Smoothies have truly taken off. You can find smoothie shops in every shopping mall, and there are booklets upon booklets of recipes for every flavor of smoothie under the sun. But when you hear the word smoothie, or even see it in a title, what comes to mind, or better yet what flavors do your taste buds start dreaming (or more accurately) drooling about? For me, my brain always leans towards a fruit smoothie. I mean, wasn’t it the fruit that started the whole smoothie craze in the first place? But things have changed, tastes have changed, flavors and colors have become more…..out there. You can now order, or make at home, veggie smoothies. How much you want to bet, if it hasn’t been tried already, we start seeing dinner smoothies!?! Steak, potato and salad in a glass. Hmm, taste buds are not on the same page with me on that one.
But, for now, I present to you my first “Recipe Change Up” and yes, you guessed it, IT’S A SMOOTHIE!
I saw this in a magazine I receive in the mail from my local grocery store, and naturally, being a fruit based smoothie, I had to give it a try.
The Original Recipe
I, of course, did make it as instructed, and for the most part, it was tasty. HOWEVER, I for one, am not one who enjoys “chewing” her beverages. To use an entire orange, or two for that matter, for me, it was pulp overload! Now if you are one for pulp, by all means this smoothie in its original form is for you. If you are like me, and like to drink and not eat your smoothie beverage, then try the change up. The change is subtle, but enough to make a difference.
All the original ingredients are the same.
The only real change is using pulp free orange juice instead of whole oranges.
One side note though, if you do choose to go with a frozen banana, might I encourage you to peel and slice the banana BEFORE freezing it. ~ ~ ~ Go ahead, take a moment to let that sink in…….you have my permission to laugh, I did. Speaking from experience, it is pretty tough getting the banana out of the peel when you just stick the whole thing in the freezer. You will eventually get the meat out of the peel, it is a battle, and you will have the victory. But let me just save you that battle all together and suggest peeling, slicing, then freezing. And just to put your mind at ease, the brown banana is the frozen banana.
The New Recipe
So to make this changed up smoothie:
- 1 cup pulp free orange juice
- 1 cup vanilla almond milk
- 2 bananas, one frozen, one not (both can be room temperature if you prefer)
- the whole container of Greek yogurt (the small 8 oz container)
- 1 cup frozen mango chunks
- 2 TBSP honey
In a blender, add orange juice, milk, yogurt, non frozen banana and honey. With the lid on, (no, not speaking from experience on this one, but I have seen it happen) start blending on smoothie setting. Carefully start adding the frozen fruit, a few pieces at a time. Once all fruit has been added, continue blending for at least a minute longer, and presto!
You have a smoother smoothie.
