How Have the Smoothies Been Going?

'So.. how have the smoothies been going?' Was a question from a work colleague recently.

While I can report, I have been fairly consistent with smoothie making in the past few months, in contrast, I have been pretty shoddy with blog entries.

That's because along with my established affection for Pinterest I discovered the joys of Tumblr, and have been distracted with reposting other people's pictures and blog posts..


Smoothie Making: 3 Things I have Learned So Far

1. I make smoothies for my breakfast on work days. Whether or not I organise myself in time to do this each morning is dependant on what fruit-stock I have in the freezer, and what time my first morning meeting is due to take place.

9am, 9.30am meetings = starbucks or costa coffee
10:30am meetings onwards = home-made smoothies


2. . Almond milk seems like a natural favourite among those with lactose intolerance but after a few goes, I realised I don't really enjoy almond milk. I cant put my finger on why, just end up feeling a little nauseous if I don't drink it when its super-cold. So far, my go-to liquid has been coconut water from a can, which is not ideal but works for me right now.

I recently bought some chai and some green tea bags with a view to trying cooled tea as a smoothie base, will update this post (or a new post) and let you know how that goes. Similarly, avocado's in smoothies? Not my favourite option so far but I haven't given up on that yet. WIll try a few more recipe combinations first.

My only attempt using avocado instead of banana or mango as the creamy element in a smoothie. Perhaps it was combination of ingredients not just the avocado? It was aiiiigghht but not fabulous.

Ingredients: Kale, pineapple, avocado, coconut water. Meh..

3. Prep makes it all possible. On the weeks where I stock my freezer with mixed fruit and veg bags, I can be more consistent throughout the week with morning smoothie making.I do a fruit-fest all at once, randomly filling freezer bags with different combinations so each is slightly different.

I would list here, the contents of these freezer bags I put together, but your guess (based on ingredients we can make out from gazing at the picture), is as good as mine! You get the gist through! 

Thanks for reading! Check out my Tumblr page below.


Tumblr: http://thiabee.tumblr.com/

Keeping Up..

Maintaining the excitement of my first smoothie, I returned to the remnants of the medium zip lack bag. 

In a satisfyingly short space of time I managed to blend these..

Purple Delight

One and a half bananas

One cooked and cooled beetroot from a packet (don’t judge me)

One handful of grapes

Spinach 

Coconut water 

The result was a rich aubergine colour and a lovely taste. 

I took the contents to work for my first smoothie lunch.

With every intention of having ONLY the smoothie for lunch, I chickened out at midday and left the office in search of something to nibble on after the smoothie. I just didn’t believe it could make me feel full!

The two mini pies I bought (steak and ale and chicken), were the size of mini pork pies but gave me a sense of security. I was happy to find that once I drank the smoothie I didn’t want anything else. I still ended up eating both pies after 4pm because.. er.. waste not, want not!

Day One: Feeling Smooth

I am feeling quite pleased about the acquisition of my brand new half-price (£15), Smoothie 2 Go from Kenwood.

I have a vision of achieving a slimmer physique and glowing skin in a number of days simply as a result of handing over my visa card at the till..

Wait – What do you mean I have to do more? Ugh.. ok. Let me work this out.

Two hours on Pinterest.. and a couple of ‘have you seen the new Marvel trailer for… ‘ and ‘..did you see that video of the gymnasts doing those crazy ab-crunching exercises?’ texts, and I have dragged myself BACK to my original purpose. Smoothie recipes.

Oh. Ok, this doesn’t look like too much work. I can do this! 

I start by rummaging in the kitchen. Red apples, cucumbers, and lemons.

Hmn.. I don’t so.

I decide to pop out for fruit and veg.

As I lay my new acquisitions on the kitchen counter, I wonder what was I thinking when I picked up the two grapefruits?

I had no clear plan for those, but I set to dividing the rest of my purchases into clear plastic bags (as seen on Pinterest – be prepared to read that phrase a LOT if you stick with this blog).

Throwing the sealed bags into the freezer, I remember I have every intention of making my first smoothie immediately – and pull one bag out again.

Two minutes later I also remember I have a ‘single-portion’ blender, not a family sized one, and resign myself to pulling selected ingredients out of the self-seal bag and wedging them bit by bit, into the blender cup for processing..

This prep-thing will improve.

Half of the fruit and veg in the freezer bag, fits into the blender cup.

Note: Small freezer bags next time, not medium.

My first smoothie is comprised of the ingredients below.

Smoothie by a Smoothie

Half a banana

One handful of grapes

One quarter of a peeled lemon

As much spinach as I could squeeze into the cup

Coconut water (from a can, because who has time?)

I can’t downplay the delight I feel as I blend it up.. LOOK - it’s working!

Taste test.. 

...nice! Mission accomplished.