SMOOTHIES
The mighty smoothie.
Drinking a healthy smoothie a day will be a tremendous boost to most peoples’ well being. In order for the smoothie program to be successful it must meet at least the following criteria:
- It must be easy.
- It must be quick.
- It must be economical.
- It must taste great.
If you follow the instructions below, all the above criteria will be met and exceeded.
There will be a bit of a learning curve as you perfect your routine, but it will be well worth it. Make an art form of it. I can now make a world class smoothie and clean everything up in less than five minutes.
The basic blender
A good, high power blender is necessary. I have a Kitchen Aid blender that sells for about eighty dollars at Target. The blender has to be powerful enough to easily deal with ice cubes.
The fruits
- Every two weeks go buy whatever fruits are plentiful (cheap). Get as many as your freezer will hold. Buy 2 or 3 pounds of baby carrots.
- Fill your kitchen sink one half-full with cold water, add an ounce of hydrogen peroxide, and soak the carrots and the fruits for about ten minutes while you unpack the rest of your groceries. Pull the plug in the sink and let the water drain. The longer you let it drain the less the fruits will stick together when you freeze them.
- Pull the leaves off to the berries and freeze them in a Tupperware container.
- Peel the mangoes and cut the meat from the seed and freeze in Tupperware.
- Cut peaches, pears, plums, apples, nectarines, etc. into pieces about one inches square, and freeze in Tupperware.
- Remove the stems from the seedless grapes (don't use grapes with seeds) and freeze them in Tupperware.
- Leave the bananas outside the refrigerator until some brown spots show on their skins... Peel them (it's OK if there's brown stuff inside, that's good stuff). Bananas tend to freeze together and they are easier to break apart in Ziploc bags. Cut bananas in half before freezing them. Do not use bananas if you tend towards constipation.
- Cut cantaloupes in half. Scoop out the seeds and discard. Scoop out the meat and freeze in Tupperware.
- If possible, leave the fruit in the Tupperware, uncovered on the counter or in the refrigerator for a few hours to allow the fruit to dry before freezing. It keeps them from sticking together.
The Basic Sixty Second Smoothie
- One half to one cup of carrots. (Always use carrots unless you really hate them)
- One half to one cup of fruits.
- Try to always include blueberries or blackberries, plus at least two other fruits. Do not use bananas if you tend to suffer from constipation.
- One cup of water, or if you are trying to gain weight you might use soy milk or, milk.
Liquefy in blender until smooth (takes a minute or two).
Clean the equipment by simply rinsing the blender and glass, I let them drain upside down on a paper towel. No soap is needed. Once in awhile, when you're going to use the dishwasher for other things, put the blender in the dishwasher.
The extras
Whole Flax Seeds.
1 to 2 tablespoon. Put in blender before adding the fruits. Great nutritional value, great for constipation. Seeds stick to sides of blender and glass and are hard to clean — but worth it!
Extra protein. I prefer Spirutean vanilla. If you need animal protein then add a raw egg or two or whey protein powder.
Sweeteners. Smoothies tend to be too sweet already, especially if the have bananas. Nevertheless, if you want sweeter add extra banana, or liquid Stevia (very sweet), or frozen concentrated pineapple juice.
Leftovers. Made too much at one time? Keep it refrigerated in the blender. It maintains most of its enzymes and vitamins for up to 10 hours in the fridge. It will get dark if it has bananas, but it’s still good. Blend for a minute right before serving.