Daily Eats readers know that I love my smoothies! And so does Scott! He actually requests them and I think at this point in time he might be the only food blogger husband who does.
I was intrigued when I saw Angela of Oh She Glows start making her green monsters. Kale in a smoothie? Um, what?
Now I love me some kale, but it can be a bit bitter so I was a little concerned. But she loved them and I decided to give it a try, and you know what? You can’t taste the kale at all. Amazing! My smoothies are different than the typical green monsters because I want fruit and veggies in my smoothies.
That means that my smoothies typically aren’t green. And I prefer to use juices and water as a base instead of almond or soymilk. The milks tend to make the smoothies thicker which isn’t something I’m looking for because I don’t use smoothies as a meal or as a meal replacement. They are an accompaniment to my lunches. I also add in lots of frozen fruit because why not? Frozen fruit also helps keep the smoothies cool and give it a sort of frozen drink texture.
A typical smoothie for me usually has:
- Unsweetened cranberry juice
- Sometimes OJ or POM juice
- Water
- Kale or sometimes spinach
- Carrot
And a possible combo of fruit usually from this list:
- Frozen pineapple
- Frozen peaches
- Frozen mango
- Frozen blueberries
All those ingredients go in a blender and I blend away. I make enough smoothie for both Scott and I to have a big glass with some remaining so Scott can have more because he loves them so much.
The goal for my smoothies is to help me get in more fruits and veggies during the day in a different and tasty way. I love greens and feel they are important in our diets (help provide fiber, vitamins and minerals, and iron) and smoothies help me get a daily dose of greens.
At first I was concerned with the smoothie calorie content. Now I don’t count calories but smoothies were an addition to my lunch and I was concerned that it would put me over what my body needed. But I loved them and felt great for drinking them! So I kept making them. They are the perfect addition to lunch. I’m getting fresh whole foods that help fill me up and keep me full for the rest of the day.
I realized that these did not affect my diet or calorie intake in a negative way at all. In fact, I think smoothies improved my diet and the way my body feels.
I now feel sort of off balance when I don’t get a smoothie and my body doesn’t feel like it is running it’s best. Remember those old V8 commercials with the people walking around leaning to one side because they didn’t get their V8 that day? That’s exactly how I feel if I don’t get a smoothie. A day without a smoothie, while I don’t like it, I can manage. More than that and I get cranky and my body doesn’t respond well.
When I don’t get in enough fruits and veggies (my body demands a lot of fresh produce) I get bloated and feel yucky. When I get plenty of fruits and veggies, my body runs much smoother and there is no bloat to be found! My skin also looks and feels a ton better. My hair is even more shiny!
My point is that smoothies work for me and I’m so glad that I stumbled on the concept behind them. If you haven’t tried a smoothie, give it a go! I promise that you can’t taste the veggies if that is holding you back. And smoothies are a blank canvas, you can build whatever kind you like!
The times when I needed an extra boost out of my smoothies, I’ve added Greek yogurt, soymilk, and even raw oats! Yup! And it worked out and tasted great.
Great post — very helpful to us beginners out here! I bought some POM after seeing it in your recipes and am looking forward to experimenting. Haven’t been brave enough to try the veggies yet, but I’m getting there. I also like the nuttiness of flax seeds in my early experiments, but some people may not like “chewing” their smoothies as much as I do.
Thanks again for the great info and perspective!
Three more questions for you:
1. What kind of blender do you have?
2. Do you cook your carrots or put ’em in raw?
3. Do you ever get REALLY cold after your smoothie? That’s a big deterrent for me.
Sarah, 1. Funny you ask! My old blender was a Osterizer or some such nonsense. It is a really cheap blender bought for making frozen drinks. Our frozen drink days are long over and it just can’t handle the smoothie demands. It starts to heat up and make a smell. I have to blend for 2minutes, stop, then blend again to make sure everything is smooth. I just bought a new blender today, a Hamilton Beach Wave
MasterStation (what is with these crazy names?) because it was on sale for $25. I would love a Vitamix or something with more power but right now I’m having a hard time justifying that cost. I’ll see how this new one works and if it craps out on me too, I may just have to suck it up and think about a pricier machine.2. Carrots = raw! I keep everything in my smoothies raw or as raw as possible. I don’t think juices count as raw do they? Premade juices, not homemade juice. I’ve even added in some shredded zucchini and beet when I had those on hand and they work great too!
3. I don’t tend to get cold drinking the smoothies unless I’m already cold. And then I just put a sweatshirt on. I have them at lunch and after lunch I do dishes so that warms me up.
I just started making smoothies not to long ago and haven’t stopped since! I usually use spinach because I’m worried I won’t enjoy the Kale as much–I bought some the other day so I’m going to try and hopefully enjoy it as much as you!
Mmmm…nothing like a smoothie on a morning when it’s hot and my tummy can’t handle much else
ah i love the smoothie posts, they give me more ideas. i was really concerned with calories then I got over it…then I noticed with my injury my weight is starting to creep now I’m concerned again…maybe I should be concerned about the cookie instead!!
And you can ermmm….buy smoothies at some place….oh I don’t know…what’s it called?
Great post! I don’t make smoothies very often, but when I have the urge I’ll definitely come back to this post