Super Smoothies

I just finished my seminar on how to make nutritionally packed super smoothies. Smoothies are a delicious and easy way to include more fruits and vegetables in your day. Making smoothies yourself helps to control the calories and added sugars as many of the smoothies you buy at the popular chains can be anywhere from 400-500 calories for a small or medium and as much as 800-1000 calories for a large. Also, now that smoothies are so popular, beware of the frozen bags of fruit that say "smoothie packs." These tend to have added sugar instead of just plain, frozen fruit.

Here are a few recipes for some of the smoothies I made today. I like to use frozen fruit in my smoothies to thicken it instead of ice since I feel it dilutes the flavor a bit. I also like to use unsweetened Almond Breeze almond milk. Here's a link to a previous blog entry where I talk about this product and include another simple smoothie recipe. Feel free to experiment and modify the ingredients to fit your taste and calorie budget. You might also need to add more liquid depending on how many ingredients you add in and if you prefer a thinner or thicker texture.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup

1 cup low fat chocolate milk or unsweetened chocolate Almond Breeze almond milk

1/2 - 1 frozen banana (I take my overripe bananas, peel and slice them, place in a ziplock bag and freeze for smoothies)

1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder or protein powder of your choice

1 tablespoon natural peanut butter

Estimated calories: 300-400


Amazing Acai

Notes: This recipe uses frozen acai berries - an Amazonian berry that tastes like a blend of blueberries and chocolate. Acai berries are rich in antioxidants and healthy fats. You can find it next to the frozen berries at a natural market, such as Whole Foods, but feel free to substitute other frozen berries if you have difficulty finding it.

1 cup chocolate or vanilla unsweetened Almond Breeze almond milk

1 packet unsweetened Acai and Acerola frozen berries such as Sambazon or substitute 1/2-1 cup frozen unsweetened cherries

1/2-1 cup frozen wild blueberries, such as Wyman's

1 scoop chocolate protein powder

Optional: 1-2 small cooked beets, handful of fresh spinach and/or green powder such as Amazing Grass Green Superfood powder.


Estimated calories: 250-320