Kitchen Sink Smoothies
The Boy got me a Vitamix for my birthday last year and we use it at least five times a week for smoothies in the morning. One of us mans the Vitamix, the other mans the pour over. We prioritize fruits, veggies and coffee in our household. We don’t follow recipes for the smoothie (the coffee is a science), we throw in everything but the kitchen sink, and somehow the smoothies always turn out good. Now, admittedly, some turn out better than others and we’re not picky eaters, so this approach might not work for the picky types. But here are the ingredients that, in some combination, tend to work for us:
Base
Every smoothie has
- banana
- apple
- spinach (it turns the smoothie green but we’ve never tasted it)
- acai powder
Frozen Fruit
We usually pick two:
- mango
- pineapple
- strawberry
- blueberry
- raspberry
- cranberry
Liquid
Sometimes we add too much frozen fruit and the smoothies are too thick so we thin them with some combination of:
- almond milk
- juice (orange, cranberry)
- kefir (liquid yogurt)
Miscellaneous
We like to experiment. Things that have been yummy include:
- chocolate (yep, that good ‘ole stuff we usually save for dessert. Dark chocolate has anti-oxidants, but it’s chocolate- who needs a justification?)
- protein powder (especially after a morning round of P90X)
- fresh peeled ginger
- almonds and other nuts
- seeds (sunflower, chia)
- carrots, peppers and grapes
- canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
- uncooked oats (creates a really nice, thick texture)
- cooked quinoa
The Vitamix and smoothie breakfasts make sure that we get a daily dose of healthy and a morning burst of yummy with our coffee quality time. Do you enjoy smoothies? What are your success recipes?
