Smoothie question

I don't like fruit and veg but I want to get it in me some how so I thought smoothies would be the easiest way but I'm clueless.

I'm looking at this mix, does it look OK and how many 250ml portions would it make roughly? https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/shop/gb/groceries/sainsburys-my-goodness!-beautiful-berries-smoothie-mix-480g

Replies

  • toxikon
    toxikon Posts: 2,384 Member
    edited November 2017
    I just buy whatever frozen fruit tickles my fancy, I don't bother with premade mixes. Obviously, just go for whatever is cheapest.

    Smoothies can get pretty high in sugar, depending on what you put in them. So if that's any concern for you, think about using fewer high-sugar fruit and yogurts.

    My favourite smoothies are:

    - fresh spinach or kale
    - blueberries, strawberries, raspberries
    - banana
    - vanilla greek yogurt
    - vanilla protein powder
    - unsweetened almond milk

    Or:

    - fresh spinach or kale
    - banana
    - vanilla greek yogurt
    - PB2
    - peanut butter chocolate protein powder
    - cocoa powder
    - unsweetened almond milk

    Don't be afraid to toss some kale or spinach into your smoothies, you seriously can't taste it. It just turns your smoothies a digusting baby-poop green - but who cares about that. :P
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited November 2017
    I don't like fruit and veg but I want to get it in me some how so I thought smoothies would be the easiest way but I'm clueless.

    I'm looking at this mix, does it look OK and how many 250ml portions would it make roughly? https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/shop/gb/groceries/sainsburys-my-goodness!-beautiful-berries-smoothie-mix-480g

    It's just berries and bananas and pomegranate seeds, so depends on how much you use and what you mix it with. I suspect using frozen fruit would be cheaper, but if you like this mix it could be fine, doesn't seem like it has anything weird added.

    I do like vegetables and fruit, but sometimes enjoy a smoothie. For me it's important to use ingredients besides fruit, and I generally make it as a whole breakfast with similar calories. For example, today I did protein powder, a cup of unsweetened coconut milk, half an avocado, some kale and spinach, and one serving (140 g) of strawberries, plus some additional water. Made a huge amount, like three glasses, but I didn't measure. Was 340 calories, 50 from the berries.

    For you, it depends on how you are using the smoothie -- a post-workout, a breakfast, a snack -- whether you need it to be filling or are just supplementing veg/fruit, etc.
  • MilesAddie
    MilesAddie Posts: 166 Member
    I like smoothies for breakfast - they’re fast, convenient, and it’s a light meal that won’t weigh me down for my mid-morning workout.

    Another great bonus is they let me start my day off by getting a bunch of stuff into my diet that I normally wouldn’t, in one packed drink. Especially things that I might not “like” to eat otherwise.

    Pretty much every morning I make this:

    - 2 Cups Spinach
    - 1 Cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
    - 1/4 Cup Non Fat Greek Yogurt
    - 1/2 Cup Frozen Blueberries
    - 1 Tablespoon Ground Flax Seeds
    - 1/2 Scoop Unflavored Whey Protein Isolate
    - 1 Tbps Macrogreen Athletic Green Powder
    - 1/4 Banana

    Bout 300 calories, depending on the weight of the banana, plenty of protein, fiber, other good stuff.

  • SteveMFP123
    SteveMFP123 Posts: 298 Member
    edited November 2017
    thecharon wrote: »
    You don't like blueberries, strawberries or bananas? Frozen are cheaper in my area than fresh. You should have one of my smoothies. I put KALE in mine :)

    It's more the texture than the taste, for example I like dried banana. I haven't got a smoothie maker just yet but I tried an Innocent one today and it was really nice, it almost tasted too good to be good for you, so I'm worried it wasn't lol. It was this one:https://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/things-we-make/our-smoothies/super-smoothie/tropical-protein
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    That Innocent shake is 216 cals, way too big a portion of my daily cals to make me consider it. I guess it depends on if you can fit it into your day and sacrifice of calories you could actually be eating/might satisfy more adequately.

    I eat fairly balanced and have never taken one, but maybe a multivitamin would help?
  • dsboohead
    dsboohead Posts: 1,900 Member
    That Innocent shake is 216 cals, way too big a portion of my daily cals to make me consider it. I guess it depends on if you can fit it into your day and sacrifice of calories you could actually be eating/might satisfy more adequately.

    I eat fairly balanced and have never taken one, but maybe a multivitamin would help?

    What is tricky too with bottled anything...the calorie count could be for 2 servings. That 1 bottle could be 2 servings so double up calorie count if you have the whole bottle. Some makers are sneaky that way!
  • Sairzie
    Sairzie Posts: 122 Member
    dsboohead wrote: »
    That Innocent shake is 216 cals, way too big a portion of my daily cals to make me consider it. I guess it depends on if you can fit it into your day and sacrifice of calories you could actually be eating/might satisfy more adequately.

    I eat fairly balanced and have never taken one, but maybe a multivitamin would help?

    What is tricky too with bottled anything...the calorie count could be for 2 servings. That 1 bottle could be 2 servings so double up calorie count if you have the whole bottle. Some makers are sneaky that way!

    Not sneaky as it tells you on the package serving size....its not their fault people believe the pack is a single serve.

    It annoys me that no one seems to sell single serve portions. Sometimes I grab a smoothie while I’m out and I don’t want to try and guess at half of it and then keep it open without a fridge for the rest of the day.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    thecharon wrote: »
    You don't like blueberries, strawberries or bananas? Frozen are cheaper in my area than fresh. You should have one of my smoothies. I put KALE in mine :)

    It's more the texture than the taste, for example I like dried banana. I haven't got a smoothie maker just yet but I tried an Innocent one today and it was really nice, it almost tasted too good to be good for you, so I'm worried it wasn't lol. It was this one:https://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/things-we-make/our-smoothies/super-smoothie/tropical-protein

    You don't need a smoothie maker, just a decent blender. The Innocent one is high cal for the amount of protein, and not enough to replace a meal, to me. It's also pretty low fiber, which makes me wonder how much fruit is in it.

    As a comparison, the 340 cal one I made yesterday (described above) had over 25 g of protein and 11.5 g of fiber. For me, that's important to how filling it is (I was not at all hungry prior to lunch).
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
    Your basic twenty-buck Osterizer from Walmart makes a fine smoothie. I use frozen fruit. To make it sweeter, especially if has yogurt in it, I add half a frozen banana. Fresh fruit freeze easily. Just pare them as you would to eat them (peel bananas, pit cherries, core and section apples, etc. They can go in the blender frozen with whatever liquid you want to use -- for me usually unsweetened soy milk. I usually do them as a treat and don't have veggies in mine.

    I avoid strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc., because of the seeds. I just don't like the feel of them. My favorite is probably cherries and banana with a bit of vanilla or almond extract.
  • SteveMFP123
    SteveMFP123 Posts: 298 Member
    I decided to go all in on the smoothies, grabbed a Breville smoothie maker for £20 and some supplies. I'll be testing it out tomorrow.

    dqhrJCg.jpg

    Coconut water, rice milk, chia seeds, flax seeds, fresh bananas, frozen strawberry and bananas, frozen mango, papaya and pineapple and some ground cinnamon (not pictured).
  • SteveMFP123
    SteveMFP123 Posts: 298 Member
    Well I've discovered I do not like bananas at all, even in a smoothie so they're gone. I went out and bought some fresh topical fruit and I absolutely adore pineapple, just so nice. Mango is quite nice too, but I hated grapefruit. I'm a grown man who hasn't tried barely any types of fruit so that should tell you just how bad my diet has been, it's actually quite exciting discovering healthy food I like, I can't stop eating this pineapple lol.

    Also, if anyone is in the market for a smoothie maker the Breville is brilliant, takes seconds to blend everything and the bottle is really nice to drink out of.