I've tasted a few from mall outlets that cater to the smoothies folks. Was wondering if it is worthwhile using a home blender........... are home smoothies healthy? meaning no bad calories...........

I would prefer fruit. Not mixing fruit and veggies.

Anyone with smoothie knowledge??? anyone bueller, bueller???..........

if you can get to jungle junction, hit up taxi crab and see if he'll make you a few different ones to try

good luck!

luv4u said:

There are lots of smoothie recipe books out there! You can always look online for recipes and ebooks too. It can be kinda fun to experiment with combining different fruits - just add your favorites. Coconut water is great a liquid base (or try the flesh of real Thai/young coconuts too), and you can always add things like protein powder, yogurt, frozen yogurt, and (shhh...) ice cream -- but then it becomes a shake. Another tip is to add avocado, much like you would banana. It provides a wonderful thickener and you can make it sweet by adding raw sugar, honey, maple syrup (my favorite), or agave syrup. Good luck and enjoy your new venture!

I choose to make mine with frozen fruit in a bag mangoes, strawberries, or a blueberry pomegranite

combo with vanilla yogurt as my base. If I choose to buy out I simply opt for Smoothie King. Their

Kale Carrot smoothie is great.

smoothies are good. there is a chain out here in california called 'jaamba juice.' i've copied some of my favorites and make my own smoothies at home.

i enjoy all fruit smoothies.

my base ingredient is frozen berry juice

one banana

1/2 cup orange juice

about 7 med sized strawberries

add about 7 or 8 cubes of ice

then blend.

note: i'd recommend a smoothie as a mid day nutrition boost. not wise to drink before or after a meal due to the coldness of the drink and how it may have a tendency to slow down the digestion of the oils in solid food. that's my take on it.

smoothies are great! i use my home blender. it works fine.

When you get really serious about smoothies you get a

[img:$uid]http://i.c-b.co/is/image/Crate/Vitamix750BlenderF12/$web_zoom$&/1308302307/vitamix-750-professional-blender.jpg[/img:$uid]

^^ I love smoothies! I've never tried making them at home (because I don't even own a blender). But I'm sure the home made smoothies would be way better than the ones you buy at a smoothie store.

i find that soy milk makes a nice base for fruit smoothies. add banana and strawberry, blueberry. yummy!

bolthouse farms makes a pretty good variety of juices, and jamba juice is good too.

[Edited 1/7/15 6:27am]

My next purchase will be a Ninja bullet. When I juice I always get a guilt pang looking at all the fiber going in the garbage, and no I'm not making muffins or soup with it that's just too much extra work for something I'm still not going to eat. But I've read, it's best to juice your vegetables and smoothie your fruits, that way you're getting at least some of your fiber as well as nutrients.

So, what's the best juicer that grinds up all the good stuff, doesn't break down after a year, and comes at the cheapest price?

purplethunder3121 said:

iZsaZsa said:

I am currently on the AIP diet and smoothies are the only thing I can tolerate for breakfast unless I eat bacon every morning. I use a cup of organic coconut milk, half a cup of organic coconut yogurt and mix with a banana and frozen berries. I believe it's much better than a mall smoothie and because it's dairy free it's better as well.

I just don't understand smoothies. I want to chew my food, not drink it. I consume all the calories and then I'm still hungry.

But if it gets some folks to eat fruits and veggies they wouldn't already, then more power to ya, I suppose.

I have to second what Carrie said in re. drinking a smoothie and still being hungry. If you want a smoothie that's nutritious and not too calorie-laden, you need a pretty good protein source and some good fat in there - and it helps to keep the fruit to low-calorie/carb types like berries.

Back when I was doing a high-protein diet, I would make a smoothie with dry curd cottage cheese (or protein powder), a raw egg yolk, whole milk yogurt, diet cranberry juice and raspberries. I'd throw some flax seeds in there, too - but only if I was going to drink it right away. (Flax seeds get slimy very quickly and will turn a smoothie to sludge in just a few minutes.) It tasted good, but frankly it's a lot easier to just eat what I do now - full fat cottage cheese with a cherry-berry blend that I buy at Trader Joe's.

Before you buy a smoothie at the mall, you would do well to check the calorie content. Most of them are sugar bombs and very fattening. You might as well just go to Culver's and get an amazing Concrete Mixer.

iZsaZsa said:

Team Vitamix. If you want, pitted dates will add a cinnamony sweetness to your smoothie. Coconut sugar will add a caramel sweetness. I use one or the other when using frozen fruit or when my bananas are not at least spotted. I think smoothie bananas are best when very ripe. [img:$uid]http://www.wheat-free.org/assets/images/ripe-bananas-food-fact.jpg[/img:$uid]

Lots of good advice here. Gonna try that coconut sugar.

purplethunder3121 said:

So, what's the best juicer that grinds up all the good stuff, doesn't break down after a year, and comes at the cheapest price?

um.... a blender? i have a tiny little blender which works really well. i watched jack lalanne's show and thought about buying a juicer, but than i checked out the movie 'fat, sick and nearly dead' and decided to use a blender like the dude uses.

ufoclub said:

psychodelicide said:

phunkdaddy said:

psychodelicide said:

^^ I love smoothies! I've never tried making them at home (because I don't even own a blender). But I'm sure the home made smoothies would be way better than the ones you buy at a smoothie store.

I don't know if anyone can make a homemade smoothie as good as Smootie King but as someone mentioned earlier they are generally loaded with sugar.

I have to agree with smoothies having a lot of sugar. Not sure if there is a way to make a smoothie without using sugar.