When the thermometer starts inching towards those triple digits I find that it's almost impossible to eat a heavy meal. In the winter I'll happily gobble down a bowl of oatmeal, but once the shorts and tank tops start popping up in the mall, it's all icy cold breakfasts for this girl- Fruit smoothies that is.
Videos by Wide Open Country
Fruit smoothies as we know them actually got their name in the groovy 1960s by a teenager by the name of Steven Kuhnau, according to Healthy Smoothie HQ. Steven, who was lactose intolerant, decided to make up a concoction of fruit, juice and ice to mimic the drinks that his friends made. Low and behold the drinks tasted delicious and were healthy. Excited to get his new drinks out to the public he opened up a little shop called, Smoothie King.
Lyndsay Burginger
The word, smoothie wasn't something that popped out of Steven's head. He only branded it from hearing it from a group of hippies. From there the name took off, and there are over 600 Smoothie King stores nationwide.
Today there are thousands of stores across the country (and world) that serve up blended fruit drinks. From Smoothie King to Jamba Juice, Tropical Smoothie Cafe and Planet Smoothie, there's no limit to the kinds of smoothies you can order. Whether it be a Pink Star (that tastes like starbursts) to a traditional frozen banana smoothie with peanut butter.
The great thing with any smoothie recipe is how versatile it is to make it your own. And while it's easy to run to the store and pick up a cup, it's cheaper and easier to prepare your own healthy breakfast at home.
The Basics
The two ingredients any smoothie recipe needs is fruit and liquid. The fruit can be anything from apples to mixed berries. Most often, smoothie recipes use frozen fruit, just so the drink can be frozen but not watered down with ice cubes. Frozen strawberries are a perfect example.
Next, we must think about the liquid. We can use anything from orange juice to apple juice and pear juice. Any fruit juice will work. You can even use something like soy or almond milk or even greek yogurt for a creamier consistency.
Once you have all of your ingredients place them in a blender and blend them up. Depending on the blender you may need to add more liquid to get the machine to work properly.
Lyndsay Burginger
A good ratio to look for is 1:2. Something like 2 cups frozen strawberries and mango to 1 cup of orange juice. You can play with the ratio a little bit to include greens, yogurt and even ice.
Don't be afraid to play with unique flavors. Just take a look at some of these we blended up recently:
Blueberry Pie Smoothie
Lyndsay Burginger
This smoothie really tastes like a blueberry pie, crust and all. The secret to this smoothie is the addition of rolled oats which give the smoothie a fun almost crust-like flavor. And a healthy scoop of vanilla yogurt makes this smoothie super smooth.
Green Mango Smoothie
Lyndsay Burginger
I hear you, green smoothies can be intimidating! This smoothie is unique and gets a fun kick of spiciness from grated fresh ginger. Best part? You don't even realize you're drinking vegetables.
Chocolate Banana Smoothie
Lyndsay Burginger
This smoothie almost tastes just like a chocolate shake so much so you won't even miss the ice cream. Smooth chocolate soy milk pairs with banana and ice in this fun and healthy recipe.
