Smoothies

[CarolineW]

Does anyone have good ideas for TMX smoothies?  I've decided that we really ought to add smoothies to our breakfasts, but I'm ashamed to admit that I've never made one, so I don't really know how to go about it, or what fruits are good in smoothies.  Not sure which planet I've been on to avoid knowing this stuff 

[bron]

When I was in the Caribbean last summer, in the hotel we were in, every morning at breakfast they made smoothies, in an industrial mixer, they were amazing, basically the girl just poured a load of fresh exotic fruit in, some sugar, some ice and some milk and blitzed ....voilą, it was fantastic! I loved them all! Pineapple, mango, banana, passion fruit, melon, pear, peach, etc some mixed together and others just alone. I have made it with melon (when i had left over last week) and it was great, although sorry I didnt weigh anything, just a bit of this and a bit of that! It worked every time though!
Lets give it a go at weighing it out!  exactly!

[Amanda]

In the warmer weather i often made smoothies for breakfast.  I used Cyndi O'Meara's recipe as a base and just played with it.
Without measuring I added a small handfull of almonds, fresh or frozen berries (depending what was lying around), ice cubes if no frozen fruit, a banana, an egg, some milk, drizzle of honey, couple of tbs of oatmeal and blitzed on 10 for at least 1 minute. 
This also makes an excellent breakfast substitute.

[CarolineW]

Thanks, Amandas    I'm all for a handful of this, about a tbsp of that, and a splosh of milk, about twice as much fruit as milk - that's my style of cooking    I find weighing or accurately measuring things a bit of hassle, to be honest.  It must be the lazy part of me  )

So, if I've got this right, it's basically any soft fruit - not the hard fruits - something cold, banana and something milk like (milk, almonds, oats, yogurt) - does that sound right?  I'm guessing that the fruit proportion is about 2 good handfuls?

[Amanda]

I really only sloshed the milk in - not very much at all, but that all depends on how thick you like it.

[Thermomixer]

This is a really GREAT use for that yoghurt that goes awry.  Banana and strawberries are the most common smoothies for us - mainly because the wife won't eat bananas that have started to ripen -but will eat smoothies.  and when every strawberries are purchased they always seem to only be half used.

But a bit of the old sloshing is involved too like Amanda. 

[judydawn]

How about this one Caroline. 

1 cup frozen raspberries
1 cup orange juice
1 cup diet vanilla yoghurt
Blend until smooth.  Sounds pretty good to me.

[brazen20au]

generally i do banana and strawberry with yoghurt and / or milk but here's a yummy not so healthy one a banana, a large spoonful of smooth peanut butter, some drinking chocolate or cocoa to taste (sugar or honey if needed) and milk. YUM! high in protein!!

[Thermomixer]

Sounds like the Gracelands smoothie - thank ya very much.

[CarolineW]

Thanks, these are really great ideas and tips.  I'm going to give them a go. 

[judydawn]

Check out the high protein breakfast smoothies on this site everyone.

http://ezinearticles.com/?High-Protein-Breakfast-Smoothie-Recipe&id=2608901

[CarolineW]

How about this one Caroline. 

1 cup frozen raspberries
1 cup orange juice
1 cup diet vanilla yoghurt
Blend until smooth.  Sounds pretty good to me.

Somehow I managed to miss seeing this until today!  I don't know how, as I'd seen the other postings    Thanks, Judy - I'm going to try this one.  Meanwhile, I bought an Innocent smoothie from the supermarket, read the ingredients, and reproduced it.  After making 2 smoothies, the whole "see what fruit is lying around" philosophy worked for me.  I'm often that way - I need my hand holding once or twice, and then the fact that it's actually blindingly obvious and easy finally dawns on me, and off I go.

Yesterday I made one with 2 oranges, 2 kiwis, and 2 frozen bananas, with a couple of blueberries which were left over.  I didn't have any juice on hand to thin it down, so I just added a slosh of water.  Very nice! 

Now I see what fruit needs using up, and make a smoothie with it.  I especially love them with nectarines (which I'm addicted to, at the moment).  I assume that I need about 4 pieces of fruit to make the amount I want, a frozen banana or 2 (or ice) so I can drink it straight away without its being warm, and a slosh of juice, water, milk or yogurt to get the thickness I want.

I tried the 'failed yogurt' route when I made a batch the other week with a starter which I knew wasn't really good anymore, but hoped I could coax one more batch out of.  I couldn't    But it made nice smoothies!  Mainly I like the fruit only ones, though.

If anyone else is looking to start making smoothies, and also has a mental block, I hope that reading my route to getting the hang of smoothie making will help you 

Thanks for all your advice, guys. 

[Thermomixer]

  After making 2 smoothies, the whole "see what fruit is lying around" philosophy worked for me.  I'm often that way - I need my hand holding once or twice, and then the fact that it's actually blindingly obvious and easy finally dawns on me, and off I go.

If anyone else is looking to start making smoothies, and also has a mental block, I hope that reading my route to getting the hang of smoothie making will help you 

Isn't that often the way - once you actually give it a go, suddenly you realsie that it is bloody easy..... especially with the TMX

[CarolineW]

Isn't that often the way - once you actually give it a go, suddenly you realsie that it is bloody easy..... especially with the TMX

Ain't that the truth!

[brazen20au]

this mroning's smoothie was good enough to be dessert - yum! http://brazen20au.blogspot.com/2009/08/divine-smoothie.html