy cheat sheet on seasonal smoothie ingredients can help you pinpoint which are at their best right now.
How To Make The Perfect Smoothie
Cassie Best shares her top tips on how to make your smoothies delicious and nutritious every time, with healthy recipe ideas and new flavour combinations.
A vitamin-packed smoothie is a great way to start the day, or works as the perfect afternoon pick-me-up. Make your smoothies delicious and nutritious every time with these simple suggestions.
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How To Make A Filling Smoothie
Published: by Cassidy Reeser · This post may contain affiliate links.
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Choose from 4 delicious smoothie recipes that are ready in less than 10 minutes AND learn how to make smoothies that are healthy and filling!
If you’re ever made a smoothie and felt hungry an hour later, this guide was made for you!
I’ll walk you through how to make four different filling and balanced smoothies. All of these recipes can be modified to meet your dietary needs without sacrificing texture or flavor.
Smoothie Faq And Expert Tips
- Added sugars can add up fast. Start with plain yogurts and unsweetened non-dairy milk if youre watching your sugar intake. This way, if you need extra sugar you can add it to taste later.
- Flavors: Some ingredients go better together than others. It’s hard to go wrong with fruit smoothies, but be careful when adding in vegetables and nut butters. Start with small amounts and add as you go. Too much of a strong ingredient like peanut butter or kale can really overpower a smoothie.
Can I make smoothies in a food processor?
Blenders work best, but you can usually use a small food processor. If using a large food processor, you may need to double the recipe to make sure that it’s thoroughly blended.
What kind of sweeteners work best in smoothies?
Liquid sweeteners like maple syrup, agave syrup or honey work best. Fruit juices like orange juice or mango juice are another great way to sweeten a smoothie.
Can I make smoothies in advance?
I don’t recommend making smoothies in advance because they lose their iciness when the frozen ingredients thaw in the fridge. However, you can keep them in the fridge for up to 24 hours before the quality starts to degrade. Another option is to add all freezable ingredients to one container. For example, you can freeze fruits, seeds, nuts and veggies together.
Does fruit lose fiber when it’s blended?Why won’t my smoothie blend?
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Expert Tips And Tricks
- Skip the bananas. An avocado can be substituted for a banana along with a tablespoon or two of sweetener.
- Go for the goat yogurt. If youre slightly lactose intolerant, goats milk yogurt is a wonderful alternative that tastes very similar to cows milk yogurt.
- Add and adjust. Start by adding a little bit of optional ingredients and then taste after each addition to make sure you still like the flavor!
- Sweeten it last. Youd be surprised how sweet fruit can be! Wait until the end to stir in any additional sweeteners.
- Pay attention to the blade. You want to add your softer ingredients closer to the blade and the harder ingredients further away from the blade for easier blending.
Fresh Fruits And Vegetables
People are always telling you to eat your vegetables and fruits. Theres no more delicious way to do it than in a smoothie. You can use ingredients that are tasty and ingredients that are good for you. In most cases theyre the same ingredients!
Among favorite fruits are berries, papaya, melon, pineapple, bananas, mango, kiwi, mandarin oranges, cherries and peaches. To ensure a smooth consistency to the final product, its best to peel them. The blending will go better if theyre cut small. Even most strawberries should be cut no larger than in half.
One of the top vegetable choices is spinach. Kale is another option. If you can, cut out the fibrous veins. Theyll tend to create a layer of foam atop your final product. Well see ways to fix that when we get to the blending step.
It doesnt take a whole lot of greens to make the entire smoothie green. Some people like that look and some dont. There are certain mixes of greens and fruits that will yield a brownish color. It will still taste good, but you may want your smoothie to look pretty as well.
You can use smashed or pureed vegetables to make your smoothie creamier. Best choices are sweetish veggies such a pumpkin, sweet potato and butternut squash. Also, avocado is already creamy and just needs to be sliced up.
About half an avocado is right for the average smoothie. Save the other half for chips to eat along with your drink.
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Best Blenders For Smoothies
OK, youve got all of your smoothie ingredients prepped and ready to go, now how are you going to blend them up?
The key here is powerful.
You want to use a blender capable of completely mixing up all of the ingredients until they are smooth and creamy.
Here is a list of the best blenders for making fruit smoothies:
- Nutribullet A wonderful personal-sized blender option. Make sure you use the larger cup in order to fit all of the ingredients without going over the max fill line.
- Ninja Blender is also another great option!
How To Make A Smoothie Step
Buy It:NutriBullet Blender Combo
Just remember this simple formula: Fruit + Juice + Dairy/Dairy Substitute + Ice = Easy Smoothie Recipe Win.
Follow our Test Kitchen pro tips below to design your own smoothie recipe, then learn how to transform it into a smoothie bowl and how to give it an über-rich and creamy consistency. Sweet!
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How To Make A Green Smoothie: Liquids
For the most part, avoid juice as the base for your green smoothie. Again, the purpose is to create a nutrient-dense snack or breakfast, not adding more sugar to your diet.
Using fruit juices can be an easy way to sweeten your smoothie but I urge you to not let it be the main liquid in your green smoothie recipe.Keeping in mind that using just water will not leave your smoothie as creamy as you’d probably want.
I personally use a variety of plant-based milk for the base of our green smoothies.Almond, cashew, pea are our favorites.I also use coconut milk but there’s more on that below.
Hack: if you need a green smoothie to replenish electrolytes or hydration from being sick, use coconut water! Coconut water. Coconut water performs like a sports drink but is much better for you.
Drink It Now Or Later
Most people can hardly wait for their smoothies to be done and want to drink them as soon as they come out of the blender. Pour and scrape it out, grab a spoon or a wide straw and enjoy.
If you let it sit, any froth on top will start to settle. But a thinner smoothie might separate as it sits. This is especially true of green smoothies.
A thick smoothie can last about a day in the refrigerator. After that the flavor and texture will fade. A sealed mason jar is the best way to store it. A plastic wrap over the top of your glass is an OK second choice.
Also Check: Fruit And Vegetable Combinations For Smoothies
Add Oats Nuts And Seeds
You can add a spoonful or two of oats or chia seeds or sunflower seeds or flax seeds which are high in fiber and are a great source of omega-3s, to your smoothie. Or even walnuts, peanuts, or pecans. To get an even better result, you can soak the seeds before adding them to the mixture to make them softer.
The seeds, nuts, and oats absorb water and swell up, and this helps to reduce the water content, and the increased size of the seeds, oats, or nuts increases the thickness of the smoothie. This also increases the nutrition and gives your smoothie additional flavors.
How Do I Make A Berry Smoothie
For the best results, youll want to add the ingredients to the blender in this order:
Slowly increase the speed of your blender until it is working at full power. When fully blended, taste your smoothie for sweetness, and add honey or maple syrup to taste.
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Choosing Fresh Or Frozen Fruits And Vegetables
When it comes to what goes in your smoothie, only you can decide. There are no wrong answers here!
Pros of Fresh Fruit & Vegetables: Its a great way to use up fruit that is no longer visually appealing, but still tastes good. Think browning bananas, soft strawberries, blackberries so ripe they are falling apart. All still have good flavor, but arent what youd pick first out of the fruit basket on the counter.
Cons of Fresh Fruit & Vegetables: You have to make your smoothies on your fruits schedule, not your own. If those fresh fruits no longer taste good, they wont make your smoothie taste good. If the fruit is underripe, it will be harder to blend and may not make for the smoothest smoothie.
Pros of Frozen Fruit& Vegetables: Frozen fruit makes a thicker texture that stays colder longer without watering down the flavor. Most frozen fruit is picked at peak ripeness. You can have summer blackberries in January or tree ripe peaches in March. Also, unless you are shopping an in-season market stand, frozen fruit is usually cheaper than fresh.
Cons of Frozen Fruit& Vegetables: If you arent using a high power blender, frozen solid fruit may be more than it can handle. While my Vitamix does just fine with it, my stick blender would leave frozen fruit in chunks. Let the frozen fruit thaw on the counter for 10 minutes or so before making your smoothie.
Balance The Proportion Of The Ingredients
Something that many people often fail to recognize is the fact that you can make a flavorsome smoothie as well as a high-quality one if you do not determine ideal recipes ratio.
Of course, the veggies have to take a larger percentage but it is still essential to ensure that you do not go overboard with the other recipes.
Adding ingredients in excess always tamper with the taste of the beverage. However, if you find the right proportions for all the ingredients youre using then you can be certain that you will have a green thicky that is healthy, delicious and tasteful.
The best way of attaining this if youre not sure is by adding the ingredients in small portions until the moment the smoothie becomes pleasant to drink.
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Adjusting The Blender Speed
Its best to gradually ramp up the speed on the blender. Start with medium speed for about 30 seconds. This gives the blades the chance to gradually break things up without burning out the motor. Use a plastic tamper to help push down all of the ingredients into the fast-moving blades at the bottom of the cup.
Turn the speed to high for 15 to 30 seconds for final processing. This is when I add any extra liquid or ice needed to help with blending. If the smoothie doesnt easily whirl and move, it needs a little more liquid, add small amounts at a time to keep thick but sippable consistency.
Peaches And Cream Oatmeal Smoothie
No time for a leisurely meal? Try this grab-and-go, probiotic-rich take on morning oatmeal. Whole-grain oats contain prebiotic fiber that promotes gut health.
This recipe from Preventions Smoothies & Juicesmakes two smoothies: Blend 1/2 cup whole milk, 1/2 cup Greek yogurt, 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1 cup frozen peaches, 1/2 frozen banana, and 1/2 cup ice until smooth.
Nutrition : 217 calories, 5.5 g fat , 11 g protein, 33 g carbs , 15 g sugars
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What Do I Use To Sweeten A Smoothie
All of these smoothies here use frozen fruit as a base, which adds a nice baseline of sweetness that you can build on if your tastebuds would like. My recommendation is to blend up your smoothie without any added sweetener, then taste. Add in honey or maple syrup to taste. Many times, I dont need to add anything! Another great natural option for sweetening: pitted Medjool dates. Throw in one or two of those bad boys and let the blender do its thing. Youd be amazed at how sweet your smoothie will be!
Is There A Way To Pack More Nutrition Into This Berry Smoothie
This recipe makes a simple berry smoothie that anyone can enjoy, but you can add whatever seeds or powders that youd like! For this one, I might add:
- Spinach or other dark leafy greens. Pack in some more vitamins and minerals with a handful or two of leafy greens like spinach. The berries have so much flavor, you wont even notice the greens!
- Ginger. Ginger has tons of health benefitsit is an anti-inflammatory, for oneand it adds a nice spicy bite to smoothies.
- Chia seeds. Chia is an omega-3 powerhouse, and has the added benefit of helping to thicken up your smoothie for an even better consistency.
Once you have a set of mix-ins that you like, you can freeze them as booster packs for future smoothies!
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