IDGAF Kitchen: Makin’ Smoothies

Smoothie1I have been smoothie-curious for a while and keep talking about how I’m gonna make smoothies all the time. I like eating veggies, and I like eating kale. My go-to breakfast is a toasted PB&J sandwich, cuz it’s fast and easy, but eating a PB&J a day is probably not that great for you. I will look at people’s smoothie photos on Instagram and think Hey, that looks healthy and delicious and fresh! BUT …. if you know me at all, or if you have read my blog for some time, you know that I am NO WIZ in the kitchen, and lots of food-prep-related things are really not my forte. There are things I can do, and things I can’t do, and preparing food is kinda on the “can’t do very well” list. Luckily, I’m not a super-picky eater, so even if I make something that’s 75% nasty, I’ll probably still eat it anyway.

My mom got me a small/personal blender/smoothie-maker thing for my birthday, and this really sent me over the “you must try to make smoothies” precipice. Part of my anxiety about smoothie-making was Will I get the right consistency? Will I make something that tastes nastier than nasty? Will I break the smoothie-maker? Is it too annoying to wash all those dishes?

Smoothie2

Here’s what I put into my very first inaugural smoothie: frozen strawberries, rolled oats, half a banana, 1 big kale leaf with the ribs torn out, chia seeds, and vanilla coconut drink. I zapped this concoction around in my blender, playing with low and high speeds and the pulse function, and like, nothing was blending. I went to Instagram to ask for help, and as it turned out, I simply didn’t have enough liquid in there, so I poured in more coconut drink and also like half a cup of plain water. Things really started to whizz around at that point!

Smoothie3

Ok ok ok. I know it looks like barf. It had sort of a light brown color and LOTS of green bits in it. Further google-searching has led me to believe that my blender may not be high powered or fancy enough to blend green bits perfectly smooth. Luckily, this falls under the “75% nasty” umbrella, and I can handle chewing through my smoothie a little bit. The flavor was fine, but maybe just a smidge too tart because of all the berries and no sweetener aside from the banana and the sweetener in my coconut milk/drink. The smoothie did end up runnier than I imagined in my head, and I repeated the same mistake the next day. Oh well!

Smoothie4

This was today’s smoothie: some ice cubes, a banana, rolled oats, 2 TSP of PB2, 2 TSP of cocoa powder, chia seeds, a handful of frozen blueberries, coconut drank, and water.

Smoothie5

As I mentioned above, it ended up runnier than I would want, but maybe this is just what smoothies are like!? I dunno. I’ll try to add less water, but I know if I don’t add enough, things just won’t blend at all. I am sure I will figure it out eventually! The flavor of this smoothie was interesting. I felt like it had kind of like, a fake sugar taste to it, which I couldn’t figure out. It might be my coconut drink, since I haven’t actually tasted it on its own yet, but it has cane sugar and no artificial sweeteners, so I’ll just blame the blueberries cuz I don’t usually eat blueberries… Also, I added honey afterward because it wasn’t sweet enough for me, probably due to adding too much water.

Anyway, those are my smoothie adventures so far! If you have favorite recipes, I’m happy to hear them! BTW, this is the blender that my mom got me. This is not a full endorsement, as I am sure there are better blenders out there, but this is the one I got! I like that you only have to clean two pieces (the cup and the blender-blade thingie), and it comes with a travel lid, so you can zap your breakfast and then take it in a car with you. All I need now is a washable/reusable straw!

 

13 Comments on “IDGAF Kitchen: Makin’ Smoothies”

  • Denise

    says:

    I’ve been doing smoothies on and off for a little while and love them even though they’re usually ugly. Kale makes things look gross unless you’re doing a green smoothie. But the taste is always good and that’s what matters (and the healthiness thing).

    If you’re smoothies are too runny, you can try using more frozen things or more banana. I use a whole banana and sometimes I freeze them. If you have bananas about to go bad, throw them in the freezer. The peel will get dark brown but the fruit will be okay and it will last a long time.

    I’ve been using coconut milk. I froze it in ice cube trays to make it easier to portion and I throw a few cubes in a smoothie. My liquid lately is unsweetened almond milk. Other people have said my smoothies need sweetener, but I like them the way they are. You could put in some honey or maple syrup.

    I use a NutriBullet and I get tiny unblended pieces. The NutriBullet is small so it doesn’t take up much space and it’s really easy to clean. I can deal with some tiny pieces for that. The Vitamix makes incredibly smooth smoothies but it’s huge and expensive. Trade-offs.

    My favorite smoothie right now is blueberries with coconut milk, almond milk, and banana. So good! I haven’t put kale in it yet but I’m hopeful that the pretty color will stay.

  • Christina

    says:

    I break my bananas into pieces and freeze them and my smoothies always come out creamy. You might also want to try yogurt. I made a smoothie yesterday with almond milk, greek yogurt, frozen strawberries & bananas and a little agave syrup and it was perfect!
    I’m not exactly the poster girl for good health, my favorite smoothie is almond milk, frozen banana, cocoa powder, agave syrup and peppermint extract! Yum, it’s like a mint chocolate milkshake! But it has banana so it’s still a healthy smoothie right 😉

    • MaDonna

      says:

      i want that

  • Kim Scheideman

    says:

    try adding 1/8 tsp. of xantham gum to your smoothie to thicken it up. And if you slice your bananas thinner before freezing them, it won’t be as hard for your machine to mash it up so you may not need to add as much liquid. Or just buy a vitamix or blendtec. I finally splurged and bought a blendtec and while there is a learning curve, those things have power!! 🙂

  • MaDonna

    says:

    I too am afraid of too many dishes! And kind of expensive for me to buy all that produce for one drink. BUUUUT yummy! I like to put in likeeee – some frozen fruit, some spinach, a thing of yogurt and then fill the yogurt cup w/ almond milk and throw it in there too. Done! Blend! Nice and creeeamyyyyyyyy

  • sara

    says:

    smoothies are great! you might want to try using yogurt and milk instead of water, coconut drink, and ice.

  • Tracy Marie

    says:

    LOVE Green Smoothies – one trick I’ve learned to thicken them up is use half of an avocado – no lie, the avocado really thickens them up with no avocado taste!

    Here is my go-to smoothie recipe:

    Blueberry, Spinach, and Avocado Smoothie
    serves 4

    2 cups orange juice or water
    2 cups spinach
    1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
    1 banana, fresh or frozen
    1 cup ice
    1/2 an avocado

    Place the ingredients in your blender and blend until smooth. Add more juice or water as needed.

    source: http://www.babble.com/best-recipes/blueberry-spinach-and-avocado-smoothie-recipe/

  • Lynne

    says:

    I used to make this a lot in my magic bullet, which is very similar to what you have. It blended beautifully in that power of a blender. Only thing I’d add different now is maybe protein powder? Maybe a handful of kale?

  • To be perfectly honest Twinkie-Chan, your smoothies don’t look that bad.
    I’ve seen worse smoothies via photos online and myself have made worse smoothies in smoothie 101 experimenting. So no worries!!!
    I’d suggest in friendly advice to start small of recipes in smoothies; why not try fruit smoothies for breakfast like combinations of = Banana slices/blueberries with either options of a cup of milk, soy milk, almond milk, or orange juice. Add some ice cubes to it if you want to make the smoothie more iced style or keep if blended together for that cold smoothie texture.

    Or try other fruits together like Banana/Strawberries/Rasphberries/Blue Berries/Black Berries together with yougurt plain or etc fluids like orange juice or a juice fruit base. There’s also veggies, carrots with kale or a veggie/fruit combinations. I suggest check for any recipes that catch your eye on pintrest or other sites or blogs, or you can ask your personal doctor/nutionist or friends who do juicing or smoothies. 😀 Good luck and happy crafting/d.i.y.!!! XO, Cass

  • Your smoothie face made me laugh. I’ve totally made smoothies like that in the past. To make my smoothies sweet I’ll use over-ripe bananas that have been broken into chunks (sometimes frozen depending on how soon I want my smoothie!). Or I’ll use a bit of honey. Also, I like to use plain yogurt and almond or coconut milk, it makes the smoothies nice and creamy 🙂

  • Bianca

    says:

    My parents bought a Ninja Blender, and it is the best blender ever. One of my favorite smoothies is frozen mango chunks, celery, and apple juice. it sorta tasted like Mexican Lucas candy. i think you just need more ice/ frozen fruits.

  • Lisa

    says:

    I buy bananas and immediately slice ’em up and put ’em in the freezer! Frozen bananas make smoothies reeeeally thick!!

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