I love adding a small handful of oats! Sneaks in a little extra fiery goodness. Small though, too much oats and you can end up with a chalky sort of taste. If that happens a little extra fruit will cover it right up again.
Lucky you. Here's an article about smoothies in today's new York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/04/health/nutrition/strawberry-and-almond-smoothie.html?src=recg
I have been making them lately for my daughter. I seem to use: 1/2 banana, a little yogurt, milk, coconut milk, whatever fresh fruit I have (peaches, strawberries, blueberries) and a little peach or apricot juice such as Ceres.
For a real treat, try blending 2 frozen bananas, about 1/2 cup unsweetened soymilk, and 1-2 Tbls almond butter together. It's like a banana milkshake and will totally soothe your sweet tooth without having to add any sugar.
The only secret is using great ingredients. You will love your Vita Mix. I always include ground flax seed. Which I grind in my Vita Mix dry container. My focus is more on green drinks than on smoothies because I dislike bananas. My favorite drinks are:
*watermelon, strawberries, ginger and a little lime juice
*1/2 kale and 1/2 pineapple
*spinach and grapefruit
*tomatoes, celery, parsley, jalapeno pepper - I use organic canned tomatoes when tomaotes are out of season
I make smoothies every morning and once you get in the habit, you'll never want to start the day with out one. Experiement a little and you'll discover what you like and dont like.
I always start with banana, Fage 0% (High protien yogurt) and frozen berries (instead of ice).
From there the additions are always changing. Latley I've been using local peaches and local blackberries. Sometimes i add a little apple, and always a little Spinach or Kale (make sure to remove the stems) and you cant even taste it because the sweetness of the berries is the main flavor. I like to use a little Orange juice and pomegranite juice but not too much so as to watch the amount of sugar. So sometimes i use coconut water or unsweetened almond milk instead. For a little extra healthy boost, I add a little ground flax seed and wheat germ as well, but am not personally a fan of powders or added sweetners. Hope that helps!
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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/04/health/nutrition/strawberry-and-almond-smoothie.html?src=recg
*watermelon, strawberries, ginger and a little lime juice
*1/2 kale and 1/2 pineapple
*spinach and grapefruit
*tomatoes, celery, parsley, jalapeno pepper - I use organic canned tomatoes when tomaotes are out of season
I always start with banana, Fage 0% (High protien yogurt) and frozen berries (instead of ice).
From there the additions are always changing. Latley I've been using local peaches and local blackberries. Sometimes i add a little apple, and always a little Spinach or Kale (make sure to remove the stems) and you cant even taste it because the sweetness of the berries is the main flavor. I like to use a little Orange juice and pomegranite juice but not too much so as to watch the amount of sugar. So sometimes i use coconut water or unsweetened almond milk instead. For a little extra healthy boost, I add a little ground flax seed and wheat germ as well, but am not personally a fan of powders or added sweetners. Hope that helps!