I have been experimenting with making smoothies recently. I got a new blender for Christmas, after having been without one for a while. They seem to have a short life span at our house.
I really like to use frozen fruit. It makes an icy cold, thick concoction and you can use it anytime instead of trying to use fresh before it goes bad. You can certainly throw in fresh, if you have it. You can even throw in vegetables like carrots if you have them. Here is our current fave recipe.
Pineapple Mango Smoothie
6 oz. frozen mango chunks
8 oz. frozen pineapple chunks
1 cup Greek yogurt, I use the Oikos Honey variety
Vanilla Almond Milk (which I, the non-milk drinker, am now addicted to!) and orange juice to fill the blender pitcher
Put the fruit and yogurt in the pitcher of your blender. Add milk and OJ until the pitcher is about 3/4 full. Blend it up on the highest speed, on mine it is "Crush Ice". At this point I always have to add more liquid, it doesn't matter which one. You want it thick, but it should be moving around it the blender. I realize this is not real exact, but it doesn't have to be.
Some people use ice cubes in their smoothies. I don't like to use ice in my smoothie because, even with HD's help, we rarely drink the whole pitcher in one setting. I put it in the fridge and whizz it up later in the day for a snack. If you use ice cubes in the morning, in the afternoon your snack is a watered down puddle.
I have a plethora of bags of frozen fruit in the freezer, so stay tuned. I will continue the experiment. After all, a smoothie is a better breakfast than a chicken fried steak smothered with green chilies and cheese. If I keep repeating that, maybe I will believe it at some point!
