My Secret Weapon: Smoothies!

If you’re anything like me, sometimes it can be hard to get five full servings of fruits and veggies each day. I have a problem with the texture of certain foods, so I don’t always eat enough produce. But I did find one way to sneak in some extra servings: smoothies!!

I’ve always loved smoothies, and my love for them grew exponentially when I worked for Jamba Juice. When my mom and I started Weight Watchers, we decided to try making smoothies at home so we could save a few bucks. Since then, I’ve found dozens of yummy smoothie recipes online and I continue to experiment with different fruit combinations.

Here are my tips for smoothie making:

1. Frozen fruit usually works better than fresh fruit.

If you want your smoothies to have a thin, runny texture, use fresh fruit. If you want your smoothies to be thicker (similar to Jamba Juice), then use frozen fruit. Sometimes I’ll use fresh fruit or a combination of fresh and frozen, but most of the time I stick to frozen fruit. If you’re going to freeze bananas, make sure to peel them first! I learned that the hard way.

2. Don’t be afraid to experiment!

If you don’t like a particular fruit, don’t be afraid to add it to a smoothie. Unless you’re using bananas or cantaloupe, individual flavors don’t always stand out in a smoothie. Most of the time everything mixes together to create a whole new flavor. So just because you don’t like mangos doesn’t mean you shouldn’t add them to a smoothie. Don’t be afraid to try new things. Worst-case scenario, you won’t like the smoothie. Oh well, try again the next day!

3.  If your smoothies won’t blend, you need more liquid.

Even top-of-the-line blenders won’t blend a bunch of frozen fruit. Liquid is key! I love adding juice to my smoothies (especially fruit punch!) because it makes the flavor even stronger. You can also use milk or water, or whatever liquid you prefer. If you’re using only fresh fruit, you may not need much liquid at all.

4. Add spinach!

I know it sounds gross, but you won’t even taste it! I have always hated leafy green veggies, but I don’t even notice the spinach in my smoothies. Just add one cup (aka one handful) of baby spinach per smoothie. Be warned: it will make the color of the smoothie kinda funky.

I wanted to share with you some of my favorite smoothie recipes. Give one of these a try and let me know what you think! And feel free to share with me some of your own favorite recipes.

Cherry Bomb

½ cup frozen blueberries

1 cup fresh strawberries

½ cup frozen, pitted cherries

½ cup milk

(I really want to try this one with juice instead of milk!)

Tropical Sunrise

½ cup fresh strawberries

½ cup fresh pineapple

½ cup fresh cantaloupe

½ cup frozen mangos

1 fresh peach

½ cup milk

Berry Good

½ cup fruit punch**

1 cup frozen berry mix (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries)

(This one has been my favorite for a very long time. Easy to make and very yummy!)

Popeye’s Favorite

½ frozen banana

1 fresh peach

2/3 cup frozen berry mix (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries)

1 cup spinach

2/3 cup milk

2 or 3 tsp honey

**By “fruit punch” I mean the Langers brand fruit punch found at WinCo. Not Hawaiian Punch. Feel free to substitute a different juice or different liquid altogether. Let me know how it tastes!