Smoothies are a great meal choice when you’re on the go. Choose fresh and frozen ingredients, and just a few minutes in the blender gives you a healthy, portable breakfast. Enter to win a Magic Bullet To-Go for further ease of smoothie prep by leaving a comment with your favorite smoothie recipe. Keep reading for more details.
I am guilty of skipping breakfast on a regular basis. While I feed my kids a healthy meal, I sometimes stop short of actually preparing something for myself, usually because I don’t have the time to sit down and eat it as I dress and feed the four kids, manage any work deadlines for the morning, sign planners and check homework, remember “mystery buckets” and brush hair. Because I’m up and moving, I don’t even consider eating, and before I know it, it will be 10:30 and I am famished, which is a shame when you consider my love for breakfast foods, and it probably also explains why we eat breakfast for dinner so often.
Smoothies are the answer to my breakfast-skipping ways. I start with milk and 100% fruit juice. When I’m choosing other smoothie ingredients, I naturally lean towards the berry side of things. Freezing berries means they’re always ripe and ready, and because they’re packed full of vitamins and phytochemicals, they make a natural addition to a healthy smoothie. Plus, they taste good.
I also use smoothie time to use up some of the greens I stock my fridge with, and it’s a good chance to get some extra nutrients in my body. Being that it’s spring, spinach is a must in my fridge, but you can also use kale, swiss chard, dandelion or beet greens and other green, leafy varietals you’ve got in your house. And consider throwing in some further added health benefits while you’re at it. Some possibilities include chia seeds, ground flax, hemp seeds, sesame seeds or coconut.
Once your blending device is full of all your smoothie ingredients, mix them up. When I was new to the smoothie-making game I often didn’t mix them enough. I thought that if they looked blended, they must be blended. Really, though, getting a bit of a cyclone in there and letting it go for a while will give you a more even and smooth texture, which is more of what I’d like in a smoothie.
And that’s all it takes to get a delicious breakfast that you can enjoy while walking around buttoning up shirts and smoothing down stubborn cowlicks. It also makes a good commuting meal, sitting snuggly in the cup holder on your drive to the office or appointments.
Magic Bullet wants to hear what your favorite smoothie is. Simply post your favorite smoothie recipe in the comments below before 5 p.m. ET on Friday, April 30th. Magic Bullet will choose their four favorite recipes. Winners will receive their very own Magic Bullet To-Go!
And the winners are:
-Sharon
-Carmen B.
-Regina C.
-Cheryl W.
Thank you to all who entered! I’ve emailed the winners, so please check your inbox!
½ cup milk of your choice (rice, almond, cow, goat…)
2 tablespoons honey (optional)
1 whole ripe banana
½ cup frozen blueberries
½ cup frozen strawberries or raspberries
1 cup fresh greens (spinach or kale)
2 tablespoons chia seeds or ground flax
Add juice, milk and the honey to blender. Top with fruit, spinach and chia seeds. Start with blender on a low speed and raise the speed. If the blender seems to drag, turn off and stir. Re-cover and turn back on. Continue to blend until a small cyclone forms, and then allow to mix about one minute more. Stop the blender. Pour and enjoy.
Makes 2 small or 1 large smoothie
Your smoothie looks delicious!
My all-time favorite smoothie is a big bunch of spinach or kale, mixed with two oranges, an apple, a splash of vanilla and ice or frozen strawberries. Tastes very close to an Orange Julius! Yum!
.-= Jessalee´s last blog ..Randomocity =-.
My favorite Smoothie has Milk, plain yogurt, honey, Orange juice (the kind with alot of pulp is best) 1/2 tsp of vanilla and fresh strawberries, add some spinach, ice and a shot of strawberry dacquiri mix and viola.. Instant heaven in a cup!
My favorite smoothie has bananas, blueberries, strawberries, grated carrots, spinach and water…sometimes I’ll add some vanilla or honey for flavor. All the ingredients can either be fresh, frozen or a mix of both.
.-= Sam´s last blog ..Brain overload =-.
Here’s my favorite, probably because it’s so easy and yummy: Throw in one banana and/or pineapple chunks, fill the blender half full of frozen strawberries, then add vanilla soy milk until the blender is almost full. My kids love it!
.-= Mrs. M´s last blog ..Merry Christmas to me =-.
I love to start with a frozen banana, if I have it. I just about always use some pineapple. My berry of choice is usually strawberry although I will use whatever is available either fresh or frozen. I use plain yogurt instead of milk or juice. If I want it a little sweeter then I add a bit of honey. I’m thinking I don’t let it mix long enough. Thanks for that tip. Oh, & I need to try some greens the next time. I’m not so sure about the other suggestions. Wouldn’t that just make the smoothie gritty? Thanks for the chance to win.
I have a hungry teenage boy, and make smoothies alot. It sure would be nice not to have to wash my big heavy blender every time! I usually start with juice (OJ is usual). I add banana, frozen berries and some protein powder or greek yogurt. Flaxseed oil when I remember!
Awesome giveaway, Shaina!!These days I’m loving the tropical flavors, coconut milk, pineapple and of course banana.
Since discovering stevia drops, my smoothies are sugar-free.
.-= Aimee´s last blog ..Weekend Reading =-.
Hmmm…it’s so hard to pick a favorite smoothie! I would say at the moment it is: milk, vanilla yogurt, blueberries, peaches (frozen from last picking season!), spinach, flax and honey.
I dont have a blender so I don’t have a favorite smoothie recipe, that’s why i’m entering:)
The best thing about smoothies is using up whatever you have on hand! I always throw the last banana in the freezer before it gets too brown, so we have a ready stock of frozen ones for smoothies. And we always have a big tub of yogurt in the fridge. Start with those two ingredients, throw in anything else you have on hand, fruit, vanilla extract, flax, honey, juice or even a nice squeeze of chocolate syrup when you are feeling very naughty- it tastes great w/banana and yogurt!
We make smoothies every morning so we can start the day with lots of fruits and veggies! My favorite is banana, plain yogurt, mango, spinach and peach/mango juice! so so good 🙂
.-= megan´s last blog ..Stovetop Popcorn =-.
I worked at a place that sold smoothies and I have to say the best one that I made up was Strawberries, Bananas, and Coconut, mixed with Chocolate Yogurt. I liked making up my own. lol You get tired of drinking what’s on the menu every day.
.-= Sandra´s last blog ..Two Free CFL Lightbulbs! =-.
Gin and chocolate milk. Mmmmm.
My favorite smoothie right now? Strawberries (we’re currently out–yeowch!), vanilla soy, a dash of apple juice, plain yogurt, one or two bananas and whatever else I can uncover fruit-wise. Am looking to try throwing in some spinach leaves as well. YUM!
One of my two boys is a very picky eater, so usually anything that is green is off limits! I am a sneaky mommy, and smoothies are one way to sneak in the stuff they won’t eat. Some disagree with that method, but I have learned to pick my battles in the interest of a happy home! I make him smoothies almost everyday. His and my favorite combination is strawberry, blueberry, pineapple with Banilla yogurt from Stonybrook Farms. I add O.J., spinach, honey, and some ground flaxseed. Sneak it all in when I can!
I use whatever I have at the moment, but must haves in a smoothie are bananas, spinach, plain yogurt and berries. Smoothies are a great way to use up fruit that is a little past it’s prime, too. Thanks for doing a give-away!
My favorite recipe stemmed from a desperate need to use up some giant gorgeous lemons I had on hand. I juiced about 4 lemons.
Berry Lemonade smoothie
Lemon Juice
Plain yogurt
fresh picked blackberries
2 tbl agave syrup
2 slices of avocado
I don’t measure anything, I just eye ball it. It comes out perfect everytime and it is so refreshing.
I hope a non recipe counts for a recipe! I will just throw in whatever I have in my freezer and refrigerator. I admit that I’m not adventurous and will just blend frozen fruit, yogurt, milk, juice, maybe some sugar if the yogurt is plain.
I look forward to reading all of these recipes!
1/2 c. nonfat Greek yogurt, juice of 1/2 grapefruit, 1/2 c. tangerine juice, 1 frozen banana, 1/2 c. fresh spinach leaves, and 1 scoop vanilla protein powder. Yum!!
Strawberry and banana smoothie with some maca powder.
Here’s another smoothie I drink to get more dietary fiber.
1 cup calcium-fortified vanilla soy milk
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1/2 cup corn flakes cereal
1 frozen banana, sliced
Orange Julis Smoothies are one of my favorites! He’s a tasty replica from the Recipe Zaar:
Ingredients
6 ounces frozen orange juice concentrate
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
5-6 ice cubes
Directions
1Blend all ingredients until smooth and frothy.
We make smoothies every morning. 1 banana, one cup frozen blueberries, 3-4 frozen strawberries, one scoop protein power, a couple of shakes of cinnamon and turmeric, some rice milk and some juice. I’ve never used spinach, but it looks like so many people do, that I need to give it a try! Thanks for all the ideas.
This is what I made this morning: frozen banana, strawberries, fresh mandarin orange, skim milk, vanilla yogurt, flax seed. It was superlicious.
My blender broke so I haven’t been enjoying any smoothies! 🙁 But when I did have a blender, my favorite smoothie was to take some yogurt, little bit of milk, a bananna, a handful of strawberries and blueberries and a handfull of spinach. YUM!
1 frozen banana, 1 cup coconut milk – unsweetened, 6-7 ice cubes, 2 packets of nustevia, 1 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder – ghiradeli or dagoba is best, 2 tsp chia seeds (sneak these in)
My family loves these!
My favorite, easy, get-out-the-door smoothie is:
1 cup peeled/diced mango
1 cup greek yogurt
1/2 banana
a little bit of skim milk
.-= Trina´s last blog ..From the pantry: Jalapeno Cheese Cornbread =-.
We love fresh fruit smoothies with just a little bit of water or juice to help them blend. One of our favorites is pineapple, banana, strawberry with orange juice. I don’t really measure, just dump in lots of each fruit and add orange juice as needed.
In the summer, we take the leftovers and freeze them in popsicle molds for healthy fruit popsicles!
We find that using simple recipes means we’re more likely to make them more often.
.-= Mandi @ Organizing Your Way´s last blog ..Spring Cleaning Carnival: Get Food Additives Out =-.
A fave at our house is bananas, strawberries and blueberries with oj and vanilla yogurt. Mmm.
.-= Nancy´s last blog ..tulip festival =-.
My favorite would be a banana berry version too. I use whatever I have on hand, which is any combination of the following: banana, frozen berries, milk, yogurt, splash of vanilla. Yum! Love smoothies.
.-= Jennifer´s last blog ..Weekly shopping & meal planning =-.
I use rice milk, greek yogurt, a frozen banana, frozen strawberries and blueberries and some honey and a bit of flax seed. delicious!
As good as those fruit smoothies are, I still like to get my caffeine fix in the morning. So here’s my favorite coffee smoothie. (Dear Magic Bullet: If you’re looking for fruit in your recipes, I suggest garnishing this with one or more fat, juicy strawberries! Love, Rose)
1 cup milk (I use 1%)
2 heaping tsp. instant espresso powder
2 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
10-12 large ice cubes
Whir together in your blender til smooth. Sip slowly so you won’t get a freeze head.
P.S. How could I blame you if you added two Tbsp. of chocolate syrup to this? That’s what I always do….
But I don’t always top it with whipped cream. Sometimes, but not always.
Okay, most of the time.
I won’t judge you if you won’t judge me.
My daughter wants one every morning: Pomegranate-Cranberry juice, plain (or vanilla) Greek yogurt, frozen mango/pinapple/papaya combo. We just need a Magic Bullet to get it super smooth! The old blender takes a LONG time!
I live in Hawaii, so year-round we have unlimited access to delicious little apple bananas. They are a bit more sour than normal bananas, but SOO good to turn into a smoothie. My favorite is adding just enough milk for it to blend properly, about 2 bananas, and some sweetener. It’s such a simple, refreshing smoothie!!
We make lots of smoothies. Our favorite is 1 cup vanilla yogurt, 1 banana,1 cup milk, 7 ice cubes and 2 scoops vanilla icecream.
Yum!
Nancy
.-= Nancy´s last blog ..Tip Technique Tuesday – How to Handle Weak Stakes =-.
Strawberry-Banana however Orange Julius makes them.
Strawberry banana yogurt honey. Thx for the giveaway
My favorite smoothie recipe is:
Canned pineapple
Cottage cheese
Banana &
Milk
Yummy!
My favorite is milk, yogurt, bananas, strawberries (fresh or frozen) and mixed berries (whatever is in the fridge or freezer).
I love banana, strawberry, yogurt smoothies. Really I haven’t had a smoothie I didn’t like.
love, love, love smoothies…..the simplest and most favorite of ours is ….
plain yogurt
frozen strawberries
frozen bananas
skim milk
1 scoop whey protein
add the first four ingredients together in a blender, as much as you want of each and whatever tastes good! Add the whey protein at the end and blend well.
i rarely make smoothies, since my blender can’t handle the ice. But when I do, I like mine with strawberries & blackberries, vanilla yogurt and a bit of milk (in addition to the ice). Another great combo is raspberry / blackberry. Yum!
I make a smoothie that my son loves. I call it the Chocolate Monkey.
1/2 banana
1 tbsp. peanut butter
1 tbsp. chocolate mix (I use Ovaltine or Carnation Instant Breakfast)
Milk
Blend and serve.
Sometimes I will add some whey protein.
Banana Peach Smoothie
3 ripe peaches, peeled and sliced (or frozen peach slices)
1 large ripe banana
10 ice cubes
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 scoop ice cream
Blend & enjoy!
I don’t really make smoothies. I love them but have only made them like three times ever. IDK why. I am going to make some this afternoon for snack when the kids get home from school. I have blueberries in the freezer and peaches in the freezer. I have milk. I have some yogurt (probably just flavored right now though). I have 3 kids, and they are each bringing home a friend today. Any good suggestions for me that will be accepted by kind of picky kids?
I love smoothies! They’re such a tasty way to get a bunch of fruit & veggie servings! I call my favorite the Berry Burst:
1/2 cup of vanilla yogurt (I like Stonyfield Farms or Old Home),
1 cup of mixed berry V8 Splash (juice),
1 cup of frozen mixed berries,
1 ripe banana,
1 tablespoon of ground flax and
1 tablespoon of wheat germ
Blend well and drink!
Yum-O! I used Flower’s recipe and made a similar smoothie for snack this afternoon. I used a quart of frozen peach slices (that I had frozen last year), 1 banana, milk, and some sugar as it was too tart for the kids. It was so good. One of the kids had 2 glasses of it. Two would not try it, but oh well – their loss. 🙂 I had 2 glasses as well. 😉
my fav smoothie is a fresh strawberry bannana smoothie
i use fresh banana and strawberrys yogurt applue juice and whatever else i decide to throw in
cbrocious1984@gmail.com
I love any kind of berries in my smoothie!
I just added spinach to our smoothies for the first time last week. It was quite good! We usually throw in a handful of frozen fruit, some 2% milk, a scoop of protein powder ~ and now a handful or two of spinach.
(we also pour any leftovers into an ice tray for super yummy and healthy popsicles)
.-= Jackie´s last blog ..What’s holding you back? =-.
I like a tropical smoothie…guava nectar, pineapple juice, frozen banana slices and/or pineapple, vanilla yogurt, a little orange juice. Coconut milk would be delicious in there too. Yum!
We make “Shrek Smoothies” with any fruit we have in the house, some yogurt, and our EnerPrime… They come out green every time!
.-= Christine´s last blog ..Rainy Day Tips {and a giveaway} =-.
Right now, the faves around here are Alton Brown’s purple smoothie (http://alifelesssweet.blogspot.com/2010/03/meatless-monday-purple-smoothie.html) and a smoothie with tofu and peanut butter in it (http://alifelesssweet.blogspot.com/2010/01/meatless-monday-making-peace-with-tofu.html).
.-= cathy´s last blog ..Meatless Monday – Homemade pizza and nacho rolls =-.
Our favorite smoothie is simple: plain yogurt, orange juice, frozen banana, a little honey and whatever berries are in the freezer! Recently we’ve tried blueberries, yogurt, grape juice and lemon juice (from Mollie Katzen), and that’s great as well
Smoothies are my go-to breakfast when I really don’t want to eat, but know I need to fuel my body. I keep bags of frozen fruit and containers of yogurt on hand especially for this purpose. My favorite is my tropical smoothie. I simply put 6 oz of yogurt (e.g. plain, peach), 1/2 cup of tropical fruit, 1/2 cup of vanilla soy milk, and 1 scoop of whey protein in a Magic Bullet cup and blend. (We’ve had it for years – it sits on my kitchen counter for easy smoothie making – much easier than a blender). It’s a great way to get servings of dairy and fruit. I find that adding the whey protein helps keep me full until lunch time. Delicious!
.-= Marjorie´s last blog ..Creative Ideas for Organizing Your Space =-.
1/4 cup of silken tofu
1 banana
mixed frozen berries (strawberry,raspberry,blueberry)
Mango if I have it
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup of milk
Lofat, high protein, great tasting. I think I will go make one now!
Greek yogurt with honey, mango, raspberries, banana– so good!!
.-= Robin (noteverstill)´s last blog ..That dare not speak its name =-.
Strawberry Smoothie
8 strawberries, hulled
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 cup plain, Greek Honey or strawberry yogurt
3 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 cubes ice, crushed
In a blender combine strawberries, milk, yogurt, sugar and vanilla. Toss in the ice. Blend until smooth and creamy.
HobartsMama {AT} AOL.COM
.-= Jennai´s last blog ..Blogs I Like =-.
The only way I can get my kids to eat oatmeal!
Oatmeal Smoothie
*Blend the following on high speed for one minute*
1 cup milk
1 packet instant oatmeal, regular flavor
1 whole banana, cut in chunks
1 cup orange juice
AllMyCrazyCats @ aol.com
Hi,
I like a simple Strawberry-Yogurt Smoothie
1 banana
1 cup yoghurt (vanilla or strawberry flavor)
1 cup strawberries, frozen or fresh
1 cup milk
The banana and natural sweetness of the strawberries make this smoothie just fruity yogurt perfection.
We keep it simple and yummy! I don’t really ever measure, just dump it in every day a little differently 🙂
Our favorite:
Sour Cherries (frozen)
Strawberries
Homemade Whole yogurt
Raw milk