Photo Credit: ilovemypit via Compfight cc
First official day of making “real” smoothies and I decided to start with Berry Protein Bash, mostly because it was on the official menu for the week and I actually had the ingredients without making a special trip to the store.
BERRY PROTEIN BASH | Serves 2
I would totally do this one again. I didn’t use any bananas and I used two cups of mixed berries from my freezer instead of straight blueberries, though I tried to make sure it was heavy on the blueberries. You could feel the texture of the almonds, though I did soak them over night which I think made it easier for my blender to process them. I put the frozen fruit in a mason jar over night with the washed spinach to make things easier in the morning. I wonder if the fact that the fruit was defrosted made a difference in the taste. I also used a high protein vanilla almond milk I had for my son to drink. (We usually buy unsweetened, but they were out last week at the store so I bought vanilla). Though our almond milk doesn’t have much sweetener in it, it definitely helped. It turned out so creamy. I felt like I was drinking a berry milkshake. I loved knowing that it was protein packed enough to keep my blood sugar balanced and it will hopefully keep me full longer. First time I actually drank the full recommended serving. Sadly, there was almost none left. Definitely be coming back to this one soon.
SIMPLE PEACH | Serves 2
I tried the simple peach recipe today. I didn’t love it. I used frozen mango instead of bananas. The peaches were frozen as well. I don’t know if I didn’t add enough mango to compensate for the lack of banana or if it was because the fruit was frozen but I could taste the greens a bit too much. I prefer not to taste them at all. I don’t mind eating greens, in salads, stews or on sandwiches but I don’t like them in my drinks if I can taste them. Next time I’ll try increasing the amount of fruit I use and maybe letting it defrost in the fridge over night. I’ve also discovered that my 10 year old Hamilton Beach blender just isn’t handling the frozen fruit as well as I’d like, so I need to plan accordingly. I also added chia seeds. They were a little more noticeable than in the berry smoothie because peaches don’t have any seeds the way the raspberries and blackberries did, but I didn’t find them bothersome. Also, trying to drink a smoothie made mostly with frozen fruit can cause brain freeze. Ouch. I ate my leftovers of simple peach the next day, since I knew I wouldn’t have time to make a smoothie that morning. I threw the leftovers in my smoothie maker (a tiny cheap little thing I got for Christmas from an extended family member a few years ago). It isn’t powerful enough or large enough to chop and blend a green smoothie but it’s easy and fast with hardly any cleanup if I just want to add an extra ingredient. I added a coupon scoops of Greek yogurt and some natural applesauce to sweeten it up a little. (please refer to my most recent lesson about adding Greek yogurt to smoothies). It wasn’t bad. Not great, but edible. Definitely creamier and better blended the second time around, but it tasted far more of apple sauce than peach, which for me, isn’t a good thing. Much less brain freeze too though.
TROPICAL CRUSH | Serves 2
Day one it was only OK. The orange and pineapple just wasn’t enough for it to be very sweet. So the second day. I added some Greek yogurt and mango and it was much tastier. But still not a favorite.
ORANGE JULIUS | Serves 2
2 cups spinach, fresh
It might just be the time of year, oranges just aren’t that sweet, or the fact that I don’t use bananas, but I really didn’t like this one. I even added some mango to compensate for the lack of banana, but it was still kind of gross. I drank it, but I didn’t really like it. I combination of almond milk and oranges was a little nauseating. But then again I never did like orange Julius. The following day I added extra pineapple and some Greek yogurt and it was no better. Really hope that next week’s recipes turn out better.
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Disclaimer: All recipes are the creations of the ladies at Simple Green Smoothies. I am reproducing them here only for the sake of reviewing them and noting my own variations. I am in no way taking credit for their hard work. I provide links back to their site whenever possible.
