Lately my breakfast of choice is a smoothie. I’ve been experimenting with many different combinations of fruits and vegetables and I haven’t found one I don’t like yet! Recently, the Pioneer Woman had a post about smoothies and after skimming the comments, I got some new ideas for smoothie ingredients. I thought I’d share my favorites.
Frozen Berries
PW used fresh fruit and ice in hers but we prefer to use frozen fruit. Fresh fruit can be frozen when it’s in season and out of season fruits are usually cheaper to buy already frozen. I buy bags of blackberries, strawberries or mixed berries (blueberries, raspberries plus the former two).
Frozen Bananas
I prefer the texture of a frozen banana in my smoothie to a fresh one. (Too slimy.) I peel and freeze my own bananas. You may be able to buy them already frozen, I’ve never looked. Frozen bananas are also great for cooking. Bananas also add sweetness to the smoothies.
Milk or Yogurt
I often add a splash of milk to thin out a thick smoothie or to lighten it to a more appealing shade of pink. It’s true. I’ve used yogurt for the same purpose in the past. Obviously skip this if you’re looking for a dairy free smoothie.
Applesauce
This was a suggestion I saw from a comment on PW. Applesauce can be used instead of milk or yogurt. Apples alone hurt my stomach so I like the idea of mixing applesauce into other recipes. Applesauce also adds sweetness.
Honey or Sugar
If I make a smoothie without applesauce or banana, I like to add sweetener. I prefer the taste of sugar but I try to be good and use honey instead. We always purchase local honey and supposedly having a spoonful of local honey everyday is good for building an immunity to local pollens and allergens.
Spinach
Add a handful of fresh green spinach to a smoothie. It’s undetectable!
Oatmeal
Another addition I’ve tried based on a comment from PW’s post. The first time I added a spoonful of dry oats I couldn’t taste them at all. The texture is a little bit gritty but with all the berry seeds it’s hard to tell. The second time I added way too many oats. That’s all I could taste. I gave Jason the other half and he couldn’t detect the spinach or oats. Maybe it was just psychological.
Carrots
The other day I was making a salad for lunch at the same time as I was making my smoothie so I threw in some matchstick carrots. I couldn’t see them or taste them in the smoothie at all.
Mango, Guava and other fruit purées
I’ve only tried mango so far, though I have guava in the freezer right now. I bought a package of 4 pouches of mango purée from Trader Joe’s. Running the pouch under hot water for a minute or two thaws it enough to mix into the smoothie.
Let me know if you have any other suggestions. If you try any of these, let me know what you think!
myMCMlife.com 
The smoothie recipes sound great. Now can you just teach me how to get up early enough to make them before work???? 🙂
Set your alarm clock 5 minutes earlier. 😉
The other day I was pruning my toenails at the same time I was making my smoothie so I threw in some surplus protein. I couldn’t see them or taste them in the smoothie at all.
I’ll be sure to never drink a smoothie that you’ve made. (Gag!)
Ahh, just having fun. That’s my weird humor. Over the years I’ve joked about whisker milkshakes and such. “I couldn’t see them or taste them in the smoothie at all” made me laugh!
ooo those look good! i have frozen berries i need to put in smoothies (i don’t prefer them alone in yogurt or on waffles), so i wanted to try the smoothies. however, my issue is when to make them. i never have time in the AM, plus josh is asleep and i don’t want to wake him with the blender dohicky (we have one like yours, i also have a bullet). i wonder if i make them the night before and freeze them, then just defrost in the micro or take them out right after i get up if they would be defrosted enough to eat?
I haven’t had much success freezing them but I’ve never tried defrosting in the microwave. If you try it, let me know how it goes! These take me 5 minutes or less to make and it’s something I can eat on the way to work. It is loud but Jason could sleep through a tornado.
hmmm i suppose i could try it once and see how loud it really is!! josh isn’t as heavy a sleeper as i am. i’ve fallen asleep when he’s been playing his electric in the same room…
Could you give some amounts of how much of each ingredient you add for us novice smoothie makers?
I don’t measure anything but here’s a guess of what I put in yesterday’s: 6-8 spinach leaves, 1 tbsp dry oats, 1/3 cup applesauce, 5-6 strawberries, 6-8 blackberries, 5-10 blueberries, 1 tbsp honey and 1/3-1/2 cup milk. That filled one of those glasses to the top.
Yay, good word, Martina! I’ve been meaning to check out your blog for a while & stumbled across this post today, trying to figure out if I could sneak some oats into a smoothie to “accidentally” lower Jayson’s cholesterol. 🙂
Hope you guys are doing well!
Wow, long time no-talk! How have you been? I think I heard you are pregnant? Or were pregnant? Do you have a baby now?! We’re doing great here. Couldn’t be better! 🙂