Smoothie Prep

[hawkward]

Does sunbutter count as a nut butter? DS1 likes Greek yogurt, sunbutter, and strawberries or a little chocolate.

[hawkward]

Oh, and we freeze extras in ice cube trays and store in ziplock bags.

[babybean]

I only freeze them in popsicle molds so I don't have experience with thawing them throughout the week.

I usually do yogurt, kefir/milk, frozen berries, fresh banana, spinach and honey. Sometimes hemp powder. You don't taste the spinach so it's a nice way to get it in.

[babybean]

Seeds could work too for extra goodness.

[imapenguin]

I don't think smoothies with chocolate and banana taste very banana-y and bananas really do help the consistency of smoothies to be more desirable (to me).

I make smoothies for DD, but hide more veggies than protein in them. I don't think any of my go to's would be good with chocolate.

I usually buy some bag of frozen mixed fruit, and mix a handful of that with a little Greek yogurt, fresh spinach, half a fresh banana, and a splash of orange juice. I'll add other veggies too, just depends on what I have in the house. It doesn't really matter because you can't taste anything but the fruit. Tropical fruit is especially strong flavored.

[Pizzaslut]

I make smoothies almost every day and give some to DS. He loves them. My go-to is almond milk, Greek yogurt, frozen banana, pineapple, celery and spinach. If you wanted to add the chocolate protein powder, I would sub blueberries for the pineapple. With enough other stuff, she shouldn't taste the celery or you could take the celery out all together. I have also thrown in some avocado.

[jbm]

DS and I share smoothies a lot. We usually do Greek yogurt, spinach, some kind of berry, a little milk and chia seeds.

If you are freezing and thawing DO NOT USE CHIA SEEDS. They change the consistency and it's really gross. Speaking from experience.

The Siggis brand "drinakable yogurt" is a really good addition as well. I get the vanilla, which adds sweetness and DS downs them.

[Pizzaslut]

Oh for prep, I cut all of the fruits and veggies up on Sunday to get ready. When I'm being ambitious, I will put individual smoothie portions in baggies in the fridge for each day of the week and then freeze the bananas (I peel, break in half and freeze).

[sweptaway]

I always have a hard time getting smoothie proportions right when I wing it.
I started buying these (they come in different blends) and using greek yogurt and apple juice or oj in them according to the measurements on the package (more or less) and it makes life really easy to have them pre cut, frozen, and measured.

Honestly I feel like chocolate would only be good with banana and nut butter But you could do a vanilla protein powder with any of the other citrus blends or just see how greek yogurt works.

[sullivan]

Chocolate goes well with cherry, strawberries & bananas, oatmeal, avocado, mint, etc.

I don't prep before I make them and I usually make enough to feed like 8 people so I'm no help there. Check Pinterest though for prep plans, I feel like I see those a lot.

[billyhorrible]

I don't prep beforehand because they're so quick in the morning, but my kids have smoothies almost every morning.

I agree with banana not tasting like banana in smoothies and helping the consistency. I cut mine in half and freeze them and buy bags of frozen fruit. Each morning I grab some frozen fruit, half a frozen banana, throw in some milk and a handful of spinach. I don't do yogurt for my kids, because I find that when I do, they complain that the smoothie isn't sweet enough, and since they have them daily I'd prefer to not add any sweetener like sugar or syrup.

On days we have a little more time or for special occasions I make cake/pie smoothies:
Apple pie: frozen banana, 2 diced apples, 1 cup milk, 1 cup yogurt, 2 tsp honey, 1 cup ice, pinch of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.

Pumpkin pie: frozen banana, 1 cup pumpkin puree, 1 cup milk, 2 tsp honey, 1/2 tsp vanilla, pinch of pumpkin pie spice.

Carrot cake: frozen banana, 2 diced carrots, 2/3 cup milk, 1/2 cup vanilla greek yogurt, 2 tsp maple syrup, pinch of cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.

[Pizzaslut]

Aug 16, 2017 10:15:05 GMT -6 billyhorrible said:

Carrot cake: frozen banana, 2 diced carrots, 2/3 cup milk, 1/2 cup vanilla greek yogurt, 2 tsp maple syrup, pinch of cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.

You could sub a date or two for the maple syrup and probably have the same taste!

I've done banana, milk, greek  yogurt, dates, carrots, cinnamon and a little bit of spinach and it is so so good.

[geekygirly]

I found this recipe that doesn't use banana or nuts: showmetheyummy.com/no-banana-berry-green-smoothie/ but haven't tried it yet.

I'd definitely be up for any other no banana smoothie recipes too. I'd love for DD to get more veggies but bananas make her super constipated (TMI).