Smoothies

I don't.

I find them a waste of my calories.

elcollins2809 wrote: »

I don’t really have time in the morning before work. I know there are some out there that get up really early to make a great protein breakfast but I’m not just there yet. So I I can have smoothies rather than leaving home hungry and end up getting junk because I’m staving by lunch. That’s all

I don't find smoothies that great either - they don't do anything to fill me up, and when I had them I still wanted food!

You could prepare plenty of things in advance - overnight oats, yoghurt (a high protein one, or add protein powder, with fruit, nuts etc), egg muffins/frittata, wraps or sandwiches, hard boiled eggs, protein pancakes/waffles.

id rather eat my food than drink it.

My smoothies are Greek yogurt, protein powder, and fruit + water until I get the consitency I want. Blueberries & blackberry yogurt. PB2 + 1/2 a banana. Frozen mixed berries. I don't use recipes so I tend to go off my eyeballs and logging skills. I keep them around 300-400 calories.

Hunger and satiety work differently for everyone, so maybe we can let the OP play around and see what works best for them?

I only do smoothies in the summer when it's hot. I buy greens when they're cheap and freeze them in zip lock bags. My smoothies are water, flavored protein powder, peanut butter, and frozen greens and blueberries.

Otherwise, I'll plan ahead hard boiled eggs, mini frittatas, overnight yogurt and oats, and usually add an English muffin.

Smoothies are nice but ends up being caloric after you end up throwing in 3 different fruit and veggies. Doesn't stick with you either.
Make a peanut butter and banana sandwich on lite bread.....much for satisfying! Easier than making a smoothie. You gotta clean up after your done with the blender....YUCK!

I enjoy smoothies sometimes, the ones I like are the same calories as my other common breakfasts. There are lots of super fast breakfasts if that's what you want.

I'm finally off my current smoothie kick, the cold weather finally got me. My current recipe (although it varies a lot) is protein powder (vanilla or plain), half an avocado, bunch of frozen greens, some roasted (and chilled) winter squash), and some berries (usually strawberries or blueberries), some homemade cashew milk (optional), and extra water to the right consistency.

When I was out of avocado I used banana instead.

I used to find smoothies not that filling, but lately they are as filling as any other breakfast (which means I'm good 'til lunch). I tend to enjoy them especially if I run first thing in the morning, since I often don't feel like eating right after. Going to do something warm tomorrow, though.

We make one every morning with homemade kefir, liquid egg whites, a banana, oatmeal (not cooked), frozen fruit, and a double handful of greens if I have some. Lately its been radish greens from the garden. The whole thing is blended in a blendtec and we end up with two 24 oz servings. I'd rather drink my breakfast then eat it. Its very large, protein comes from kefir, egg whites and oatmeal. I generally drink it in my home office, or driving to my office office.

My daughter has a lot of health problems and having smoothies in the morning have been a life saver for her, energy-wise. She loves them.
What has worked for us - to keep it low energy - was making something called a 'smoothie pack.'

This is a ziplock bag with everything that has to be frozen, or that can be frozen, inside the bag. We make them over a weekend and store them in the freezer until needed.

For breakfast, add the right amount of liquid plus the bag's contents to the blender, and you've got your smoothie. Nice and easy.

For every smoothie, we usually use:
1/2-1 cup liquid. We add this to the blender, pour the smoothie pack in after it, then blend it up. If there is not enough liquid, we add more. Some liquid ideas: water, milk (dairy, or any non-dairy milks like almond, soy, coconut, rice, etc...), coconut water, coconut milk, fruit juice, herbal tea, regular tea

1 1/2 cups fruit - at least half of it should be frozen, for a good texture (we chop up fresh fruit into 1-2 inch chunks and put them in the freezer. Then, the next day, we separate them into the smoothie packs, 3/4 cups (if we're going to add fresh fruit) or 1 1/2 cups.

We tend to use the full 1 1/2 cups frozen fruit, because chopping the fresh fruit when making the smoothie adds more work and we're going for speed and ease, you know? Some commonly used fruits that work well in smoothies are: berries of any kind, pineapple, mango, peach, orange, banana (over ripe bananas add even more sweet - and cooked apple is actually pretty awesome, too).

2-3 ice cubes of thickener- If we use all frozen fruit, we often don't even need this. But if desired, we put yogurt into ice cube trays, freeze them, and add 2-4 cubes to each bag. I know some folks have used peanut butter powder or raw oats or chia seeds, too. I don't know the amounts of these as well, though. I know some folks use peanut butter, but when we've tried, it had to be blended with NON-frozen smoothie ingredients first, and then ice was added and blended. Otherwise, even if added as unfrozen peanutbuter, the peanut butter just separated into little frozen chunks rather than blending and was kind of nasty.

Extra flavor or vitamin 'stuff' - If your fruit isn't very ripe, or flavorful, sweetener will be really important. Honey or agave syrup can work well. Or a few chopped, ripe dates or raisins, say. Or maybe you want an herb or an extract, like adding cinnamon or vanilla to a cooked apple and ripe banana smoothie, say. for extra vitamins, there are protein powders, wheat germ or flax, or veggies like cooked carrots or greens like kale or spinach, or even a vitamin powder.

Usually, if we have powders to add, we don't freeze them and just add them into the smoothie - but you can measure out the amounts ahead of time and put them into little snack sized ziplock bags, for convenience when you make the smoothie.



Re: recipes and feeling full.

I have noticed that our recipes with more protein have tended to leave the kids feeling more full. Also, we usually were looking for a FULL breakfast worth of calories, so we don't look to making ours low cal.

Some favorites of the kids have been:
coconut milk (not to drink, but canned) and pineapple juice, canned pineapple we have frozen - that's it. like a piña colada. Could add a protein powder for more bulk, I would think.

orange juice and carrot juice, frozen mango, yogurt cubes

milk, frozen banana, yogurt cubes, peanut butter powder

soy milk, frozen strawberries and frozen bananas, yogurt cubes

soy milk, frozen strawberries, yogurt cubes, cocoa powder (sometimes peanut butter powder, too)

For bulk and to feel full longer, honestly, I'd look at getting some bulk soy or milk powder, or look at raw oats - something with protein, again. I see all of them in bulk at health food stores pretty often.



This site has a whole bunch listed that might help give you ideas, too -
https://helloglow.co/make-ahead-3-ingredient-smoothies/

Purchased smoothies can be terrible, yeah. I've found one local place that has okay ones, but not as many veg as I'd use at home and still too high cal for the amount you get, so I don't do it (plus overpriced!). Mine are around 350-450 (which is what I want for breakfast), but take forever to consume, multiple glasses. I don't have the issue with drinking them vs. eating them that some do, in fact often the drinking is a bonus, part of why I want a smoothie.

It's really important to me that mine include vegetables (as in my mind a meal does) and usually a couple of different kinds, as well as fat and protein.