Sweet Potato Smoothie

This one comes out tasting pretty darn close to my favorite Thanksgiving side dish. Enjoy!

In a powerful blender (I use Vitamix), combine:
1 roasted sweet potato, skin on
10 chunks frozen pineapple
1 banana, peeled and broken in half
12 oz. milk (I use almond or soy)
2 oz. Pumpkin Pie latte syrup (or sugar and pumpkin pie spice to taste)

Blend well and enjoy!

Bok Choy Smoothie!

I'm borrowing a BlendTec blender from my little brother for a while, and we are trying to get the most out of it. Today was an experiment to see if I could get my kids to drink some vegetables. (A previous experiment with lettuce earned a resounding NO. Not even I could muscle my way through that grass-flavored breakfast.)

Bok Choy Fruit Smoothie
1 8" head baby bok choy, washed and separated
1 cup chopped pineapple
1 cup chopped cantaloupe
1 orange, peeled and halved
1 ripe banana, peeled
1 cup water
1/2 cup ice

Combine all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. (Also delicious with 1 cup of frozen berries added.)

PB&J Smoothie

If you love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, this smoothie is for you!  (And if you're the only peanut-butter-lover in your family, as I am, then it's ONLY for you!  Luckily, it makes 1 breakfast serving.)

Peanut Butter and Jelly Smoothie

Ingredients:

3/4 cup milk

2 Tablespoons peanut butter

3/4 cup frozen grapes

1 Tablespoon ground flax seed

1/2 cup vanilla yogurt

Blend until smooth- I use an immersion blender.  Adjust ingredient amounts if the consistency isn't to your liking.

Vitamina

Seems like I'm the only one posting (and reading) these days, but it sure is handy having all my favorite recipes online so I can make them when I'm away from home (or can't find my cookbooks...I KNOW I labeled that box!)

This is a smoothie that is very popular in Brazil, where avocados are considered sweet and not savory. The notion of mixing avocado with salt and tomato and serving it on salty chips would be just ludicrous! (Or so I'm told.)

Make sure your avocado is ripe, but not over-ripe. If it's starting to darken and shrivel in spots inside, you'll need a LOT of sugar to counter-act the bitterness of that fruit.

So, here you go- ignore the green, and enjoy!

Vitamina

Ingredients:
1 very ripe, but not dark, avocado
About 3 cups of milk
1/4 cup sugar, more or less to taste
A splash (about a tablespoon) of lime juice

1. Scoop avocado flesh into blender, and add the rest of the ingredients. The blender should be about 3/4 full so let that be your guide for the milk. If it's too thick it just won't pour, or blend! Start with less than a 1/4 cup sugar- you can always add more and re-blend for a few seconds.
   
2. Mix until blended and smooth. Serves 2-3 if you're using big glasses.
   

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

This is close to what has been posted before, but it's a little different, and it's what we had for breakfast!

In blender:
sliced, frozen strawberries (I bought them fresh last summer, and froze them, sliced, in sandwich-sized bags.)
handful of frozen raspberries
1 banana
milk to cover 3/4
a few scoops of powdered milk for extra calcium

Blend till smooth. Serves 2

Easy Breakfast Smoothie

Alright, Ted - this is just for you. A Smoothie recipe!

Pile (in this order!) into a good blender:

4 inches of strawberries (about 10), frozen
One ripe banana, broken into 3 inch chunks
one carton soft tofu (sold unrefrigerated, for less than a dollar a carton, in any Asian grocery) (These will keep in the pantry for up to a year)
Enough milk to almost cover the strawberries (about 1 cup)
5 tsp sugar
1 tsp Postum

Blend. Makes two. This goes together really fast, because the tofu is already really soft. For dessert, you could add a scoop of ice cream. You could omit the sugar...but I was making these for dessert at the time.

This is super healthy, super fast - a great smoothie! Lots of protein.

Ten Terrific Tips

The folks over at drinkalternatives.com compiled this list of 10 Ways to Make Better Smoothies than Jamba Juice:

1. Store frozen fruit – In cold drinks, frozen trumps fresh. Keep frozen strawberries, blueberries, and bananas in your freezer at all times. Frozen fruit will keep your smoothies icy and will taste good no matter what’s in season. Surprisingly, frozen fruit almost always tastes better than fresh fruit when added to a frosty beverage.

2. Use frozen drink concentrate – Unfortunately, most home blenders don’t crush ice very well. Unless you’re willing to shell out four hundred bucks for a fancy contraption, frozen drink concentrate is the secret to making killer smoothies. Add half a can of frozen juice concentrate to your blender (Dole’s Pine-Orange Banana is a great one to start with). Then, just add other fruits, juices, and dairy products. Don’t add the suggested amount of water or you’ll negate the frosty effect.

3. Crush your own ice – When a recipe absolutely needs ice, crush the ice yourself before throwing it in the blender. Use the ice crusher on your fridge or resort to the traditional method of banging the ice bag against something solid. Taking a few minutes to pre-crush is better than finding huge ice cubes floating around in your smoothie.

4. Add dairy – If you’ve ever tried a Jamba Juice all-fruit smoothie, you probably asked yourself “what’s missing?” The answer is the dairy. Adding a little bit of dairy to your smoothie will make it taste rich and finished. You don’t have to load it up with ice cream (although, ice cream will make it taste amazing it will also negate any health benefits). Try throwing in a cup of non-fat yogurt or add in a few Tablespoons of milk. If you don’t think you’ll be able to taste it, give it a try. A little bit of dairy can make a huge difference in taste.

5. Don’t forget the bananas – Second only to dairy is the banana. While most fruits used in smoothies are rather acidic (think: orange juice, raspberries, etc.), bananas even out the taste. They add richness and balance. To freeze bananas ahead of time, slice them into thin rounds. Place the rounds on a cookie sheet and freeze until solid. Scrape the banana slices off the cookie sheet and store in an air-tight Tupperware container until you’re ready to use them.

6. Order matters - Don’t throw all of your ingredients in to the blender at the same time. Adding them in order will give your smoothie the ideal texture will let everything blend just right. First, crush and add your ice. Second, add any whole fruits. Third, put in the frozen fruit concentrates. Fourth, pour in the fruit juices. Finally, add the dairy. Blend for a few seconds between each step.

7. Forget the vitamins – Smoothie joints add vitamins so that their customers feel extra healthy when ordering a drink. Don’t make this mistake at home. Swallowing a vitamin takes half a second – crushing a vitamin into your smoothie will mess with the entire flavor of your drink, always in a bad way. When a Jamba Juice employee says “actually, vitamins aren’t recommended with that smoothie,” what he’s really saying is “that smoothie doesn’t taste strong enough to mask the bad flavor of the vitamin.” Be warned.

8. Create balance – A smoothie made from raspberries, cranberries, and ice will taste too acidic. A smoothie made from bananas and yogurt will taste too bland. Smoothies need to balance sharp citrus flavors (orange juices, berries, etc) with calming tastes (bananas, dairy, etc.) When making a smoothie be sure to add at least one acidic ingredient and one calming ingredient. Your taste buds will be pleased.

9. Serve in a margarita glass – Alright, so this one might be a little much. Presentation isn’t everything…but it can give your smoothie some style. If you’re serving smoothies at a party (or just want to treat yourself) pouring them into fancy glasses is a lot more fun.

10. Top with a straw – Even if you serve your smoothie in an old office mug, this step is actually important. For some reason, using a straw will greatly improve your smoothie-drinking experience. Smoothies are too thick without a straw. Try sipping from the edge of the cup and you’ll end up with a smoothie ‘stash. They’re easier to drink with a straw and I honestly think they taste better that way too.

Ten Terrific Tips for your enjoyment!