Smoothies, Green And Otherwise.

Discussion in 'Food & Drinks' started by Yvonne Smith, Mar 9, 2016.

  1. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    After watching the documentary "Fat, Sick, and nearly Dead" , a while back I have tried to add more fresh raw foods to my diet. One of the ways that I do this is with a fruit/veggie smoothie.
    Smoothies are not a new thing, I remember my mom making one for the two of us when I was a little kid; but we didn't call them a smoothie back then.
    My mother had an old blender, but it was powerful enough to grind up carrots, and she would take fresh carrots and add some pineapple juice to it and put it in the blender. She served it in one of her antique Carnival glasses, which was an iridescent gold color, with irises on the side. It was the only time we ever were allowed to use those awesome glasses.
    It was a special treat, and my most favorite one when I was a little girl.

    Since then, I have almost always had a blender and made the same carrot juice smoothies, as well as milkshakes for the kids, and whatever else I thought might work in the blender.
    For many, many years, I had a Vitamix, and that thing would probably have chewed up rocks, it was so powerful .
    I wish I still had it.
    Anyway, now I have a Ninja that Bobby got me, and that is a wonderful blender as well.
    The blade in it is way different from a normal blender, and it does not blend the fruit/veggies as well as I want it to do.
    I used an Amazon gift card and ordered another cheap blender, and now I have the procedure working great.

    I use the Ninja to shred up the carrots and apples, and then partially blend everything ; but the Ninja still leaves small bits if stuff that are not blended.
    Then, I take part of that mixture, add more juice, water, and ice cubes and put it in the smaller blender and blend it all up a second time.
    Now, I am happily drinking my green smoothie "dinner". It has some kale for the greens, some apple and carrots, and fresh strawberries, papaya, and a few purple grapes.

    My plan, now that the winter weather seems to have gone, is to try and replace a few regular meals with the fresh green smoothies, for better health.
     
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  2. Holly Saunders

    Holly Saunders Supreme Member
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    My o/h has a smoothie for breakfast every morning...it consists of water, fruit juice, fruit (usually blueberries and black grapes), protein & vitamin powder, nuts etc...but no veggies.... He never used to eat anything at all in the mornings up until about 18 months ago...he'd go all day until dinner time with nothing. Now he has his juice in the morning..so at least he gets something nutritious to go to work on..


    I don't have breakfast apart from a very small something before taking meds...but I'll happily drink a fruit smoothie a couple of times a week during the day... just last night I made a pineapple, strawberry and banana smoothie with organic skimmed milk..

    However I do use my blender to make chunky thick vegetable (and sometimes bacon) soups which are delicious..and along with lentils I drop in carrots, broccoli, Spinach ,(sometimes potatoes) and Butter beans for fibre
     
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  3. Steve North

    Steve North Supreme Member
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    I make smoothies all the time.. At least 3 times a week if not more..
    I use frozen fruit, mainly strawberries but any combination of fruit, put in the blender with light cream, add some sweetener, (sugar or Splenda) and mix... When it gets too thick, I add some cold water..
    Makes 2 lovely smoothies that we have in the afternoon....

    I also sometimes add some plain cocoa to make a change..
     
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  4. Babs Hunt

    Babs Hunt Supreme Member
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    I love smoothies in hot weather season. They will often replace a meal...sometimes two for me when the weather is really hot and I have no appetite for cooked meals. I have a regular blender too and will use my mini food processor to chop up large pieces of fruits and veggies before combining them in my blender with ice cubes and whatever liquid I may be using. Lately I have been thinking about adding protein powder to my smoothies too since as I have gotten older I just cannot eat 3 meals a day anymore and am looking for ways to make sure I still get what I need to keep my body and mind as healthy as possible.
     
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  5. Holly Saunders

    Holly Saunders Supreme Member
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    This is the problem my husband is having @Babs Hunt he just can't face 3 meals a day any more, and he is also a pescatarian, he doesn't eat meat at all...so this is why he ensures he has the smoothie with all the protein and vitamins added, he also puts in a little coffeee/vanilla or strawberry flavouring...and then in the evening he has a fish dish of some sort ..usually oily fish like Herring, mackerel or similar , with a few prawns or crayfish and with nuts, seeds and salad... or some fruit couscous...

    he's lost a lot of weight on this method of eating in the last 18 months since he stopped eating meat and potatoes etc .. he says he's never felt so well..

    Incidentally I have just made a smoothie in the last few minutes for myself...just ordinary organic skimmed milk (hubs doesn't drink milk either he makes his with water and fruit juice).... fresh strawberries, bananas and canned apricots.. took about 3 minutes to make and it's delicious, I have it here as I'm typing..:D
     
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    Last edited: Mar 10, 2016
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  6. Babs Hunt

    Babs Hunt Supreme Member
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    Sounds like your husband's health is important to him and he is willing to do what's best to keep himself as healthy as possible. Your smoothie sounds delicious..I will have to try it with the almond milk that I drink. :)
     
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  7. Kate Ellery

    Kate Ellery Supreme Member
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    We love smoothies an have one most days ,,I freeze bananas ,for sweet smoothies, they make the smoothie like mr whippy ice cream ..Hubby likes malted milk so I add that for him ...I have a NutriBullet they are well worth the price ,it's used everyday ....I tried kale in a veggie smoothie yuck !! there has to be a better way to get your vitamins than having to drink kale flavoured drink :eek:
     
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