Smoothie Goodie !
Hello, fam!. It’s been a while here. However, I’m back now and with more good-food content so we can all learn the various ways to have more enjoyable meals without spending a lot of money & resources.
Today we will be looking at smoothies😋😋😋. Honestly, I feel smoothies are the next best thing since slice bread (lol…you might think I’m exaggerating till you try one and become hooked!). I say this because they are a fast and inviting way to enjoy any kind of fruit or vegetable without wincing, they are nutrient-dense, filling, easily digestible, possess a high fibre content, etc. I could go on and on with their benefits…
Still, you might be wondering, “what’s all the hype for?” “Is there any difference between a smoothie and a fruit juice or aren’t smoothies just fruit juices that aren’t blended properly?” Indeed both are made from a combination of fruits but smoothies are thicker than fruit juices. They are mixtures of fruits and/or vegetables along with milk or water, ice cubes, and, in some cases, sweeteners.
Smoothies can be made in many different ways. Severally, since I embarked on my ‘smoothie adventure’, I’ve “freestyled” by just putting a bunch of fruits in a blender and tasting it to see the results as well as trying out various smoothie recipes. If you love trying out things like me, you can attempt free-styling too but the most common and quick way to make any healthy smoothie is:
First, choose a fruit or vegetable. You can pick either fresh fruits, fruit juices (as you’ll see soon) or frozen. But I suggest you stick to fresh fruits!
Next, choose the base for the smoothie. The base, in this case, is either milk, water or yoghurt.
To make it healthier, you could also add some nuts or seeds as well as ice and some sweetener to the mix.
Transfer all the ingredients into a blender and whip them together.
Add a few herbs or spices (eg turmeric, cinnamon, etc) for extra flavour but mostly I skip this step because I always prefer to go easy on spices.
Lastly layer them up into a smoothie glass and your drink is ready!
For my dear readers based in Nigeria, I’ll be sharing 3 smoothie recipes you should try out right away to help you get on board the smoothie train (because these ingredients are easy to come by here). So, Happy smoothieing!!!
Fruit and Yoghurt Smoothie
This recipe is pretty simple and very quick because you’ll mostly be making use of fruit juices, not the real fruit. The fruit juices; i.e orange and pineapple can be readily gotten from most supermarkets or even made at home from a fruit juicer. For this you’ll need:
1 banana
½ cup yoghurt
1 ½ teaspoon white sugar
¼ cup pineapple juice
1 teaspoon orange juice
1 teaspoon milk.
Simply blend the banana with the yoghurt, sugar, pineapple juice, orange juice, and milk in a blender until smooth. Serve and enjoy, easy-peasy!.
Watermelon Smoothie
I love this one particularly because it has a very refreshing taste! To make this, you’ll need:
1 ripe banana (peeled and cut into chunks)
1 apple (with the core removed) cut in chunks
2 cups watermelon or half a small watermelon (peeled and cut into chunks)
1 cup liquid base e.g. water, almond or soy milk, optional
N:B: it’s not compulsory to use milk, water or any liquid base at all in this recipe because there is enough water in the watermelon already. This way it would be very thick and as I always say about smoothies, the thicker the better!
Blend them all together then refrigerate or serve with ice cubes.
Banana and Orange Mix Smoothie
Oranges and bananas go hand in hand when it comes to the perfect blend of flavours. This drink will keep you stay energized and alert all day and it also improves bowel movement in those who suffer from severe constipation.
To make this, you will need:
1 banana,
half a cup fresh orange juice
two teaspoons of sugar and some ice cubes.
Blend everything together. In addition, you can make use of brown sugar instead of regular sugar because the calorie level is much lesser when compared to white sugar.
Serve and enjoy!.
Now generally, I love my smoothies thick and crunchy. To add some crunch, throw in some nuts like groundnuts, peanuts, or cashews.
Also If you want your smoothie very cold, then you could prepare your fruits ahead of time and freeze them. When you are ready, just throw them in your blender and blend away or you could use ice cubes and cold milk instead of water.
In conclusion, smoothies are a great way to start your day. They are very healthy, filling especially when thick so can serve as a light meal e.g. breakfast or supper or a snack beverage as they go well with small chops like chin chin, chips etc.
So that’s all on Smoothie Goodie. You’ll be missing out on the “good in the smooth” if you don’t try your hands on any smoothie as soon as possible. So what are you waiting for? Go shopping and blend away!
See y’all next time. Remember to stay tuned to this space because there’s more to come. Love y’all and Stay safe!
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