I don’t know about you and your family, but we waste an amazing amount of money on drinking out. While we all enjoy eating out, for some reason we all think it’s perfectly acceptable to blow $6 on a frothy beverage or whatever they choose to charge for something they label a smoothie. I would probably be embarrassed to list the amount that we have spent, if I could even add it up. I know that when we are at the University, we will spend about $4 a piece for their smoothies and they are in a 12 ounce cup, if that. The sad thing is that the school’s idea of a smoothie is nothing more than smoothie mix (each flavor comes from a carton) and ice. That’s it. $4 bucks. Down the drain. For little to nothing.
It’s sad and it has to stop.
So when we moved into our new apartment (more on that move later) we decided to make some other changes, too. Some of the changes were little things. You know, things like no frivolous spending. We also eliminated the majority of dyes from our diet (for our son’s sake) and high fructose corn syrup. We also attempt to eat mainly organic or all natural (nothing we don’t recognize on the label). When we made this change I decided to make smoothies at home because frankly, most of the places that sell them offer syrup and ice as opposed to fresh fruit and they cost an arm and a leg. Making them at home helps me stick to at least two of our new life changes.
We’ve been making smoothies as often as possible. Usually we start off the day with one. Of course, by that I mean that everyone gets a nice, big, frothy glass but me. I have to remember to make more next time! We play with the flavors occasionally, but generally stick to fresh fruit.
While we stick to fresh fruit there are some staple ingredients used in every single smoothie. Those ingredients include:
Ice
Lemonade (Preferably something organic or Simply Lemonade)
A small scoop of Banana Pudding
You could use orange juice or another juice (depending on the flavor you’re going for), but I love the tartness that the lemonade adds. The banana pudding, which got me some strange looks when I told Dominick what was in it, adds a little velvety smoothness to it. I add about two to three handfuls of small ice chunks (we get small bags of ice at the grocery store), though I would say you could use about six ice cubes from a tray.
The smoothie pictured above is strawberry banana. To the above listed ingredients I added two fresh bananas, a half-cup (about four) of fresh strawberries cut up, and a nice dollop of frozen strawberries with juice that I let thaw in the fridge. The result after a good blending is a thick, icy and fabulous smoothie that is actually pretty healthy. It’s a way to get fresh fruit into the entire family.
We’ve also switched things up by using peaches and blueberries or whatever fresh/frozen fruit combinations we have sitting around.
How do you take your smoothies? Share your favorite smoothie recipe in the comment section or let us know when your try our recipe!
Ashtyn’s Delicious Strawberry-Banana Smoothie
Recipe Ingredients
Ice (2-3 handfuls chunked ice or 5-6 cubes)
Simply Lemonade (a couple of splashes depending on how thick you want things)
Fresh Strawberries (about 1/2 cup)
Frozen Strawberries in Juice (about 1/2 cup, plus or minus to taste)
Fresh Bananas (2)
Banana Pudding (1-2 Spoonfuls) – Optional
Just pop everything into the blender and that’s it. You end up with 2-3 delicious smoothies!
Technorati Tags: Smoothie, Recipe, Fresh Fruit, Bananas, Strawberries, Frozen, Organic, All Natural, Ingredients, Money Saver
Written by Ashtyn Evans – Visit Website
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Ashtyn is in her early 30s. She is a mother, writer, college student, and music lover. Ashtyn has had a successful career as a writer since 2003. She turned to blogging in 2005. Ashtyn attends Wright State where she is getting a degree in Psychology. She has extensive knowledge in SEO and Social Media Development.
