Now that’s a great question! It’s tough for people to add enough fruits and vegetables in their daily diet so here is a healthy, delicious, quick and easy way to do it…smoothies!
With all the different fruits and vegetables out there, the possibilities are endless. Some great fruits to use are bananas, strawberries, mangoes, pineapples, peaches, blueberries, and apples. To add some extra nutrients in there, spinach and kale are great options, and NO you can’t even taste them! Try adding in an avocado, it adds a great smooth texture and thickens it up a bit. And who doesn’t love avocados?
So when are good times to eat your smoothies? You can make your smoothies as a snack to help keep your metabolism going throughout the day. How about skipping those fatty bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches in the morning and make a smoothie instead. It will give you a great energy boost and fill you up but without weighing you down. Or my favorite, which is to make a chocolate one as a sweet healthy desert! How could a chocolate smoothie be healthy you ask? Well, you don’t need to add sugar or syrups to make it sweet and savory, by just adding natural fruits like bananas and strawberries and adding unsweetened cocoa or even some peanut butter, it stays nutritious and delicious.
How about those fussy kids who don’t like fruits or vegetables? Well smoothies may just be your answer. Because they can be so naturally sweet, your kids will think they are getting a treat. Don’t forget to sneak in the spinach!
Below are a few of my favorite smoothie recipes, try each of them out! The recipes are guidelines, so if you add too much of one thing or not enough of another it will still taste delicious. To thicken your smoothies add avocado or ice cubes, also if you freeze your bananas or use frozen fruits it will help make it thicker. To thin your smoothies add water, coconut milk, almond milk, soy-milk or fat free milk. Remember, the options are endless!
Sunrise Smoothie
Ingredients:
1 cup frozen mixed berries
1 frozen banana
1 orange, peeled and segmented
½ cup Vanilla Greek Yogurt
Raspberry Coconut smoothie
Ingredients:
1 frozen banana
1 cup of frozen or fresh raspberries
½ cup of coconut milk
2 tsp coconut extract
1 tbsp coconut flakes
Strawberry Green Smoothie
Ingredients:
2 cups frozen/fresh strawberries
½ frozen banana
2 tbsp flax-seeds
3 cups fresh organic baby spinach
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
Peanut Butter and Jelly
Ingredients:
1 cup frozen/fresh strawberries
1 frozen banana (if its frozen it helps thicken the smoothie)
½ tbsp of peanut or almond butter
½ cup milk
½ cup of Greek yogurt
Chocolate Banana Smoothie
Ingredients:
1 frozen banana
1-2 tbsp of unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup milk
½ cup of Greek yogurt
add 1-2 tbsp of peanut butter to make it a little nutty!
Snicker-doodle
Ingredients:
1 handful spinach
1 frozen banana
½ small avocado
¼ cup unsweetened almond milk
½ tsp vanilla
¼ tsp cinnamon
Blueberry Avocado Detox
Ingredients:
1 avocado
1 frozen banana
1 cup of blueberries
1 cucumber
1 handful spinach
½ cup coconut water
Let me know if you try one of above smoothie recipes.
Great article! I have been thinking about starting a smoothie diet and this article gave me a lot of good ideas. I tried the snicker-doodle to start and it was fantastic, almond milk was a great idea. Keep the blog articles coming, it’s a very informative blog from a very educated source. Thank you!