Smoothies

There were a lot of comments in reply to Barbara's request for smoothie tips. I guess we all love our smoothies! I never measure--just add more juice and/or milk if it is too thick or more frozen fruit if it is too thin. I also forgot to mention that I have been adding ground flax seeds to our smoothies lately. You can't even tell it's there.

Here is what everyone had to say about smoothie-making--some great ideas:

From Carody:
"Our favorite smoothies almost always have mangoes in them. I love the mango/banana/pineapple one, that is delicious! We use 1 mango, 2 bananas and a can of pineapple chunks in their own juice. Sometimes we drain it if we want it to be not quite as sweet or a bit more thick. And we always use ice, about 1 cup but add more if it's not cold enough for you.

"Another favorite of mine is not really a smoothie; it's more of a shake. 2 bananas, 1/2 cup of peanut butter (more or less depending on how much you like peanut butter -- I use organic fresh ground from Whole Foods), and 2 cups regular or almond milk OR 2 cups ice cream (or vegan ice cream) if you want it to be colder. I like my drinks really cold!

"Oh, another good one: 2 cups milk (almond milk would work in this one too), 2 cups strawberries with 1 cup ice OR 2 1/2 cups frozen strawberries, and 2 bananas. SO yummy. Use more or less of anything in the recipe, it will still be just as good.

"I also wanted to say that we have been using agave nectar instead of honey, as it doesn't cause the rise/crash in blood sugar levels like honey does. I like the flavor better than honey, and it is awesome in smoothies (for those of you still eating some sugar, that is), just a couple of tablespoons makes a difference, up to about a quarter cup depending on how much smoothie you are making."

From Joy:

"We love smoothies! I like to use vanilla rice milk or almond milk- vanilla soy yogurt is also good for making them creamy!"

From Bonnie:

"We love smoothies too. We make ours in an ordinary blender, and use frozen bananas as the base, from there adding a canned fruit (in its own juice, not the syrup one) and a fresh or frozen fruit, and fruit juice for the liquid if needed. If using frozen fruit, brand name really seems to make a difference...Dole is the best I think...and the organic ones from Whole Foods are also good.

"I especially love the banana with pears, and blueberries. Or banana with pineapple and strawberries. Blending either with orange or pineapple juice. Or the pear juice from the can on the first one.

"If we are in the mood for more of a shake we add organic milk instead of the fruit juice...and a dash of vanilla. That option would also be good with the Rice Dream milk. Also for the shake style smoothies...plainer is better...like banana milk vanilla or banana pear milk vanilla is really good too. The berries are best in just the fruit style smoothies."

From Natalie:

"I've been making fruit smoothies for the kids with some protein powder mixed in. Yesterday I added a handful of spinach leaves and nobody was the wiser!"

A beautiful swirl! But it also indicates that my smoothie is too thick...more almond milk! Banana, frozen blueberries, frozen strawberries, almond milk, and ground flax seeds are in this one.