Smoothies

I've always loved smoothies.  When I was in middle and high school, whenever my mom and I were out shopping, we'd get smoothies for lunch or dinner instead of eating out.  We usually went to Smoothie King, and I always got the same thing- the "Frozen Goat."  Sounds weird, right?  It's bananas, frozen yogurt, and mocha... and it couldn't be better.  I frequently make a home-made version of it when I happen to have a little coffee left in the pot from the morning's brew.  Today, I did a twist on it, so I'll share that with you, as well as my recent experiment with green smoothies, inspired by one of my favorite foodie blogs.  Hope you enjoy!

Nutty Strawberry Smoothie

Ingredients:

2 large scoops of strawberry frozen yogurt (I used BlueBell's, which is non-fat and has hunks of frozen strawberries in it!)

      -this could be replaced with plain or vanilla yogurt (frozen or non) and frozen strawberries

2 T peanut butter (for the record, I ALWAYS use crunchy. I love the crunch, and it's usually lower in fat than reduced-fat creamy. For smoothies, I just blend a little longer and it smooths out.)

2 T flax seeds

1 c coffee, unsweetened

3-4 ice cubes (can be increased or lessened to preference.)

Directions:

Combine all of the ingredients except ice in the blender, and blend on high until smooth (1-2 minutes).  Add ice cubes and pulse 10-15 times, to make it "icey."

I like to place mine in a plastic container or cup, and stick it in the freezer uncovered for about 5-10 minutes. This chills it more and gives it a nice, thick, icey texture. :) This makes 1 large serving. 

As I was making this, I realized that since it contains grains (flax), protein (peanut butter and yogurt), dairy (yogurt), fruit, and coffee, this is the perfect balanced meal! 

Pear Medley Smoothie

2 small pears

1 c frozen unsweetened applesauce

Large handful of raw spinach leaves

¾ c grape juice from concentrate

3-4 T flax seeds

Directions:

Rinse pears, and cut them into quarters lengthwise.  Core them by cutting off the tough center edge from each quarter.  Cut them into large cubes, and set aside.  Place spinach and grape juice in blender and puree until there are no bits of spinach left.  Add pears and flax seed and puree again for a few minutes.  Finally add applesauce, and several ice cubes, if you like it icey (I do!) and pulse the blender 15 or so times, until the ice and applesauce are crushed.  This recipe makes about two servings.  

Enjoy!  My next post should be coming soon... I have a few projects I'm tweaking before I share them.