As promised here is my smoothie recipe ideas! And really it’s more what I use as basic ingredients for our smoothies, not with specific measurements. I vary our smoothie ingredients daily just to mix it up.
First of all frozen fruit is AH-mazing. It’s a frugal way to keep fruit options available for your family. My favorite frozen fruit for smoothies is a mix I find at Wal-Mart. So far, I have yet to find the quality of fruit in a mix like this one and I’ve looked at all my local super markets.
It’s almost $8.00 for a big bag that lasts about a week for us. And that’s making a batch of smoothies at least once a day. The fruit is wonderful and delish.
Big, meaty pieces of each kind of fruit.
I just guesstimate when I pour it in our blender. I use this fruit mix as the base for all of our smoothies. I vary all the other ingredients, but this stays the same.
Sometimes I add frozen blueberries. Another great value in comparison to buying them fresh.
I also throw in bananas almost every time. Did you know you can freeze bananas? I didn’t, but I do now. If my bananas start to age before we can use them (which now days isn’t very common since we are eating so much fruit) you can peel them, put them in a freezer bag and freeze them. I have a stockpile of frozen bananas. Very frugal and efficient way to make sure you don’t waste food.
For protein in our smoothies I stay away from whey protein powders. They just taste and smell gross to me. At one time I had a little herd of about 10 doggie (pronounced – doh-ggie) calves which meant they were orphaned. And I made A LOT of bottles for those little babies. Whey protein powder smells JUST LIKE calf milk replacement powder to me…and I cannot smell it or drink it. LOL! I do use it in homemade protein bars though and will share that recipe soon!
I use Greek yogurt or almond milk for added protein in our smoothies.
I just add a few dollops and they are good to go.
If I use almond milk, I just add a splash or two. It’s all up to you!
You can add spinach too. A lot of people don’t like the brown color that it creates when you blend the smoothies. We don’t really care, it tastes fantastic. And I love that we are getting so many extra nutrients by adding it.
I throw a few handfuls in.
Now that you have all of your solid ingredients, it’s time to add a few liquids. I use juices that are 100% juice such as apple or the BIGTEX juice combos.
I splash about one cup of juice in and add as much water as necessary to create the blend of liquid and solids needed for the perfect smoothie texture. You could omit the juice and just add water for less calories if desired. I like the flavor POP it adds. If I need more liquid, I just keep adding water until it’s smooth.
For my smoothies I add in one teaspoon of this vitamin C powder. After my ‘bout with the flu, I’m not taking any more chances of being that sick again. I don’t add it to Jaxon’s because he’s too little and I don’t feel comfortable giving him high amounts of supplements like that. Just my personal choice.
His favorite part is BLENDING. If he sees me get the blender out…he knows it’s SMOOTHIE TIME!
Here’s what one looks like with the added blueberries and spinach:
That is what Jax is drinking too!
And here is one without the berries or spinach….
Pretty!!
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Our favorite time to make and eat smoothies is in the evening after dinner when we are relaxing and/or watching TV. It’s like a dessert. A rich, delicious dessert---made of wholesome ingredients. I never crave sweets because I have my smoothies.
You can make them for breakfast, lunch, dinner…snacks. Whenever makes your heart happy!
What about you? How do you make your smoothies?
XoXo
what a fabulous idea to add extra vitamin C!!!!! Brilliant! =) I cant wait til it warms up so I can go smoothie crazy again like last spring/summer =) They're so good!
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