Smoothie

Be sure you check out the nutritional information. At Jamba Juice, the Razzmatazz (one of my personal favorites) is 480 calories for a medium size. Sometimes you have to give up a meal for a smoothie, so it'd better be a darned good smoothie
 
Llamabean said:
Be sure you check out the nutritional information. At Jamba Juice, the Razzmatazz (one of my personal favorites) is 480 calories for a medium size. Sometimes you have to give up a meal for a smoothie, so it'd better be a darned good smoothie
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I'm glad someone mentioned that... They do have some lower calorie smoothies on their menu, but you really have to watch the sizes... :D

Just because it's healthy doesn't necessarily mean it's in a person's calorie range :D
 
Here are a couple of my favorite quick smoothies:

Banana, frozen berries and some milk in a blender

or

When bananas get a little too ripe for me, I put them in the freezer. Then I take out a frozen banana, peel with a knife (carefully), cut up into small pieces and blend with some milk.

If you want to add some protein, add a good quality protein powder.
 
Sometimes make smoothies with some fruit (often blueberries or strawberries-they're lower glycemic and have great phytochmicals), or cocoa, or whey powder. Just add a bunch of ice, a little milk product (yogurt, soymilk, whatever), stevia for extra sweetening and a teaspoon or so of xanthan or guar gum to really thicken it up and add some soluble fiber. Mmmm.

Good to have a powerful blender for smoothies. We have a Vita-Mix. It's more like a power tool for the kitchen.

John
 
Thanks for the suggestions/recipes, being new to smoothies it's good to find out what combinations work!

Llamabean said:
Be sure you check out the nutritional information. At Jamba Juice, the Razzmatazz (one of my personal favorites) is 480 calories for a medium size. Sometimes you have to give up a meal for a smoothie, so it'd better be a darned good smoothie
Click to expand...
maleficent said:
I'm glad someone mentioned that... They do have some lower calorie smoothies on their menu, but you really have to watch the sizes... :D

Just because it's healthy doesn't necessarily mean it's in a person's calorie range :D
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I dont think we have "Jamba Juice" in England... we certainly have it locally, so this wont be a problem for me :) thanks for pointing that out though, I will keep an eye on the calorie content if I do find a place to buy them.

John_KY said:
Sometimes make smoothies with some fruit (often blueberries or strawberries, or cocoa, or whey powder.
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This comment really threw me... my boyfriend is on the other side of the equation... quite light, and trying to build himself up using weights, body-building drinks etc. He does a lot of research into it and he seems to think whey is a good thing to drink to pack on the pounds... has he got this wrong then??
 
Well it depends. Whey is lean protein. If you're body-building, working muscles hard and eating large amounts of protein you will put on muscle weight. Protein has calories, but a single scoop in a smoothie, otherwise low in calories doesn't add up to all that much. Also a little protein can contribute to a feeling of satiety (feeling full), helping insure that the smoothie "sticks to your ribs".

Of course if a person eats enough calories from any source and they'll put on weight.

John

Quote:
Originally Posted by John_KY View Post
Sometimes make smoothies with some fruit (often blueberries or strawberries, or cocoa, or whey powder.

This comment really threw me... my boyfriend is on the other side of the equation... quite light, and trying to build himself up using weights, body-building drinks etc. He does a lot of research into it and he seems to think whey is a good thing to drink to pack on the pounds... has he got this wrong then??
Click to expand...
 
Several people mentioned using splenda or another sugar substitute... bananas and apples are good (even more natural) sweeteners that add nutrition too :)

I like to use frozen bananas too (though I haven't done that for a while). You can peel them before you freeze them so that you don't have to remove the frozen peel later!
 
I got my smoothie blender today :D It's one of the ones with a tap on the front so it's designed with these in mind.

Will try it out in a bit. :D I use Canderel as a sugar alternative so will probably add a bit of this.
 
We decided to opt for stevia when it comes to sugar substitute. It's a natural product and has been used in Japan for decades with no ill effects. Not approved as a sweetener in the U.S. due to the fact that being a plant, it can't be patented. It is instead classed as a supplement. Very sweet. No calories. No glycemic impact. Somewhat expensive. And if you get the straight powder, very concentrated.

Never tried Canderel. What's it made from?

John
 
Any health food store and lots of grocery stores. Even our Kroger has it in the health food section. Think Kroger carries it in a liquid form with a dropper bottle. Experiment and see how much you need to make anything sweet. Start out with a few drops and work your way up.

John
 
I have a cookbook that is nothing but smoothies. There are only about four recipes in there that use sugar or sugar subsitute. Most of the recipres use a fruit that have natural sugars in them that don't require extra sugar added. I would recommend if you think that your smoothie is not sweet enough use a bit of honey as it would be healthier for you than sugar or a sub. Peaches, mango, and bananas make the smoothest smoothies. Berries have all those seeds you have to deal with:( I make a really simple smoothie with just about 1/2 a cup of O.J. a cup of frozen fruit a handful of ice and 1 container of yogurt any flavor. Blend and enjoy. Easy fast and really good!!!:p
 
I just made up a nice smoothie in my normal blender, this is what I used and approx calories.

1/4 litre no added sugar cranberry juice drink
160g strawberries
10 raspberries
10 blackberries

I estimate it comes out at around 80 cals and it made enough to fill up my big CocaCola glass with quite a bit to spare, maybe another half a glass.

And it was pretty good, or I thought so anyway :)
 
I usually drink this smoothie, I love it!

125 grams of low fat lemon yogurt
1 kiwi
1/2 fresh banana peeled and chopped
blackberries juice
some strawberries

There's no need for sugar, it's already sweet :D
 
Jamba Juice uses sorbet and sugar in a lot of their smoothies-most of them are not all that healthy- low fat, but high calories and high sugar

Try this-Strawberry-Banana, low.calorie

-1 package Yoplait nonfat Vanilla yoghurt(100 cal)
--1 cup sliced strawberries(about 50 cal.)
---1 banana, chopped(112 cal)

optional: protein powder(adds calories)

this smoothie is simple but delicious and filling. No added sugar, no sorbet or ice cream, no fat, only 262 cal.
 
I keep lots of frozen fruit in my freezer and I also freeze some of my yogurt then I just pop both of them in the blender with either some juice or milk and then you don't need to add ice to it at all for that half frozen consistency. I love to experiment with different combinations. Strawberries with lemon yogurt is my fav right now! Orange juice peaches and vanilla yogurt also taste good together.
 
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