Smoothies

Ever since my son was little, he seemed to have an adverse reaction to the texture of food.  I struggled finding ways for him to enjoy eating.  Many times, I fretted over him getting enough nutrition.  As he got older, I started to realize that he enjoyed "drinking" his food instead of eating.  I don't know how to exactly explain it, but I noticed that he drank a lot more milk, juice, etc. whenever we sat down to eat instead of actually eating his food.  So he would fill up on the drink instead of the food.  Then I discovered the world of smoothies and realized that I could still help fill up the nutrition even if he wasn't willing to eat. 

We tried a lot of different smoothie recipes.  Some were better than others, but along the way we created a really good recipe that never fails to make us both happy.  I purchased a Magic Bullet about 4 years ago and it drastically improved my ability to make really good smoothies. 

Our favorite smoothies include:

• yogurt - whatever flavor works, but I usually use some type of a vanilla so it doesn't clash with the other ingredients. One single serving of yogurt makes 2 smoothies.
• milk - I use skim milk just because that we always have on hand.  One cup makes 2 smoothies.
• frozen fruit - we usually use strawberries and bananas.  I typically buy strawberries and bananas on sale and freeze them after cutting them up. 
• Secret ingrediant - Jello!  One box of sugar free flavored gelatin will make 2 smoothies.  

This is all we typically add.  The resulting smoothies are very flavorful with just enough sweetness to make us feel like we are eating an extra special treat.  I've never calculated out the calories, but I can't imagine that they are too high. 

LIke I said, we have made a ton of smoothies.  So, I also have some recommendations for you on what NOT to add. 

• Pineapple - I've had pineapple in smoothies from the Juice Stop and really like it.  For some reason, though, I cannot get this to work in our smoothies at home.  It overtakes the taste of everything else and doesn't blend that well.
• Applesauce - I seriously thought this would be a good addition.  NOT!!  
• Creamer - again, thought this sounded like a good idea.  We were out of milk one day, but I had a lot of flavored creamer in my fridge thanks to my frugal coupon shopping.  At first sip, the smoothies made with the french vanilla creamer seemed out.  After the second sip, though, it became apparent that it was just way too sweet and left an odd taste in your mouth.  

An interesting addition that we only use right after Thanksgiving is cranberries.  My dad makes the most amazing cranberry sauce for us every year.  There is always leftovers.  This is really good in the smoothies!  I read somewhere that cranberries freeze really well.  So, I may have to buy some bags next year during the holidays and try this out.  I'm not sure that I would use the cranberries without first cooking them down a bit, but at least I could have a chance to have cranberry smoothies all year long.