How do you create a smoothy?

[Kaido]

A big trend I've been seeing more of lately is adding oats to upgrade your smoothies for a filling meal:

http://lifehacker.com/add-rolled-oats-to-upgrade-your-smoothie-to-a-filling-m-1754113258

A few recipes here:

http://www.thekitchn.com/drink-your-oats-5-nourishing-whole-grain-smoothie-recipes-176741

1. Spiced Oatmeal Smoothie
2. Banana Oat Smoothie
3. Ginger Pear Oat Smoothie
4. A Berry Doughy Smoothie
5. Peanut Butter, Banana and Oat Milkshake

Cinnamon roll smoothie:

http://www.familyfreshmeals.com/2015/04/cinnamon-roll-smoothie.html

Tons more on Pinterest:

https://www.pinterest.com/search/pi...ta[]=oatmeal|typed&term_meta[]=smoothie|typed

What's interesting is that, due to the oats, you can create make-ahead smoothies. Here's an Almond Joy overnight smoothie:

http://www.runningwithspoons.com/2015/05/25/almond-joy-overnight-oatmeal-smoothie/

Here's a full-on system that involves oats, chia seeds, and dried fruits for overnight expansion, including tips for freezing:

http://www.theyummylife.com/Oatmeal_Smoothies

 

[Kaido]

The Perfect Smoothie Formula from No Meat Athlete:

http://www.nomeatathlete.com/the-perfect-smoothie-formula/

Here's the gist of it:

The Perfect Smoothie Formula (makes 2 smoothies)

1 soft fruit
2 small handfuls frozen or fresh fruit
2-4 tablespoons protein powder
2 tablespoons binder
1.5 tablespoons oil
1.5 cups liquid
1 tablespoon sweetener (optional, less or more as needed)
optional superfoods, greens, and other ingredients
6 ice cubes (omit if soft fruit is frozen)

 

[tcG]

Just gotta use a banana and all your problems will be solved. In the smoothie, obviously.

 

[Linux23]

Ohhh I want to try the oats smoothie. I love oats.

 

[lxskllr]

Been seeing oats prepacked in yogurt. I don't usually buy single serving containers, but I approve of the concept.

 

[Kaido]

Been seeing oats prepacked in yogurt. I don't usually buy single serving containers, but I approve of the concept.

Using mason jars as food totes is pretty popular these days; a company called Cuppow makes a product called BNTO, which is a small cup that sits above the food in the jar & lets you use the screw-top lid, so you can buy yogurt in bulk sizes & keep the oats or granola separately so it doesn't get mushy:

Also for anyone with an Instant Pot (electric pressure cooker), yogurt is super easy to make at home in them. You can do them in mason jars, or if you want to do it in bulk & save some green, here's an awesome recipe for vanilla bean yogurt using a gallon of milk:

http://www.tidbits-cami.com/2015/09/homemade-yogurt.html

 

[poofyhairguy]

Also for anyone with an Instant Pot (electric pressure cooker), yogurt is super easy to make at home in them. You can do them in mason jars, or if you want to do it in bulk & save some green, here's an awesome recipe for vanilla bean yogurt using a gallon of milk:

http://www.tidbits-cami.com/2015/09/homemade-yogurt.html

Nice. Thanks!

 

[Kaido]

Engadget had a blender shootout:

http://www.engadget.com/2016/02/02/the-best-blender/

The Oster VERSA with short jar for $200 shipped won:

http://www.amazon.com/Oster-1400-watt-Professional-Performance-BLSTVB-RV0-000/dp/B00EO1AQUU

If it works as well as they say it does (Amazon has 500 reviews with an average 4.5-star rating), then this is a huge breakthrough in high-powered blenders because it's literally 50% of the cost of the leading Vitamix & Blendtec models. Still crazy expensive, but not $400 expensive!

 

[Kaido]

If you use dairy in your smoothies, there's a new line of ultra-filtered milk (available in reduced-fat, 2%, whole, and chocolate) that packs in 13 grams of protein per cup. My local grocery store just started carrying it, it's from Fairlife:

http://fairlife.com/

Brief review here:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2463068

 

[Kaido]

20 smoothie recipes:

http://andreasnotebook.com/20-slim-down-smoothie-recipes/

4 more here:

https://www.yahoo.com/health/the-only-4-smoothie-recipes-you-1332527918792758.html

Good reference - baby food freezing chart. Covers how different foods react to freezing:

http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/baby-food-freezing-chart.htm

Edit: And some recipes for green smoothies:

http://www.upstateramblings.com/10-green-shakes-smoothies-st-patricks-day/

 

[Kaido]

CraKaJaX hooked me up with some awesome recipes using cottage cheese in the smoothie (adds a nice thickness to the shake). I'm back on dairy now, so this is awesome! Cottage cheese has a truckload of protein, so it's an easy way to add some nutrition into your smoothies. Most of the recipes with cottage cheese are called shakes rather than smoothies, so keep that in mind when you're searching for recipes. Here's a few to try out:

Whipped banana cream cheesecake shake

Banana split protein shake

Blueberry cheesecake breakfast protein shake

Strawberry cheesecake protein smoothie

Sparkling strawberry lime smoothie

Oatmeal cookie protein shake

Frozen hot chocolate

Chocolate cake batter protein shake

Peppermint patty shake

Secret ingredient smoothies (a few different recipes)

Cottage cheese fruit smoothies (uses OJ for the liquid)

 

[RossMAN]

Does anyone have smoothy suggestions that are protein packed with greens and carb free?

Something similar to this?
http://bloodsugarsolution.com/2013/07/31/whole-food-protein-shake/

 

[TiredEngineer]

Been making these for years and have it down to a science.

4 bananas
5 oz greens (I generally vary the type of green)
12 oz frozen berries
Water


This makes me 2 pretty large smoothies. I generally make my son a much smaller 1 or 2 from this as well.

 

[Ksyder]

The Oster VERSA with short jar for $200 shipped won:

http://www.amazon.com/Oster-1400-watt-Professional-Performance-BLSTVB-RV0-000/dp/B00EO1AQUU

If it works as well as they say it does (Amazon has 500 reviews with an average 4.5-star rating), then this is a huge breakthrough in high-powered blenders because it's literally 50% of the cost of the leading Vitamix & Blendtec models. Still crazy expensive, but not $400 expensive!

Can't believe this thread is still going...

I've had this Oster Versa short jar blender for a couple of years and can vouch for it being awesome. Its not perfect but its a great blender for the price.

 

[CraKaJaX]

Go-to smoothie:

2 Tbsp PB2
1 Scoop Chocolate protein
1 Tbsp unsweeted cocoa powder (for extra chocolate flavor of course)
~100g frozen banana
1 Tbsp Chia
4 unsweeteded almond milk ice cubes (about 1/2C)
1C liquid unsweeted almond milk
handful of any greens I have (kale, spinach, celery are typically what I have)

Throw everything in the magic bullet and blend for 30 secs or so. Comes out very thick, almost like a milkshake.... A very chocolatey milkshake. :thumbsup:

 

[Kaido]

Can't believe this thread is still going...

I've had this Oster Versa short jar blender for a couple of years and can vouch for it being awesome. Its not perfect but its a great blender for the price.

Speaking of high-end blender models, there's a good shootout between the Vitamix & Blendtec here:

http://detoxinista.com/2016/05/vitamix-vs-blendtec-which-is-better/

After using both extensively (I have a Blendtec & my friend has a Vitamix), I would say that the Vitamix is ultimately better for making smoothies. As per the article above, the Blendtec disintegrates things so well that smoothies come out more liquidy than thick. This has been my experience when comparing the two...the Vitamix with the tamper does a better job specifically for things like smoothies. I do a lot of other stuff in my Blendtec that makes the extra pulverization worth it, but if you're buying one primarily for smoothies, I'd lean towards the Vitamix at this point. Blendtec on left, Vitamix on right:

 

[Linux23]

the texture looks way off between the two units. is the blendtec that much more powerful that it liquefies ingredients?

 

[Linux23]

i'm trying to figure out a 10 minute smoothie i can make in the morning before work by freezing all of the greens and fruits, etc, a week in advace. is that possible?

 

[ElFenix]

i'm trying to figure out a 10 minute smoothie i can make in the morning before work by freezing all of the greens and fruits, etc, a week in advace. is that possible?

i don't see why not. any smoothie i make uses bulk frozen fruit from the grocery and bananas that have been in there for a while. banana, half cup of strawberries, plain yogurt, and off you go (screw ice, don't need it when all your fruit is frozen, and it just melts and separates).

 

[Linux23]

but what about green leafy veggies, do they freeze well? that's my base ingredient in most of my smoothies I make.

 

[Kaido]

the texture looks way off between the two units. is the blendtec that much more powerful that it liquefies ingredients?

Yes, I've liquified meat in it before. I blend up eggs to make fluffy omelets; I tried to cheat one & let it chop up some slices of deli ham, all I ended up with was pink eggs

Overall they are really close in performance, but the Vitamix does better thick smoothies & the Blendtec does better liquified smoothies, which is good if you have a lot of hard stuff in it that you really want to disappear completely.

 

[Kaido]

i'm trying to figure out a 10 minute smoothie i can make in the morning before work by freezing all of the greens and fruits, etc, a week in advace. is that possible?

Forget 10-minute smoothies, you can make 1-minute smoothies, all you need are some ziploc bags. The google/pinterest search phrase is "green smoothie prep packets". You can keep them for up to a few months in the freezer, but they're better if eaten within a month of freezing. Greens freeze surprisingly well when you're simply going to blend them & not eat them in a salad. Sample tutorial:

http://cleanfoodcrush.com/smoothie-prep-packs/

The nice thing is that you don't have to add ice because everything is frozen (especially the bananas, they give it a cold creamy texture). Just don't crush everything together while it's freezing initially, otherwise you can end up with a solid lump that needs to be thawed out a bit before you blend it together. I also recommend making a variety of flavors so you don't get sick of eating the same one every day. There's all kinds of protein powders (casein, whey, hemp, brown rice, yellow pea, soy, etc.) to add as well, if you want an extra health kick.

 

[Mai72]

I use the nutribullet.

Every morning my smoothie consists of...

1) 2 cups kale/spinach
2) 1 medium frozen banana
3) 1/2 cup frozen fruit (blueberry, strawberry, mango)
4) 1 scoop Amazing Grass Acai and Berry
5) 1/2 tsp grape seed extract
6) 1 cup filtered water

To make a great smoothie you have to get the water just right. That's the key. Too much and the drink is too watery. Too little and it's like a milkshake. Just right is the key.

 

[Nashemon]

I've got a Ninja blender. It's got these single serving cups you can blend in.

I buy the big (8 lbs?) bags of frozen fruit. Two handfuls of that, blended with a banana or whatever other fruit I have laying around, some liquid (used to use milk or yogurt, but just started using Naked veggie juice which is wayyy better than I expected. I always hated V8, so was turned off of vegetable juices at a young age), and a heaping tbsp. of smooth peanut butter.

That's dinner.

 

[Kaido]

Not a smoothie, but since we've talked a lot about blenders in this thread, here's a super easy recipe for Brazilian cheese rolls: (60 seconds prep + 20-minutes to bake!)

http://ourbestbites.com/2011/02/quick-brazilian-cheese-rolls-pao-de-queijo-2/

Pao de Queijo! Kind of like a gooey popover. The only weird ingredient is tapioca flour/starch (most grocery stores with a healthfood section has it under the Bob's Red Mill brand). Basically just preheat the oven to 400F, put the ingredients in blender for 60 seconds (one egg, half-cup milk, quarter-cup canola oil, one cup tapioca flour, half-teaspoon Kosher salt), add in the cheese (quarter-cup grated medium or sharp cheddar plus quarter-cup grated Parmesan) & pulse a couple times to mix & chop it up, then pour into a greased muffin tin (fill up 3/4 of the way & optionally add some more cheese on top & garlic salt/powder) & bake for 15 or 20 minutes until the tops get golden. Note, best eaten warm.