Want to start making smoothies for yourself? They are a great way to get your fruit & veggies in for the day!
You only need basic equipment & simple ingredients that you can use over & over again to create different inspirations. You’ll find that making smoothies doesn’t require a huge ingredient inventory and once you get started the possibilities are endless!
So, bottom line is smoothies aren’t hard to make, but there is a method to the madness.
Use these 6 steps to create YOUR perfect smoothie:
Step 1: Make sure you have a blender.
I use the Magic Bullet, but some people have a NutriBullet, Ninja, a Vitamix or something similar. If you already don’t have one of these don’t fear because they are very easy to find. Nearly every store like Walmart or Target and Amazon carries them. Just pay attention to what you’re getting at what price – you don’t have to spend a lot on the equipment, but the choice is yours.
Step 2: Include some veggies.
This step is optional, but it does make for a well balanced smoothie. I don’t use veggies all the time in my own smoothies, but I do keep them on hand.
Veggies for green smoothies include kale (or baby kale), romaine lettuce, cabbage, spinach, celery, and swiss chard. Other veggies to throw in are beets & carrots. For all vegetables choose organic as much as you can.
*Tip when making green smoothies* Blend your liquid & greens together to avoid any clumpy leafy greens floating around in your smoothie. Once you blend your liquid & greens together then add in your fruits and remaining ingredients to blend the rest of the way.
Choose 1-3 different veggies in your smoothie.
For 1 serving a handful (or 1 cup) is good.
Step 3: Pick your fruit.
There’s a few things you can do when it comes to fruit. You can use frozen fruit, fresh fruit, or a mixture of the two. Personally, I do a mixture of both frozen and fresh. There are some fruits that don’t really come frozen or probably wouldn’t taste as good in frozen form.
Choices of fruit include pineapple, apple, dragonfruit, kiwi, mango, avocado, cucumbers, watermelon, strawberries, blackberries, honeydew melon, grapes, peaches, raspberries, blueberries, bananas, cantaloupe, cherries, and oranges – choose organic as much as you can.
Find 2-3 different fruits that you would like to use in your smoothie.
For 1 serving use 1-2 cups of fruit.
Step 4: Choose your liquid.
There are many liquids to choose from. You have cow’s milk as well as non-dairy alternatives like rice, soy, cashew, coconut and almond milk. You may also choose green tea or coconut water. You can also choose plain water, but I think it tastes too watered down.
For 1 serving use 1-1/2 cups of your choice of liquid.
Step 5: Choose how you want to thicken your smoothie.
This step is optional. If you don’t necessarily want your smoothie thick then that’s OK. Sometimes I use a thickener and sometimes I don’t.
Thickeners include yogurt, kefir, silken tofu, rolled oats and even avocado (which doubles as a fruit & thickener). Nut butters, like peanut or almond butter, can also be used to thicken a smoothie.
For 1 serving use 1/4 to 1/2 cup of your choice of thickener.
Step 6: Choose any extra goodies.
Feel free to add in other goodies like flax, pumpkin, chia, or hemp seeds, wheatgrass, almonds, protein powder, ginger, cinnamon, cacao powder, honey, superfood powder (like acai), bee pollen, or fresh mint.
You can add ice for extra coldness, too, but I feel this also waters my smoothies down too much.
For 1 serving use a maximum of 1 tablespoon.
So there you have it – your perfect smoothie!
If this is your first time making smoothies, let me know how the first one turned out.
Check out all of the smoothie recipes on here!
What is YOUR favorite way to create a smoothie?
Looking for simple smoothie recipes you can make to detox your kitchen or just jumpstart your way to better eating habits? Check out my *new* smoothie book: 75 Simple Smoothie Recipes for Real People
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