Here are some fruit and berry smoothie recipes that are very popular in my house. You can make these smoothies in less than 2 minutes.
In my article, 5 Creative Ways to Get Your Kids to Eat Their Veggies, I mention making smoothies as a way to get nutrients into your child. The following smoothie recipes don’t contain vegetables, but they are still extremely healthy and packed full of nutrition; a healthy choice for anyone in your family.
My son drinks a smoothie nearly every night, he loves them. I used to make them using a standard sized blender until I got a Magic Bullet, now I’ll never go back. The Magic Bullet is great for making smoothies, since they make just the right amount for one person. Also, if more then one person wants a smoothie, this is a quick way to easily make different flavours. Clean up is fast since you drink right from the cup you make the smoothie in.
Tips:
- When making smoothies with a Magic Bullet, I find that the softer ingredients - like yogurt and banana - should go in first, and the more solid ingredients - like frozen strawberries – should go into the cup last, making the solid ingredients closer to the blade.
- To ensure that you always have the ingredients on hand, stock up on frozen berries when they’re on sale.
- You really can’t go wrong making a smoothie. If you don’t follow these recipes to the tee, I’m certain they’ll still taste yummy. All measurements are approximate, so feel free to use these as simple guidelines.
Ingredients:
½ cup of plain, unsweetened yogurt (you can use whichever yogurt you have on hand, but this is a healthier choice and even if you or your child doesn’t like plain yogurt, the other ingredients will “mask” the flavour)
1 Banana
Fresh or frozen blueberries
Milk
Directions:
1. Place ingredients into Magic Bullet cup in the order they appear above.
2. When adding the banana, break it into three or four pieces.
3. Once the yogurt and banana is added, fill the rest of the cup with blueberries.
4. Pour milk into the cup to “fill the gaps” between the blueberries. If you like your smoothie fairly thick, use less milk.
5. Blend until smooth!
Ingredients:
½ cup of plain, unsweetened yogurt
1 banana
Strawberries (fresh or frozen)
Orange juice
Directions:
Follow the direction in the above smoothie recipe, replacing the blueberries with strawberries and milk with orange juice.
As you can see, these are so easy to make, are a source of calcium and vitamins, and really delicious. Here are some other great combos that are popular with my son:
In addition to yogurt and banana, add:
- Raspberries, strawberries and blueberries, milk
- Strawberries and watermelon (the watermelon will replace the liquids)
- Honeydew, peaches and fruit juice (if the melon is fresh – not frozen - use less juice)
- Blackberries and raspberries (expect seeds if you make this one, since the blackberries seem to have a hard time blending completely)