For those who are just getting started, here are some tips on how to make smoothies at home.

You don’t need an expensive blender – I have tested 12-15 different types of smoothie blenders, including a Blendtec, and although some of the less expensive smoothie blenders and smoothie mixers do not work very well, my
Oster 12-Speed Osterizer Blender with Glass Jar does the trick very nicely. This blender sells between $50-60. It actually beats my $400 Blendtec for smoothies. I prefer the glass jars as they seem to be more sturdy, easy to clean, and the blenders seem to work better.

Smoothie Blenders don't have to be expensiveSmoothie Blenders don't have to be expensive, but you do need to get a good quality smoothie mixer or smoothie blender in order to avoid ice or fruit chunks.

Begin with fruits and / or vegetables that you enjoy. Favorite smoothies are made with strawberries, raspberries, bananas, pears, apples, blueberries, mangoes, and other fruits. You don’t need to make it fancy or include all of the fruits, just the ones you like and mix and match them.

Many people will add protein powder or low-fat yogurt to their smoothies, or even ice cream (but that adds a lot of calories as well as sugar to your smoothie.) Smoothies can help you lose weight, have more energy and are a great meal replacement.

Wash your fruit well, peal bananas, and remove hard skins. You may wish to leave the skin on peaches or pears – there is no problem with doing this, just make sure you wash them well – and remove the seed/pits inside.

Most blenders do better if you cut the fruit up a bit before blending, and if you are using any frozen fruits, make sure to add enough liquid for your smoothie blender to liquify everything well.

Place all of your ingredients in the smoothie blender, add ice and liquid (water, milk, orange juice, apple juice or other liquid) and blend. It’s really not hard learning how to make smoothies at home, and can be quite fun. Just experiment a little. Fruit combinations can be really enjoyable and you can even add a bit of honey, sugar, or other sweetener if your fruit is too tart. Using fresh fruits in season do create better flavored smoothies, but frozen fruits work as well.

Learn how to make smoothies at home and save money.

Here is a strawberry vanilla smoothie I made today (I took a photo with my iPhone to share with you – and added just a little embellishing to make it look great!):

Strawberry Vanilla Smoothie

1 cup fresh strawberries
1 ripe banana
1/2 cup raspberries, blueberries
1 cup orange juice
1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
1/4 tsp pure vanilla flavoring
2 cups ice
1 cup water

I put everything in my blender, and let it run. Delicious, refreshing, and very low in calories. I calculated that each serving is between 180-200 calories (depending on the protein powder.) This recipe makes 2-3 servings.

Take some time to learn how to make smoothies at home, and lose weight, feel better, save money and know you are adding nutrients to your diet.

Technorati Tags: blendtec blender, blueberry smoothie, fruit smoothie recipe, fruit smoothies, healthy fruit smoothies, how to make a smoothie, how to make smoothies, protein shake, raw smoothies, smoothie, smoothie blender, smoothie blenders, smoothie mixer, smoothie mixers, smoothie recipes, smoothies, smoothies recipe, strawberry banana smoothie recipe, strawberry smoothie, strawberry smoothies

Smoothies are easy to make and typically very nutritious. But you may wonder how to make smoothies yourself. Smoothie ingredients vary widely depending on the taste of the consumer and experimenting can be fun. Smoothies can include fresh or frozen fruit, fresh or frozen yogurt, milk, ice, vanilla, peanut butter, honey, chocolate syrup, or even sugar. Some like to add a bit of ice cream to their smoothie, but that makes more of a milk shake rather than a smoothie. Protein powders can be added, as well as vegetables.

There are many great smoothie recipes you may wish to try before experimenting on your own.

If your kids don’t like vegetables, try adding some spinach to the smoothie – make sure to add blueberries or strawberries to mask the color or it turns out a sickening color of green – but it tastes yummy and you get a healthy dose of veggies.

If you really want to learn how to make smoothies, I really recommend investing in a good quality blender, otherwise your smoothie may end up having chunks of ice or fruit that does not get completely blended. However, even if you have a lower quality blender, you can still get a fairly good smoothie by softening or cutting fruit (to give the blender a head-start), using small ice cubes, and adding more liquid – then letting the blender run for a longer time.

To make a smoothie – simply gather your ingredients, put them into the blender, add water (or liquid), and blend. It’s that easy.

Here are a few other resources about how to make smoothies which may interest you. 

• Child Health » Blog Archive » Homemade Baby Food Recipes : How to … – Fruit smoothies are great for the whole family, and they’re an easy baby food to make! Learn how to make smoothies for your baby from yogurt and fruit in this free baby food video recipe. Expert: Shanis Windland Bio: Shanis Windland has a Bachelors of Science degree in accounting from Central Washington University. She is a certified public accountant licensed in the state of Washington.

• Beginner’s Guide to Making Smoothies: The Base – The key to any good smoothie is the base. It will not only determine the texture and taste but also the nutrition – how healthy (or not) your smoothie will be. Smoothie bases are generally one or a combination of juice, milk, yogurt, …

Technorati Tags: how to make a smoothie, how to make smoothies

Technorati Tags: blendtec blender, healthy fruit smoothies, how to make a smoothie, how to make smoothies, strawberry banana smoothie recipe, strawberry smoothie, strawberry smoothies

How To Make a Fruit Smoothie

via Videos related to ‘The Best Smoothie Ever’ by Howcast on 8/18/09

	How To Make a Fruit Smoothie While we can’t recommend asparagus or cheddar-flavored drinks, we encourage you to experiment, using this road map to the ultimate healthy blended beverage.	From: Howcast Views: 27727 179 ratings
Time: 01:56	More in Howto & Style

Posted via email from How to Make Smoothies

Technorati Tags: fruit smoothies, how to make a smoothie, how to make smoothies, smoothies

Ultimate Smoothie with David Wolfe

via Videos related to ‘The Best Smoothie Ever’ by Suthenboy on 8/17/09

	Ultimate Smoothie with David Wolfe www.passingthelight.info Part 1 of making the ultimate raw smoothie with author and raw food pioneer David Wolfe!

Posted via email from How to Make Smoothies

Technorati Tags: healthy fruit smoothies, how to make a smoothie, how to make smoothies, raw smoothies, smoothies

Using fresh strawberries adds a bit of extra “yummy” to a strawberry smoothie – however frozen strawberries are great too.

Use fresh strawberries for better strawberry smoothies

Here are some favorite strawberry smoothie recipes:

Strawberry Kiwi Smoothie
2 Kiwi, 1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries, 1/2 banana, 8 oz pineapple juice, ice cubes, and 1-2 cups water.

Strawberry Lemon Smoothie
2 cups fresh or frozen strawberries, 6-8 ounces of lemon juice or frozen lemonade, ice cubes, 2-3 cups water.

Strawberry Sweetness Smoothie
2 cups fresh or frozen strawberries, 2 tsp vanilla extract (pure), 3 cups milk, ice cubes

Peach Strawberry Smoothie
1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries, 2 peaches slices (with skin removed if desired), 1 banana (extra ripe for more sweetness), 1 cup orange juice, 2 cups milk, ice cubes. (You may wish to add 1 cup of strawberry ice cream for additional creamy texture)

Strawberry Vanilla Smoothie
2 cups fresh or frozen strawberries, 1 banana, 2 peaches (fresh or frozen), 1/2 cup orange juice concentrate, 12 oz vanilla yogurt, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 3 cups water, ice cubes

Technorati Tags: how to make a smoothie, how to make smoothies, smoothie recipes, smoothies, strawberry smoothie, strawberry smoothies

There is a huge variety of options in fruit smoothie recipes

Here are some favorite fruit smoothie recipes to try:

Strawberry Kiwi Smoothie
2 Kiwi, 1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries, 1/2 banana, 8 oz pineapple juice, ice cubes, and 1-2 cups water.

Pineapple Smoothie
2 cups crushed or sliced pineapple (fresh or canned), 1 cup strawberries, 1 cup vanilla yogurt, 2 cups milk, 1 cup apple juice, 3 tsp honey, ice cubes

Blackberry Smoothie
2 cups frozen or fresh blackberries, 2 cups plain yogurt, 1 banana, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 3 cups water or milk, ice cubes

Strawberry Vanilla Smoothie
2 cups fresh or frozen strawberries, 1 banana, 2 peaches (fresh or frozen), 1/2 cup orange juice concentrate, 12 oz vanilla yogurt, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 3 cups water, ice cubes

Raspberry Banana Smoothie
1 cup fresh raspberries, 1 banana, 1 cup vanilla yogurt, 2 cups water, ice cubes

Peach Orange Smoothie
2 peaches (sliced, with skin removed), 1 banana (extra ripe for more sweet flavor), 2 cups orange juice, 1 cup vanilla yogurt, 1 cup water, ice cubes

Technorati Tags: fruit smoothies, smoothie, smoothie recipes, smoothies