Fruit smoothies have taken America by storm since the 1990's and nowadays almost everybody knows what a 'smoothie' is, thanks in part to major commercial smoothie chains such as Jamba Juice and Robek's.
Fruit smoothies are an ideal alternative to the traditional heavy breakfast consisting of pancakes, waffles, eggs, bacon, and potatoes (hash browns), foodstuffs that are pretty heavy and that bogs you down even before your day really begins.
Fruit smoothies are light, nutritious, and delectable and you can even have them on the go, basically, liquid breakfast in cup. But smoothies are not limited to just breakfast time. You can have a smoothie any time of the day, morning, noon, or night.
They are so ideal to consume while detoxing too. Smoothies really compliment your Full Body Detox or other Dherbs.Com kit and regimen.
This article will give you some fresh new ideas about making your own smoothies and what you can put in them, after all, many people are still new to smoothies and as such are confused as to what a smoothie can contain.
The Base
Your smoothie base can contain fruit juice or alternative milk. Fruit juice can include orange juice, pineapple juice, mango juice, peach juice/nectar, apple juice, grape juice, nectarine juice/nectar, bilberry or blueberry juice/nectar, mangosteen, cherry, acai or just about any other fruit juice you may enjoy drinking.
Good-Berry brand probiotic juices make great smoothie bases. They can be consumed to repopulate beneficial bacteria or flora in the colon. Good-Berry flavors include mango, cranberry-watermelon, and black currant. They are delectable and economical. They can be purchased at good health food stores.
Always attempt to use organic brand juices, like from R.W. Knudsen or Lakewood. These juices may be a little expensive for many people due to their quality but organic really makes the difference, especially in the taste and not just the price.
You can use bottled fruit juice (i.e. Lakewood, Knudsen) or freshly made fruit juice (made from a juicer). The choice is yours!
Alternative milks can include almond milk, rice milk, hemp seed milk, oat milk, soymilk, and coconut milk. NEVER use dairy milk (liquidized cow snot and pus), or dairy products period, in your fruit smoothies. Soymilk would be a last choice too as far as alternative milks for a smoothie base is concerned.
Should you or can you mix fruit juice with alternative milk? That's up to you. Me personally, I don't mix the two. It's either one or the other and I generally prefer fruit juice in my fruit smoothies.
Can you use vegetable juice in your smoothie? I wouldn't recommend that. After all, it's called a 'fruit' smoothie and not a vegetable smoothie.
Alternative fruit smoothie base includes dairy free sorbet or alternative ice cream (non-dairy dessert) such as Rice Dream, Soy Dream, etc.
You can add a scoop of your favorite sorbet (100% fruit-based) or a scoop of your favorite ice cream alternative (or non-dairy dessert) to your smoothie. You can even add sorbet or alternative ice cream (non-dairy dessert) on top of the use of a fruit based or alternative milk if you like. The great thing about making smoothies is you get to be creative and improvisational.
Ice?
Ice is an integral part of a fruit smoothie. Ice helps to make the smoothie cold and can also add liquid to the smoothie if you forego using a liquid base. However, ice can be used in your smoothie with or without a liquid base. Most smoothies traditionally contain both. Generally, a cup or half cup of ice will get the job done and it doesn't matter if the ice is blocks or little pieces.
Fruit
The key to a fruit smoothie is the fruit. Organic fruit is best! You can use fresh fruit or frozen fruit. Personally, I like taking fresh fruit, dicing it up and putting it in the freezer over night to use first thing in the morning when I make my smoothie.
Does the law of food combining apply when making a smoothie? The answer is no! When you blend fruit, you break it down and thus don't have a problem with the gas as you would when eating fruit together in solid form, like when eating a fruit salad.
Food combining is a science that helps prevent the mixture of certain fruit's gases that when they come into contact with one another, cause serious spasms in your stomach that can be quite painful. This occurs due to violation of the law of food combining. But again, food combining does not apply to smoothies because the blender used to make the smoothie will nullify the law by breaking the various fruit down to a liquid base or composition which releases the gases in the consistency of the blend.
Okay, so now pick your favorite fruit. What fruits do you like: bananas, oranges, grapes, pineapples, mangoes, papaya, apple, peach, blueberries, plum, nectarine, strawberry, kiwi, or apricot? Well, whichever ones you like, dump them in the blender.
I must admit that you will probably not want to use melons (i.e. watermelon, Crenshaw, honeydew, cantaloupe) in your smoothie. You can, but you may not want to (unless you try it for yourself). I can tell you right now that frozen melon is not some good-tasting stuff. Melons are meant to be eaten in an unfrozen state.
Citrus fruit (i.e. oranges, lemons, lime, grapefruit) also doesn't make for a good smoothie in my opinion.
Okay, what about dried fruits in your smoothie? You can use dried fruit if you like. Personally, I wouldn't use a lot of dried fruits in my smoothie. The dried fruit I'd use would be exotic fruits such as Lycii (Wolf) berry, Acai berry, or Goji berry.
Seeds and Nuts
I personally don't add seeds and nuts to my smoothie, but because there really aren't any limits, you can add certain seeds (i.e. chia, pumpkin/ papitas, sunflower, flax etc.) to your smooth if you so desire. You can do what you like. Improvise! Be creative!
Supplements
Following is a list of certain so-called supplements commonly added to fruit smoothies for nutritional and therapeutic benefit:
Acai berry
Bee pollen
Brewer's Yeast
Bromelain (pineapple enzyme)
Co-enzyme Q10
Flax seed
Goji berry
Grape Seed extract
Herbal extracts
Lycii berry
Mangosteen juice
Minerals (liquid)
MSM Sulfur
Noni juice
Papain (papaya enzyme)
Psyllium husk
Royal Jelly
Soy protein powder
Spirulina
Tofu
Vitamins (liquid)
Vitamin C powder
Wheat germ
Dherbs.Com's liquid extracts are great additions to smoothies for nutritive and therapeutic value. Some powdered herbs taste well enough to add to smoothie blends and others do not. You have to be the judge!
Most capsules of formulas we sell can be opened and added to a fruit smooth. Two to three capsules would suffice. Simply take two or three capsules and open them up and pour the powder into the blender with the other ingredients and blend. Try to always think nutritional value with fruit smoothies. For many people, fruit smoothies are replacing breakfast so nutrition is critical here. Think nutrition!
Fruit Smoothie Recipes
Below are five fruit smoothie recipes for you to experiment with. These recipes were taken from our monthly newsletters (beginning June 2008) which includes a new fruit smoothie recipe every month.
"Banana Date Supreme Smoothie"
Ingredients:
One (1) cup Coconut Milk (or Almond or Rice milk)
One (1) cup Dates (pitted), organic preferably
One (1) Banana (sliced), organic preferably and not-so-ripe (due to sweetness)
One-half (1/2) cup crushed ice (optional)
Directions:
Pour coconut (or other) milk into blender. Next, add dates and banana slices to blender. Lastly, add ice to blender (optional). Puree until smooth.
Makes 1-2 servings.
"Pineapple-Mango Delight"
Ingredients:
One (1) cup fresh pineapple chunks
One (1) cup mango chunks
One (1) cup orange juice
One-half (1/2) cup crushed ice
Directions:
Pour orange juice into blender. Next add pineapple and mango chunks to blender. Lastly, add ice to blender. Puree until smooth.
Makes 1-2 servings.
"Tropical Strawberry"
Ingredients
One (1) cup frozen strawberries
One-half (½) cup pineapple
One-half (½) cup ripe papaya
One (1) small peach
One-half (½) fresh, ripe avocado
One-half (½) cup apple juice
One-half (½) cup of pina colada juice
One-fourth (¼) teaspoon coconut flavoring (optional)
One (1) teaspoon lime juice (optional)
Directions:
Pell, seed and slice pineapple, papaya, peach, and avocado. Combine with strawberries, juices, and flavoring in the blender (or Vita-Mixer). Puree until smooth.
Makes 2-3 servings.
"Maple Pecan Banana Swirl"
Ingredients:
Two (2) frozen bananas
One-third (1/3) fresh pecans
One (1) tablespoon fresh flaxseed
Two (2) tablespoon maple syrup
Two to Three (2-3) teaspoon slippery elm powder
One (1) cup water (adjust as needed)
Directions:
In advance, peel fresh ripe bananas and freeze until hard. Grind pecans and flaxseed using an electric seed grinder (or coffee grinder). Break bananas into small chunks and combine with water, flax, nuts, sweetener and elm powder in your blender. Blend on high speed until smooth and creamy. NOTE: Be sure to use fresh nuts (preferably organic) and Grade B maple syrup.
Makes 2 servings
"Spicy Raspberry Rainbow"
Ingredients:
One (1) cup frozen raspberries
One (1) ripe banana
Two (2) medium-size, ripe peaches (preferably organic)
One-half (1/2) teaspoon fresh ginger
One (1) cup coconut-fruit blend juice
One (1) tablespoon sweetener, i.e. maple syrup, agave nectar (optional)
Directions:
Peel and grate a tad of ginger. Peel fresh peaches and slice. Combine with raspberries, bananas and coconut juice in blender and puree smooth. Drink immediately.
Makes 2 servings.
After reading all of the above, you should now be acclimated to the knowledge of how to make a fruit smoothie. Fruit smoothies are real easy to make and you should be able to make more fruit smoothies on your own simply by being creative and improvisational. Use your favorite fruits and be open to experiment!
Thank you for reading!
This article is compliments of Dherbs.Com and Djehuty Ma'at-Ra.
Additional articles by Djehuty available @ www.dherbs.com/articles/ |
