Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Tropical Strawberry Smoothie





I created the Tropical Strawberry Smoothie for a couple of reasons. The first, is for an amazing blast of energy and the second, is to curb the cravings for unhealthy desserts. The wonderful thing about a smoothie is made with right ingredients, it can be served as a midnight snack without adding weight to the scale the next morning. 



I posted the recipe below and also added some alternate/optional ingredients. My favorite way to make this drink is to keep it all natural with honey as the sweetener. Just add honey slowly to make sure it only sweetens and does not override all the other flavors.



Strawberry Tropical Smoothie

Makes about 36-48oz (three 12 oz glasses).

4-5             Strawberries with cap removed (if using a blender such as a Vita Mix you can leave this part on)
1                 Banana (approx)
1/2              Mango
1/4              Honeydew/Cantaloupe (approx)
2 T -1/4 C   Honey (based on your palate)
3-4              Ice cubes
1/2 - 1 C     Plain yogurt (Nancy's, Greek, etc)

Alternate/optional ingredients:

3 T              Milk (optional. Helps to mix)
1-2 T.         Wheat Germ (added for health, does not alter flavor)
1/2-1 C       Mango Sorbet (if you add this, do not use the honey)

Blend the strawberries and banana. Add each of the next items one at a time and blend. Use the optional milk if you have trouble getting the fruit to blend. Finally, add yogurt and tap the stir button on mixer to just blend. This will help keep the live cultures active.
Serve immediately or freeze.

*All ingredients can be exchanged or omitted to taste. A very easy way to make a smoothie is to just use two or three fruit as the base.







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