A healthy & fruity (Smoothie) way to start the day (Smoothie Recipes)

Member Name: buckhysen

Product:	Smoothie Recipes
Date:	28/01/09 (56 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Healthy, refreshing, wakes you up in the morning, tasty & a big chunk towards your 5 a day

Disadvantages: None I can think of

After reading a couple of recipe's for smoothies on here I thought I'd add a simple of my own, seeing as though a lot of my friends and family love it so much.
It's really simple and won't cost a lot.

Almost every time I read a fruit smoothie recipe somewhere they always contain yogurt and/or milk, and yet almost every person I've spoken to who has tried to make their own smoothies say they are disgusting with yogurt and/or milk in them.... and I have to agree.

I bought a smoothie maker a few years ago and for the first year hated them, and only made them because I don't often eat breakfast and thought it would be better than eating nothing. BUT every time I made one with all types of yogurt or milk in them I went off them very very quickly.

So here's the one I use almost all the time now, it is extremely refreshing in the morning, is healthy and gives you a real boost in the morning. Better still it's so easy anyone can and probably has already thought of it lol :o)

Firstly break up a large banana or two small banana's into approx one inch chunks and throw into your smoothie maker.
I pay about 15/20p a banana from Tesco

Then add a small tin (Approx 300g) of mandarin segments. I use the one's in natural juice rather than syrup, far nicer and healthier for you. Approx 55p from Tesco.

Then add 2-4 pineapple rings, you'll have to experiment to find the taste you like. I use three, plus some of the juice.
I usually buy a 432g tin of pineapple rings from Tesco for about 50p, which contains approx 10 rings, so enough to do up to 4 smoothies really.

Once all these items are in the smoothie maker I then add 5 or 6 ice cubes and blend/mix.

I usually blend mine for 2 or 3 blasts of 20-30 seconds and this crushes all the ice and makes a nice thick texture, and is delicious. It's healthy and very fruity as you would expect with nothing else added to it except for a few ice cubes.
Obviously you don't have to add the ice cubes but I find they are so much nicer cold.
At the very least you should keep the mandarins and pineapple in the fridge, but believe me the colder the better :o)

If you take into account 20p for a banana, approx 55p for the mandarins and approx. 17/18p for the pineapple chunks (At least one third of 50p) then you can see that these smoothies can be made for less than £1.00 for approx 1 pint, and I find they keep me full at least until dinner time. Not to mention the fact that they are a great start to the day, very tasty and a big chunk towards your 5 a day.

If I ever run out of pineapple rings or fancy a change I also sometimes add a few segments of grapefruit, but I find it is not quite so nice, although still nice enough to start the day with. I just prefer the way I make them now with simply pineapple, mandarins and banana.

It's very simple but try it.
I have quite a few friends now who often ask me to make them one when they come over now and my kids absolutely love them. Once more they're healthy. Especially if you buy the tins in fruit rather than syrup.

If you make one let me know what you think of it in the comments section. Would be interested to hear your views.

Summary: A quick and easy to make healthy smoothie to kick start your day