The other day, I was thinking about how I could use up some of the frozen raspberries I have on hand from last July’s harvest. It dawned on me that the easiest way to use up frozen fruit is in a delicious, healthy smoothie. There’s no thawing and no baking. You just drop them in the blender with a few other ingredients and you have a tasty morning or afternoon treat. I’ve been on a smoothie kick ever since, so I thought I would share a few of the smoothies I’ve been whipping up lately. All of the recipes below make approximately a pint glass of smoothie, though, you may get a little extra to enjoy with some of them.
Berry and Pineapple Smoothies
Starting with a liquid base of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, oat milk, soy milk, or cow milk gives fruit smoothies a creamier taste and a boost of protein. Adding banana gives them a thicker texture and a healthy dose of potassium. Sweetening a fruit smoothie with some frozen pineapple offers some anti-inflammatory power. And, finally, choosing your fruit flavor from a wide swath of berry options lets you tailor the smoothie to the types of berries you grow or easily switch things up when you want a different flavor.
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup of milk, unsweetened almond milk, oat milk, or soy milk
- 1 medium banana
- 1/2 cup of frozen pineapple
- 1/2 cup of frozen berries (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc.)
Peanut Butter and Rolled Oat Smoothies
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Packed with protein and fiber, peanut butter and rolled oat smoothies are a delicious way to start the day. I personally never would have thought of adding rolled oats to a smoothie without seeing Tastes Better From Scratch do it in one of her videos, but now that I’ve tried it, I think it makes perfect sense. The one thing I would suggest, however, is that if you don’t have a high-powered blender, you should use a food processor to grind up the rolled oats before adding them to the blender. You want the oats as fine as you can get them or the smoothie will be a little chewy.
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup of milk, unsweetened almond milk, oat milk, or soy milk
- 1 medium banana
- 1/4 cup of rolled oats
- 3 heaping tablespoons (T) of Greek yogurt (optional)
- 2 heaping tablespoons (T) of natural peanut butter
- 3 to 4 ice cubes
Green Smoothies (Kale and Pineapple)
The green in these smoothies comes from kale, but it’s much more palatable than you might think thanks to the addition of frozen pineapple. In the spring and early summer, when the kale is growing strong, this smoothie is a favorite of mine.
The kale needs to be boiled and put through a food processor before it’s added to the blender for 2 reasons. The first is that boiling the kale makes for a more pleasant experience. Uncooked kale, even if it’s shredded into tiny bits, is still hard and slightly bitter. The second is that some evidence suggests that eating a lot of uncooked kale may affect thyroid functioning.
Ingredients:
- 1 bunch of kale, boiled and run through a food processor
- 1 medium banana
- 1 cup of frozen pineapple
- 4 ice cubes
Smoothies are a Good Place to Start to Eat More Foods Made from Scratch
Honestly, creating smoothies is one of the easiest ways to start eating healthy foods without preservatives as most of the ingredients are either whole foods or minimally processed foods. Plus, they can help you utilize what you’ve harvested from your own garden or what you’ve received in a CSA (community supported agriculture) share.
Smoothies are also a good way to tap into your culinary capabilities. They’re easy to experiment with to discover new flavor combinations.
What’s your favorite smoothie to make? Let me know in the comments section below.
Cedar Swamp Homestead 