But as I have now tried several that I quite liked, despite the lack of any sugar and also despite the presence of dubious-sounding health additives, I might possibly take the next step and try making some at home. Though the convenience of ones made for you is unbeatable, the $3.50-$5 price tag will prevent me from making a habit of them.
To increase the convenience of homemade smoothies, bloggers have some quite helpful suggestions, starting with making larger batches and freezing them; these inexpensive freezer jars (basically cups with lids, but made to withstand freezing) are a particularly smashing idea.
So far my favorites -- and some of the healthiest smoothies -- are the ones made of just frozen berries and ice, so I'll start there. I read that frozen acai puree is available at grocery stores, so I'll look that up; it appears possible to sneak in things like flaxseed meal and who knows, perhaps wheat germ. Many other additives appear to be total hooey, as this website refreshingly specifies. (Ginger, though, might be worth adding strictly for its taste.) Acai might not be hooey, according to some actual experiments by reputable folks (Texas A&M, naturally. Whoop!) The Mayo Clinic seems to think flaxseed oil and protein powder are OK.
The simplest way to start appears to be simply chucking a few cups of frozen fruit and perhaps a little crushed ice into the blender. Ways to add smoothness/bulk include frozen bananas, juice, low- or nonfat yogurt, skim milk and a tablespoon of honey, but I'll start simple first. I already know to be wary of added sugar in the frozen fruits; and I know to hull the strawberries (basically, get rid of the green planty bits and any tough or woody innards) before pulping them. Also, I remember from a long-ago recipe that sometimes cardamom makes an unexpectedly nice spice for strawberries.
The very basic idea:
Simple Fruit Smoothie (3 servings)
1 cup each milk, crushed ice, frozen raspberries, frozen strawberries
Or: 1 cup ice, 1 cup milk, then 1/2 cup each of black-, blue-, rasp- and straw-berries.
Optional tablespoon of sugar
Puree all ingredients except ice; then add ice and continue to puree until smooth.
Here's a distinctly different one:
Raspberry Limeade Smoothie (2 servings)
1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries
6 Tbsp frozen limeade concentrate
1 cup ice cubes
Some people, alternately, have tried adding a little lemonade mix powder, which might be nice too, especially with blueberries or strawberries.
Even though good frozen fruit is not cheap, I expect the overall cost will be less weighty than the $5 for a 16-ounce drink charged at the smoothie bars. But of course, those are made for you,which is grand.
After this, perhaps I'll try cooking up some four-grain salad and freezing that for healthy snacks -- most short-grained rices are supposed to freeze well (stop cooking just a bit early; portion them into cups or plastic bags while still a bit warm, to retain moisture; and store in freezer -- then microwave up to three minutes to reheat/finish cooking). Wheatberries and almond slivers are supposed to freeze excellently, and dried cranberries have been frozen, at least, even if nobody's bragging about the results; so everything but the basmati should do OK.
Here's my shortened version of that recipe. Note that 5c chicken broth = a 32-oz carton plus 1c.
Four-Grain Salad
Pot 1: 1c wheatberries + 3c salted water -- cook 45min
Pot 2: 1c long rice + 1c wild rice + 5c chicken broth -- 40 min
Pot 3: 1c basmati + 1.5c water + 1 pat butter -- 25min
Meanwhile, make dressing: 0.25c olive oil, 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar, 1 tsp sugar, 2 Tbsp dark sesame oil. Optional - a little lemon zest.
Combine: cooked grains + dressing + 0.75c dried cranberries + 0.75c slivered almonds
Freeze: Portion into containers and seal while still slightly warm to keep moisture. Let cool; store in freezer up to 1 month.
I'll come back to this entry and record results and prices once I give it a try.
