Cherry Vanilla Smoothie

Wow, this is a tasty one - with a lot of variety and adjustments possible.  This recipe will make enough for all afternoon and 2 people.

Start this by mixing 2 cups of milk or you can substitute Vanilla yogurt instead.  and a tray of ice cubes.  Once these are blended nicely, add the fruit mixture and spices.

Mix 1 cup of frozen pitted cherries, or fresh cherries if available.  Add half a cup of raspberries. Add 1 teaspoon of ginger and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and pour into the mix of ice and milk/yogurt.

Use either brown sugar or honey as a sweetener - if brown sugar, use 2 tablespoons, if honey, add about 1/4 cup.

Pour in the fruits, spices and sweetener and blend well.  While mixing, add 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and continue to blend.

Now the twists:  Replace Raspberries with Blueberries for an antioxidant boost, or you can replace with Strawberries.

For an additional nutrition boost (well protein), you can add a small amount of protein powder to the mixture.

More recipes, products and info can be found at http://www.healthysmoothiesandjuicers.com

Commercial smoothies

There are a number of articles all over the web about smoothies not being as healthy as people think.  The thing is they are all speaking about consumer-based and/or commercial-made products. They are also talking mostly about calories, fats, salt and added sugars.

Of course mass-produced smoothies are not going to be as healthy as home-made.  These things need preservatives (so they last while being shipped across the country/planet), are made to appeal to a wide variety of people, so have added sweeteners, salt (as an added preservative and taste enhancer), as well as not using high-end juice or fruit (so they make a profit selling them).  Mass produced products are almost always aimed at profit-first, health second.

Take any product off the shelf and if it screams 'Low Fat', it usually means it's high in salt, sugar, preservatives or other aspects - but are low in fat!  They follow trends in society and whatever the current fad is, they promote it.... not for health, but for profit.

Lets be honest ... if your making these at home for yourself, your going to use fresh fruit, and have the ability to use honey instead of sugar (real, pure honey is very good for you) as a sweetener, and you're not likely going to add products knowing they are a health risk.   You can adjust flavour and density by using real yogurt, milk or real fruit juice (not condensed).

As well you don't need to cook or preheat the fruit for easier blending since you're making low quantities and only for your own personal needs. Cooking fruits and veggies removes nutrients but does make them easier to digest and faster to mass-produce.

Please, when reading these articles, understand they are speaking of commercial made - prepackaged, highly sweetened versions.   What we're promoting is the ability to blend your own, home-made product for your personal use.  No additives, no preservatives and no need to add garbage to please anyone else.

More recipe ideas and products can be found on our home page at:
http://www.healthysmoothiesandjuicers.com

Kiwi Kreation

Kiwi's can be delicious and nutritious, but also have a slight bitter side to them.  Their taste isn't for everyone. So I've created this recipe with 2 versions, one gives a more kiwi flavour - with all it's flavour and bitter side, and the other hides a bit of the bitterness but still allows the amazing kiwi taste to come through.

Start with 4 kiwi's, slice off the skin, and put into a bowl for your fruit mixture.  Add 1 pitted peach, 2 sliced banana's, 2 leafs of fresh green mint (or if ground up, add about 1/2 of a teaspoon).  At this point mix in half of a lemon or lime - or don't (if you don't want the bitter-sweet flavour.  Now you need to add the following:
- half a cup of green grapes
- 2 tablespoons of real honey
- 1 teaspoon of ginger
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
- 1 cup of plain or kiwi flavoured yogurt

For a tweak you can add more peaches, papaya, or a small amount of dragon fruit. No more than 2/3 cup total for all these additions.

In your blender or smoothie maker crush your ice. I add usually about 6 or 7 large ice-cubes, but you can add more or less depending on how thick you want your drink.  Once the ice is crushed, add 1 cup of kiwi-flavoured fruit juice, or a similar type of juice.  Don't add orange or apple juice or any breakfast-type juices or they mask the kiwi flavour.  Again, depending on your desired thickness you can add up to another cup of juice.

Once you have your ice and juice mixed well - add the fruit and spice mixture and blend well.

Again, a few additional varieties depending on the circumstances.   You can add grenadine, vodka, or gin for a party mix.

The few things you don't want to have in this are blueberries, strawberries, apples, raspberries or cherries.

Kiwi's and Papaya contain - among other things an enzyme called papain, which aids in digestion by helping breakdown proteins.

Smoothies and Juicing basics

To preface this, I'll simply say that I'm not a doctor, nutritionalist or food expert, but I do pride myself on being able to tell fad from fact, diet from detox, and real info from internet hype. So take what what you want from these posts and keep in mind - you should not radically change your diet without consulting a professional. So for the first post I'll tell you all about what I have discovered. Smoothies are fantastic, they taste great and - if you mix the proper ingredients should give your body low calorie nutrition that is more easily digestible. I've been experimenting with making a variety of smoothies for a few months now, and here is my favourite recipe:

With the Blueberries added will be a more purpleish tone
than the pink tone shown above.  The Blueberries add an
element of antioxidants and blending or crushing them allows
our bodies to digest them and absorb their nutrients better
than whole blueberries.  Some fruits are more difficult to
digest than others, blueberries being one of them

- 2 cups of fresh strawberries
- 1/2 cup of fresh blueberries
- 2 bananas
- 2 tablespoons of pure honey
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (optional for flavour)
- 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
- a dozen ice cubes crushed
- 1 cup of yogurt - any fruit flavour or plain
- 1 cup of water or fruit juice
- 1/4 teaspoon of ginger and same amount of cinnammon
- slices of lemon, lime or Kiwi.


Crush the ice first, then add honey, spices, vanilla, some fruit, all liquid, balance of fruit, yogurt. If you are using a blender, mix, add, mix, add until it is nice and smooth. Depending on your type of blender and it's power, you may need to add an additional 1/2 cup of water or juice. Blend well and serve. Garnish with a slice of lemon, lime or Kiwi. If you are all adults and it's party night, this goes great with a mix of vodka. No more than 3-4 oz. is enough for the entire mixture. Again, depending on your blender or smoothie maker you can adjust the quantities in the same proportions.

More recipes, smoothie products, and information can be found at: http://www.healthysmoothiesandjuicers.com