smoothie-crazy!

I’ve always been into smoothies. but I kind of go in phases with them. there will be times that I have the ALL THE TIME, and then other times when I’ve forgotten about them and don’t have them at all. right now, I’m on a major smoothie kick. I was reminded of their sweet, wonderful yumminess a while back when I read a post on the pioneer woman’s site about smoothies. of course, she’s all photography-savvy and has a clean kitchen and whatnot, and I don’t, but this is my take on smoothies. actually, it’s just today’s take on smoothies. it changes daily, depending on what I have on hand or what I’m in the mood for. as you’ll notice, it’s also a shameless plug for my 3rd favorite kitchen appliance. (the first being my coffeemaker, obviously, and the second being my coffee grinder.)

so today’s smoothie consisted of the segments of 1 clementine (I have a 5 lb. box that I need to use up before they are not so good… plus, I figure the vitamin c will not hurt me any.), a BUNCH of frozen raspberries (these are from my garden last year. my freezer has been FULL of them all year. I’m now down to my last two containers of them. can’t wait for this year’s!), some frozen blueberries (I’m out of my stash that came from my dad’s bushes, so now I have to buy them.), and some frozen blackberries. I was going to throw in a couple frozen strawberries, but I ran out of room due to my excitement about the raspberries… it happens. you should see me make a taco.

you can use whatever fruit you like and/or have on hand. if your fruit is all fresh, you may want to throw in a few ice cubes to get that frozen thing going on, but you don’t have to.

then I pour in some milk. as you can see from this picture, I am SO NOT the pioneer woman. oh well. you get the point…

about this much:

actually, it probably should have been a little more. just a tad on the thick side. but I’d rather have it too thick than too thin. I’m so picky! sometimes I use orange juice instead of milk, and I’ve also been known to use soy milk if I’ve got any of that. whatever you like!

and then I spoon in some yogurt. I grabbed a strawberry today – to make up for the strawberries I didn’t have room for. as you can see, I barely have room for the yogurt, but it’s all good. only once have I had this overfilling thing backfire on me… usually, I use vanilla, and usually I buy it in the big containers to save on $$ and packaging… but I’m out of that.

now, at this point, you could add any number of ‘additives’ that you’d like. vitamin or protein powder, milled flax seed, what have you. I usually just keep it straight up fruit and yogurt, plus some liquid.

now here’s where the plug starts: I’m using my magic bullet to make this. I used to use a blender. I have a great blender. it’s red. (no, that’s not why it’s great, it’s just a bonus.) my blender has been in a cupboard since the day I got the magic bullet, 3 years ago. I should probably just get rid of it. but it’s red. I got the bullet to make baby food. it was awesome for that. now I use it to make mommy food! and the occasional margarita… oh wait…

anyway, you screw the mixer onto the top of your cup:

you stick it on the bullet:

you press down, turn slightly to get it to lock into position, freeing your hands to take a picture of your cluttered, not very clean kitchen:

and watch your smoothie mix!

when it’s mixed satisfactorily (because this one was kind a thick, I pulled it off and gave it a shake once or twice before mixing some more), you take it off, flip it over:

and unscrew the mixer:

then you lick the mixer to get all the yummy smoothie off rinse off the mixer:

and (here’s the best part) PUT IT IN THE DISHWASHER!

*intermission for blatant plugging*

this is the main reason I LOVE the magic bullet so much. yes, I can put my blender in the dishwasher too, but it’s just a huge (literally) deal to use. big, heavy, clunky, etc. all good signs of a quality blender… but a pain in the butt for every day, personal use. I tried making baby food in my blender a few times and I hated it. it worked okay, but unless you’re making a whole blender-full, it just seemed to be not really worth the effort. when you’re just making a little, it seemed like more of it was stuck to the sides and bottom of the blender than you got out of it. and trying to scrape it all out from under and around the blades is a pain. washing it is a pain too. my SIL, mary, the fountain from which all good ideas seem to spring, turned me on to the magic bullet. my first reaction was, “are you serious?” I mean, hello? they sell them on infomercials! stuff they sell on infomercials is crap, isn’t it? but then she told me about the baby food aspect and I checked it out a little. yes, I watched the infomercials. and you know what? I was intrigued. I wanted one. so I got one. and you know what else? I LOVE IT! it’s so awesome. I have no idea if it is everything they claim it is. I don’t use it to mix my eggs and grind my coffee and make my salsa. but I do use it almost every day and it has not let me down yet. here is a little run-down of why I love it so much:

• it is small. it makes personal-sized servings.
• the mixing blades are not stuck down at the bottom of a narrow tube, where they are hard to get at to clean.
• it goes in the dishwasher.
• you can serve your concoction directly out of the thing you mixed it in, not having to dirty another cup or bowl.
• it is awesome for making baby food – either small amounts or more (to then freeze in ice cube trays).
• it comes with multiple cups so you can make a bunch of drinks or just one.

*you may now continue with your regularly scheduled blog post reading*

then, because I have a smoothie-loving young one, I pour a little into a straw cup to share with him:

 

get myself a big, fat straw:

and enjoy! smoothies are SO ideal for non-breakfast eaters like me who don’t want food in the morning (just coffee), but get a little shaky because, let’s face it, you need a little more sustenance than the creamer in your coffee can provide.

oh, and fyi (in case this is a concern of yours), it is possible to ingest your smoothie and play mario kart at the same time:

awesome!