Thursday, April 14, 2011

Smoothie Me Man!

I have come late the the Smoothie train.

I am not sure why it was that I refused to board the train, stubbornly sitting next to the track as people who knew about smoothies got on and enjoyed the ride.

It may be because every smoothie that I encountered had bananas in them….and I really don’t like bananas. Really.

And it might have been because people were always saying that they are good for you. When someone says something is good for you in my mind it goes straight in the same folder as turnips for me.

Really why did the Lord make turnips? I am going to ask Him some day

Me: Lord why did you make turnips? I just don’t understand.

The Lord: Because they are good for you.

I am really hoping for a better answer.

But now I have seen the light. And the angels sing.

And really, I have to give credit to my Mother-in-Law Linda who made me a smoothie when we went to visit them in Tucson. When your MiL says, “Hey do you want a smoothie for lunch.” you just say yes….even though your brain is screaming no.

So, because I love all three of you who read this I feel that I have to tell you how to make a smoothie. I am not attaching a recipe because this is really an amorphous sort of recipe. So sorry to those people (who know who you are) who need a recipe. Remember what I have told you before..

Put on your big girl panties and go with the flow. You will be glad…..

IMG_1588 These are some of the ingredients that you might need. This happens to be the fruit that I had on hand. A smoothie is what you make it. How much fruit you use is up to you. What fruit you use is up to you. And I prefer that the fruit I use to be frozen.

You can also add yogurt if you want. I don’t want.

Notice there are no bananas anywhere in the picture. And please disregard the peanut butter and the dog medicine in the back ground. I was just too lazy to move them.

IMG_1593 IMG_1590 IMG_1591 IMG_1592

Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and mango….yum. All of the fruit, except for the mango, were picked by my little old self, along with LookLeap, last summer. I think that is why I like smoothies now so much, they remind me of summer.

Summer, a time of year that comes so late to the Frozen Northeast Ohio and stays so short a time.

IMG_1594If you are using whole frozen strawberries I might leave them out for about 5 minutes so that they soften just enough so that you can cut them into smaller pieces. They just blend a bit better.

IMG_1595  Tick, tock, tick, tock…..waiting for the puree to begin. I haven’t ever had precise measurements for the fruit because I don’t think it really matters. A handful of this and a Handful of that.

IMG_1596 Add 1/2 cup milk to the blender. That is enough for one serving.

IMG_1597That is not honey, that is Agave Nectar. It is VERY sweet and is 60 calories/tablespoon. I NEVER add more than 1/2-1 teaspoon depending on the fruit I am using. I would not use honey, I don’t think the taste would be right. You can find Agave Nectar at your local whole foods store….or at Wally Mart. Your choice.

And sometimes I don’t use any Agave if the fruit is already sweet enough. Totally up to you. You could use regular sugar but it changes the texture a bit.

And then when all parts are added you put the top on the blender…

Putting the top on the blender is a VERY important step in the process. Bad things happen if you forget the top on the blender….

Not that I would know anything about that or anything……

And hit the Puree button.

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Puree until it is smooth and silky and yummy. Give it a taste. If it needs a bit more sweetener then now is the time to add it. I tend to go light on sweetener until I have tasted it. You can add more sweetener but you can’t take it back if you put too much in at the beginning.

Not that I would know anything about that or anything.

IMG_1601Come to Momma

Now go forth and make smoothies.

You know you want to.

5 comments:

  1. HoooYahh! Looks doggone good!

    I may buy some agave nectar...saw it on the shelf one day but hadn't a clue how to use it. Now I do.

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  2. I LOOOOOOVE smoothies.

    I have a new favorite, but it is kind of a cheater smoothie...but I'll share anyway:

    (I don't measure...so... just guess)

    half a banana
    crushed ice
    blue machine Naked juice
    fage greek yogurt
    agave

    DELISH.

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  3. Yep, that's about how I do it, but with yogurt instead of milk and a touch of some kind of juice to loosen things up. I also freeze them in popsicle pop trays for Dudette during the summer. Smoothie pops rock.

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  4. I personally like peanut butter and dog medicine in my smoothies...

    That looks great! I'm more of a stick a banana type gal but I'd be willing to try this!

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  5. Hooray for smoothies! If you want a little variety, here's my take for the fall season:

    1/2 cup (ish) vanilla yogurt
    1 RIPE(!) frozen banana
    1 TBSP frozen OJ concentrate
    1/2 c. pureed pumpkin
    fistful of spinach (don't knock it till you've tried it!)
    cinnamon

    It's a fall twist on the smoothies and it's packed with nutrients.
    Enjoy. :)

    ReplyDelete

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