A smoothie is typically a drink made by mixing fruits or vegetables in a blender. Smoothies can help you feel full and eat less, and even help us manage our weight better!
There are many possible smoothies to begin with but not all smoothies are healthy. Not all smoothies serve the right purpose. The right combination and ingredients added to make a smoothie is what makes a smoothie perfect – both tasty and healthy!!!
Prep before the smoothie
Before we get to deciding which smoothie to make today –
Pick the fruits you are interested in, say bananas or strawberries.
Wash them, dry them, peel them (for bananas) and freeze the cut fruits for a minimum of 5-6 hours before making any smoothie.
This would make the smoothie frothy and most importantly because the smoothie would be cold, (due to frozen fruits that we use) it is hence not required to use ice cubes. Thereby, this would make the smoothie rich in texture – just fruit and no water!
5 Best smoothies
Peanut butter banana smoothie
Peanut butter and banana is probably the most popular combination for a smoothie!
Choose peanut butter which does not have any added sugar and preservatives but is made of actual peanuts!
Peanut butter has protein which helps us stay full for longer and bananas are a great source of fiber, antioxidants and minerals.
To make this smoothie –
1 frozen banana
1 tbsp of natural peanut butter
½ tbsp of honey (you can totally skip this as bananas are naturally sweet!)
½ cup milk
Blend this and enjoy your smoothie!
Banana blueberry smoothie
Some of the best superfoods to add to our diet would include bananas and blueberries. They are rich in antioxidants and potassium.
For this smoothie you can either use blueberries and plain yogurt or you can use blueberry yogurt in itself. To make this smoothie easy, I have used blueberry yogurt and it tastes heavenly.
To make this smoothie –
1 frozen banana
½ cup blueberry yogurt
And just blend this! Depending on the consistency of the yogurt, your smoothie would be thick or slightly in liquid consistency. However, if you are using thick yogurt, you can add a few ice cubes to make the smoothie silky.
Banana Strawberry smoothie
Enjoy a bright pink, super tasty and frothy smoothie with just a few ingredients. This can be your quick or on the go healthy breakfast for you.
Ripe bananas add sweetness to your smoothie and if you add yogurt to your smoothie this makes it a lot more frothy.
I personally like to add milk rather than yogurt to this particular smoothie but you can go with whatever is available to you. Either yogurt or milk, one of the two only.
To make this smoothie –
1 cup frozen bananas
1 cup frozen strawberries
½ cup milk
½ tbsp of honey for added sweetness
Blend this and enjoy your smoothie!
Banana dates smoothie – Detox smoothie
Dates are a great source of antioxidants. Adding dates to your smoothie makes for a great texture and adds natural sweetness to the smoothie.
To make this smoothie –
1 frozen banana
5-6 deseeded dates
1 tsp cinnamon powder
½ cup milk
Blend this to make your smoothie!
This is a really delicious detox smoothie and also makes it very filling for a quick breakfast or for evening time.
Green smoothie
As the name suggests, this is going to be your leafy greens based smoothie, filled with health benefits. It helps to detoxify your body, enhances immunity, makes your skin glow and many more added benefits.
To make this smoothie –
2 cups of fresh spinach
1 cucumber slices
1 frozen banana
½ cup apples or mango (by the season)
1 tsp cinnamon powder
2 cups water or coconut water
Blend this to make your smoothie!
Summary
Soothies can be a healthy and filling option for an otherwise routine breakfast or meal idea. They are super packed with vitamins, fiber, minerals and not just that but also super yummy!
Smoothies are very quick to make, you can plan and freeze your favorite fruits a few hours before. Therefore, all we need to do is pick them from the freezer and blend it all well – takes 5 minutes to make a perfect smoothie!
If you have a hectic morning or day at work and you would otherwise skip breakfast or have something unhealthy, I’ve got different smoothie ideas for you!
You know which one to pick for tomorrow 🙂