Michelle’s smoothies

From Michelle on how to make a smoothie!


So, everyone loves smoothies, right?  But why is it that you can never get the same consistency you get from the smoothie shops at home?  A few years ago I figured out the right technique and it’s quite simple.  My smoothies have that luscious, icy, yet creamy, consistency, and are made with organic ingredients.  No sugar, no ice, and are super tasty!

I’ve found the elements to making a great smoothie are the following… your choice of liquids, and frozen organic fruit.  Of course depending on the recipe you can add protein powder, peanut butter, or spices if you wish.  But the key is to add the liquid ingredients first, protein, then frozen fruits last.  It may seem simple but having the right ingredients in the right order with the right quantity does the trick.  I have a simple vintage 1950’s bar style blender with a single speed, high.  I put the ingredients in the blender in this order, flip the switch, and it creates a vortex that pulls the mixture down and thoroughly blends with no chunks!

How to get your fresh organic fruit ready for the freezer…
I cut my fresh fruit into one inch chunks or smaller.  Then, I put them in zip top bags in a single layer.  Be sure to leave a little extra space between fruit in zip top bags so fruit has some air space and is not smashed together.  After that, put zip top bag laying flat into freezer until fruit is frozen.  The fruit may be a bit frozen together when coming out of the freezer but you will be able to easily break them off into individual pieces when ready to put into blender as long as your bag is not overcrowded when freezing.  There are other methods of freezing fruit such as freezing on cookie trays and then transferring to zip top bags.  I feel the best method in our busy lifestyle is freezing directly in zip top bags as mentioned above.

Here are two of my favorite recipes…

Strawberry Banana Smoothie
1/3 cup 2% Milk
1/4 cup vanilla yogurt, low-fat
1 cup frozen bananas
1 cup frozen strawberries

Mango Banana Vanilla Smoothie
1/3 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/4 cup vanilla yogurt low-fat
1 teaspoon hemp protein powder
1 cup frozen bananas
1 cup frozen mango

Blend for approximately 2 minutes until smooth.  If fruit is not moving, shut off blender, take blender jar off base, shake blender jar, replace on base, turn blender on again.

Now that you have the technique down you can substitute in and out as you wish to make uber healthy smoothies or super decadent smoothies.  Smoothies are very versatile.  With a few tweaks you can satisfy whatever craving you have.  Switch out the 2% milk for fat free, or add a scoop of ice cream to make it more decadent.  Also, if yogurt is not your favorite you can replace it with more milk or another liquid.    The possibilities are endless!  You can even pre-measure fruit combinations into individual zip top bags to make smoothie making more convenient.  Happy smoothie making!  : )