Four Butter Babes: Confessions of a Snobby Smoothie Girl

Confessions of a Snobby Smoothie Girl

One might ask how you can be snobby about ..........a smoothie?

Here are my two cents:

Breakfast food is SERIOUS stuff. Although it may be hard to mess up most of the time, it is the butter on the biscuit of comfort food. Breakfast is also one of the most important meals of the day, to jump start your metabolism by boosting your blood sugar and curbing your appetite.

So, this is not a post about comfort food, per se, because if we all had biscuits and gravy and bacon for breakfast every morning, we may not be around long enough to enjoy the rest of the recipe posts to come. So, in defense of breakfast, I am promoting smoothies as the healthy comfort food. But.....with extreme caution.

Because...... only about 1/3 of smoothies I have made/ordered/been given/tasted are actually good.

There are several things that can go wrong with this liquid meal. Either the fruit is too tart, the top is too frothy, the ice is not well blended and dispersed, it isn't sweet enough, or it is made with ice cream or sorbet.... ice cream for breakfast?

Really.... if I am going for ice cream to start my day, I will just break out the mint chip.

But I am sure you get the point, a good smoothie recipe is hard to come by. Some of you may not be as picky as I am, but in this family we are snobby about ALL the food. You couldn't be caught dead using margarine in place of butter, or show up on a holiday with a store-bought pie (with the exception of a Perkins pie), and you might as well not bother, because barely anyone would eat it with 8 other ones that are homemade.

So, after much experimentation on the levels of texture, flavor, sweetness and health and many smoothies ending up down the drain.... Here is my snobby smoothie recipe:

Here are my personally preferred ingredients:

- Almond milk

-Vanilla yogurt

-Frozen bananas

-Frozen blueberries

-Frozen blackberries

-Vanilla protein powder (optional)

Start out with your bananas. Bananas are great for you, and they really bring the sweetness and smooth texture to your smoothie. Have some bananas that are going a little too ripe for eating? Peel them, chunk them, and freeze them in a ziplock. Waste not, want not. For those of us who don't like bananas, or have the misfortune of being allergic, just add some extra of your frozen berries, it may need a little more almond milk, too.

Equivalent to about a half to 3/4 of a banana is what I use for one serving.

Then, it's time to add your other favorite fruits. Choosing fruit to add to your smoothie can sometimes be a little tricky. The taste of your smoothie can depend on this important ingredient. I have started to stray away from strawberries unless they are pretty sweet before I freeze them, because they can give it a really tart aftertaste. So, I tend to stick with blueberries and blackberries, however, if you don't have a super powerful blender, you may have to deal with the seeds. And for those of you who are fruit purists, and like to have all fresh fruit.... I will warn you, the texture will be sacrificed. Frozen fruit is so much better than fresh when it comes to smoothies since it allows you to get the frozen beverage without adding any ice. If you do add it, it tends to foam and the ice all raises to the top.

So, figure out your fruit, and add about a hand full of whatever you decide on.

Next, you add your protein. Not everyone is a fan of yogurt, and not everyone is a fan of protein powder, but they do make your smoothie pretty nutritious and keep you from getting hungry before lunch. Most of the time, I add both, in which case, I would use a half container of the yogurt, and a half scoop of the powder. However, if you only have one or the other, you can use a full container of yogurt or a full scoop of powder to get about the same amount of protein.

In this picture below, you can see what frozen yogurt in the container looks like. It may look a little funny, but I assure you, it adds to the good texture. You can keep tons of them in your freezer. If you are only using half of one, you can zap it for about 15 seconds, then squeeze the sides of the container to break loose what you want and then refreeze. Also, if you get the ones with the foil lids...... keep it, and just fold it back over the lid!

Now, it's time for the liquid to bring it all together. First of all, I am in no way a vegan/vegetarian. I love my meat. Especially bacon. Mmmmm.... bacon. ( I am sure there will be an upcoming post about bacon, I am starting to wonder with the bacon obsession, how that didn't manage to get into the title of the blog somehow.....)

But anyway.... the reason I have almond milk, is because it is healthier than cow's milk in a couple of ways, with less fat and less calories. But the most important part, is that it adds natural sweetness to the smoothie that cow's milk doesn't. You don't have to like the way almond milk tastes by itself to like it in a smoothie. You probably wouldn't even be able to tell it was almond milk once it is all blended together. It's pretty good stuff though, just not as much calcium.

I usually just use enough to almost submerge the other ingredients in the cup (about 3/4 to a cup) but you can add as you like for desired thickness.

Last of all.....the blender. I have had the great fortune of getting every known kitchen appliance on earth (aside from a bread maker) this year for my birthday, and graduation. I love my kitchen aid, and Keurig, I use them TONS. However, my Ninja is the one thing I use consistently on a daily basis. Simply because it is .....awesome. It is very loud, but it is also run by horsepower. The only reason I bring this up is because it blends everything super well, not only for smoothies, but other things as well. I even grind coffee with it, and it's super easy and fast to clean. But the main thing that is important for me, is that it blends the seeds as well as the rest of the ingredients, and the texture is great. So blend away!