Mmm Mmm Good!

My new favorite smoothie actually comes from Panera Bread:  the low-fat Black Cherry smoothie, which has ice, Stonyfield low-fat vanilla yogurt, and . . . a secret relatively liquid mixture of cherry and other flavors.  I've read that it has marionberry in it!  I thought I tasted orange.  But the second time I thought it could be cranberry juice.  I'm going to experiment to see if I can recreate it (starting here, with 1/4 cup cranberry juice, 1 cup cherries, 1/3 cup yogurt).  And, even if I can't, that's a fun activity.

Smoothie Operator

As you've no doubt noticed, I've become a bit obsessed with smoothies and my new Ninja blender, trying new combos practically everyday--just in time for summer!  Here are my attempts thus far, which I'll update periodically, as necessary.

Make Your Own Smoothie

1 1/2-2 cups frozen fruit (or mix of fresh and frozen, with ice cubes for thickness)

1/2-1 cup dairy or non-dairy (milk, soymilk, almond milk, yogurt, even silken tofu)

1 1/2 cup additional liquid like juice or nectar (mango nectar, orange juice, soda, tea)

1-2 tablespoons sweetener (honey, maple syrup, brown sugar)

add-ins:  almonds, fresh fruit, coconut butter, lime juice, vanilla extract, kale!

Blend, adding additional liquid for desired consistency.

Mommy Hungry

Orange Creamsicle Smoothie

2 frozen orange juice bars

½ cups cold milk

1 cup vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt

¾ cup cold orange juice

Blend the juice bars, milk, ice cream and orange juice in a blender. Can substitute frozen orange juice for orange juice bars.

Alternate: Orange Freeze

From Eddie’s Sweet Shop in Woodhaven, where they filmed part of Brighton Beach Memoirs. Very tasty! And easier than the creamsicle smoothie.

2 scoops orange sherbet

1 scoop vanilla ice cream

seltzer

Tropical Slushie

This is a recipe from Scholastic's Parent and Child magazine that the kiddos can actually have. And it's pretty good (6/07).


1 cup mango nectar
20 oz Canned Pineapple Chunks in Juice

Freeze pineapple chunks overnight. Defrost 10 minutes before blending with mango nectar. Serve.

Parent and Child Magazine (2 points; 3 servings)

Peach Smoothie
1 bag frozen peaches, slightly defrosted in microwave (esp. if you don't have high-powered equipment)
1/4-1/2 cup milk, or more (cow, soy, even coconut works; I imagine yogurt would work, too, for really thick ones)--Miss D makes hers with orange juice and no milk
1/4 cup honey (or more to taste)

Mix in your blender or food processor until desired consistency.  Sometimes we like it chunky like ice cream or liquid like a smoothie; just adjust milk amounts.  It will refreeze but isn't as tasty later.  Enjoy!

Mommy Hungry

Mango Smoothie

1 bag frozen mangoes, approx. 16 oz. 

1/2 cup soymilk

1 cup mango nectar

1 tablespoon brown sugar

the juice of one lime

 Combine ingredients in a blender and pulse until smooth.  Add additional soymilk and nectar, equally, as needed.

Mommy Hungry

Green Smoothie
3 leaves kale

1/2 cup water
1 1/4 cups soy milk
1 1/2 cups frozen fruit
1 ripe banana
1-2 tablespoons honey

Blend kale, water, and soy milk for 30+ seconds.  Add fruit, banana, and honey and blend for 60+ seconds, adding more liquid for desired consistency.

Enjoy in a dark-colored glass!

Mommy Hungry adapted from Heather Bruggeman

Strawberry-Almond Smoothie
1 cup raw almonds, soaked overnight

1 1/2 to 2 cups water 

2 to 3 cups fresh or frozen strawberries

1 tablespoon raw honey (we used closer to 2+)

1 whole vanilla bean (we didn't use this)

Place the almonds and water into a high-powered blender. Add water and blend until very smooth, about 30 to 60 seconds. Then add the berries, vanilla bean, and honey, blend again until smooth. Serve immediately. Source:www.NourishingMeals.com

Almond Energy Blast

1 cup low-fat low-sugar vanilla soymilk
3/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
6 ounces firm silken tofu
1/4 cup dry-roasted almonds

Blend.

Raspberry Sodas

1 cup frozen raspberries
1 cup fresh raspberries
1 (12 oz.) can gingerale or lemon-lime soda
1 (6 oz) container raspberry or plain yogurt
brown sugar to taste, depending on raspberries
1-3  ice cubes, depending on thickness preference

Blend until smooth

Blueberry Smoothie

2 quarts (2 1/2 lbs.) frozen blueberries, slightly thawed; or 2 quarts free blueberries
1 quart pineapple-orange-strawberry juice blend; or pineapple-orange juice
1 quart low-fat vanilla yogurt
8 tsp. Sugar

- In a container of an electric blender, combine blueberries, juice, yogurt and sugar.
-Blend until smooth, about 1 minute.
-Serve immediately in tall glass.
-Garnish with blueberry skewers spiraled with thin stripes of orange peel, if desired.

Our Very Cherry Banana Smoothie

1 1/2 cups vanilla yogurt (this was lowfat)
15 frozen sweet cherries
1 banana, fresh

Combine in food processor/blender. Let kids watch. Server immediately.

Mango Lassi
1 ripe mango

1 cup whole or lowfat plain yogurt
3 tablespoons sugar
½ cup cold water
ice

Peel, pit, and coarsely chop 1 ripe mango (to yield about 1 cup fruit). In a blender, purée mango with yogurt, sugar, and cold water until smooth. Pour through a fine mesh sieve to remove pulp, if desired. Serve immediately over ice.

Everyday Food



Rise 'N Shine Smoothie
1/2 cup uncooked old-fashioned oats
1 cup orange juice
6 oz. vanilla yogurt (or plain, with 1 tablespoons sweetener)
1/2 cup vanilla soy milk
4 whole strawberries
3 ice cubes
1 teaspoon cinnamon


Grind oats into fine crumbs in blender.  Then add remaining ingredients, blending until smooth.  


Makes 2.


Smoothies and Summer Drinks recipe booklet

Not Coffee

I'm working on my iced coffee habit.  It's not so much that I like coffee; I'm an indifferent coffee drinker at best, preferring heavily milked or sweetened varieties that preserve only a bit of coffee flavor.  So, cold, creamy, and sweet for breakfast . . . a smoothie!  So I'm experimenting.  And this one is pretty good.

No kale though.

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Rise 'N Shine Smoothie
1/2 cup uncooked old-fashioned oats
1 cup orange juice
6 oz. vanilla yogurt (or plain, with 1 tablespoons sweetener)
1/2 cup vanilla soy milk
4 whole strawberries
3 ice cubes
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Grind oats into fine crumbs in blender.  Then add remaining ingredients, blending until smooth.

Makes 2.

Smoothies and Summer Drinks recipe booklet

I Drank a Green Smoothie!

I did it!  I climbed my own personal Mt. Everest of healthy, whole-food eating:  I drank a green smoothie!  Complete with 3 big leaves of curly kale.

You should know that I don't particularly like juice, fruit or vegetable, and don't even like to smell V-8.  I've seen Green Smoothies and read about their health benefits a lot recently (but also know that people also believe too many of them can be unhealthy, of course), but I couldn't get over their color.  I tried, once before, with a store-bought Naked green smoothie but just couldn't.

But I wanted to, realizing it was quite a milestone these days, or even just so it wasn't a big deal to me anymore. So today, I made one--no pears, not too many bananas, a lot of mango for sweetness and flavor, only one kind of green vegetable.  And I drank it!  And I might drink the rest tomorrow.  It wasn't that bad (or that green--I find the color bothers me much more than the taste.  Well, unless there are pears or too many bananas--I don't really like those in any smoothies.).  But I don't think I could ever do a 21-day green cleanse like some famous people.

Mama says to get opaque glasses so I can't see what I'm drinking!

(But not to dwell on the green, I didn't take a picture.)

BTW, I believe if I were more clever, I could have written this whole post to Katy Perry's tune . . . "I drank a Greenie and I  liked it!"
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Green Smoothie


3 leaves kale
1/2 cup water
1 1/4 cups soy milk
1 1/2 cups frozen fruit
1 ripe banana
1-2 tablespoons honey

Blend kale, water, and soy milk for 30+ seconds.  Add fruit, banana, and honey and blend for 60+ seconds, adding more liquid for desired consistency.

Enjoy in a dark-colored glass!

Mommy Hungry adapted from Heather Bruggeman (and more from her onsmoothies here)

Chunky Smoothie

We're still forging ahead with healthy smoothies from my new blender.  Today:  Strawberry-Almond Smoothie adapted from Nourishingmeals.com.   It reminds me of an Almond Energy Blast we made years ago, which would also be great with strawberries.


And today, I bought kale so that I can finally try a green smoothie!  More on that when it happens.


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Strawberry-Almond Smoothie

1 cup raw almonds, soaked overnight

1 1/2 to 2 cups water 

2 to 3 cups fresh or frozen strawberries

1 tablespoon raw honey (we used closer to 2+)

1 whole vanilla bean (we didn't use this)

Place the almonds and water into a high-powered blender. Add water and blend until very smooth, about 30 to 60 seconds. Then add the berries, vanilla bean, and honey, blend again until smooth. Serve immediately. Source:www.NourishingMeals.com

Almond Energy Blast

1 cup low-fat low-sugar vanilla soymilk
3/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
6 ounces firm silken tofu
1/4 cup dry-roasted almonds

Blend.

Drunken Master

Bud's learning how to be a drunken master.

Don't worry, it's a kung fu style.  Essentially, the fighter stumbles around seemingly drunk to confuse his or her opponent, all the while maintaining their strength, power, and focus.  Apparently, it's actually one of the hardest styles because it requires so much control.  See Jackie Chan's movie, Drunken Master, for great examples.  One of the older boys at Buddy's academy is learning the style and Bud watched entranced on Saturday.  So he's been practicing at home, even though he isn't quite sure what "drunk" is.  So I gave him a suggestion:  spin around the room until you're dizzy and then try to do your form.  He loves this!  And it does resemble the style.

While he spins and kicks out of control, I've been making smoothies on my new Ninja blender--gotta love the name!   It's got close to the power of a VitaMix but at 1/6th the cost.  So far, everyone likes my new Mango Smoothie best.

And that's a good kind of drunk.

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Mango Smoothie
1 bag frozen mangoes, approx. 16 oz.
1/2 cup soymilk
1 cup mango nectar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
the juice of one lime
Combine ingredients in a blender and pulse until smooth.  Add additional soymilk and nectar, equally, as needed.
Mommy Hungry