Saturday, August 6, 2016

Breakfast smoothie

I have thought a lot about juicing. I know people who have juicers and mix all kinds of healthful vegetables together, and seemingly love the taste. But I just can't do it. Decades ago we bought a juicer and used it only to make pineapple juice from fresh pineapples. I guess I should have known then that I like my juice and my smoothie to contain fruit, not vegetables.

I buy frozen fruit and put some into my smoothie container, and some in a bowl for Tom. It stays in the fridge all night, and then in the morning he eats his yogurt and fruit, and I drink my kefir and fruit.


Often I mix fruits - strawberries, blackberries, blueberries. Sometimes I will chop up a kiwi in the morning and add it to the frozen berries. In the summer, I buy all the fresh local berries I can and freeze them to use over the winter.

I used to use a blender, but it was time consuming to wash the many parts every morning. Now I have a cool little hand blender that has just one part which has to be washed.



And this is the beautiful and delicious result!


Unlike some people, usually thinner people, this is not my entire breakfast. I also eat homemade, whole wheat toast, orange juice, and coffee with just honey, and lots of water. This holds me for the entire day until supper time. I know that grazing or eating many small meals is supposed to be good for you but this works for me. My only grazing during the day is any fresh fruit that I may have - grapes, cherries, blueberries.

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22 comments:

  1. Your final picture is a winner. I'd love a glass of that. I also like smoothies, but they are a once in a while thing. You make it look easy that I'm thinking I should try this more often. Thanks Nan,

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    1. It couldn't be easier. Really. Steps: buy frozen fruit or freeze local fresh fruit. take out of freezer and put in container in fridge to thaw overnight. in the morning add yogurt or kefir. blend. drink.

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  2. All I can say is that I eat too much of bad stuff. I wouldn't last all day on your breakfast. I used to but not anymore.

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    1. This meal is so incredibly filling. Also, I don't eat that early. I wake between 8 and 9, do yoga and meditation for quite a while, and then eat. What I've heard about the 'bad stuff' is that it fills one for the short term, but one feels hungry again sooner.

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  3. This smoothie looks SO GOOD!

    My husband juices but I can't seem to do the vegetable stuff and have to add lots of fruit so I don't bother.

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    1. There's just something about the green color so often in juices that I just can't even think of tasting!

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  4. Love the color of your berry smoothie! I never thought of using my immersion blender for making a smoothie -- as you say, a lot less clean up than using the regular blender. I need something more solid for breakfast, but I should really consider smoothies for lunch.

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    1. I do, too. That's why I also have the toast! But this smoothie is very filling, especially with the whole milk kefir.

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  5. That's a great looking smoothie and a fabulous way to start the day.
    Be very careful cleaning that blender! I had a time with mine and have been respectful of the sharp blades ever since 😉

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  6. I'm on the fruit side of the smoothie aisle, except there's one shop in Cocoa Beach where they have a specialty smoothie with all sorts of kale and other green stuff in it. It's milkshake thick and green. After the first reaction - "Ew, this tastes like dirt!" - it's positively addicting. So it can be done, if done right.

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    1. Wow! I just can't even think of tasting it. I saw a funny New Yorker cartoon with a gravestone that said: "I can't believe I ate all that kale for nothing."

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  7. Replies
    1. It was! Yesterday's was blueberries, blackberries and kiwis. Today's was blueberries, cranberries, and kiwis. I look forward to them!

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  8. I love my immersion blender! So easy and quick to clean up.

    I'm going to have to try your smoothies. I've grown tired of my green smoothies (spinach, mango, pineapple and banana) and don't really feel the need to drink my spinach since I eat so much of it in sandwiches and salads. And, like you, I can't just drink my breakfast. I usually have a hardboiled egg or a piece of wheat bread with peanut butter and some coffee. That lasts me until mid-afternoon when I have some nuts and fruit or yogurt with berries. Now, to try that Kefir. I've never had it!

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    1. Kefir is great stuff! And this brand offers organic which I prefer.

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  9. Smoothies are certainly a good way to give one's body fruit (and vegetable, if they are in the smoothie) but I still very much prefer to feel the texture of fruit and veg in my mouth, to chew it, to eat it properly. RJ is a smoothie "fan" and he makes his very green with spinach leaves and other veg/salad. He let me taste it but I can't bring myself to like them. Give me a bowl of salad and I'll clean that out in no time :-)
    For breakfast, I nearly always have muesli. When my parents give me berries and other fruit from the allotment, some of it goes on top of the muesli, making it so much nicer.

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    1. We have eaten Familia Swiss Muesli forever. The original variety. It is the most filling cereal I've ever had. Do you make your own? From everything I've read, it is better to eat food than to juice it. And now there are concerns about what is left after the juicing - how it is disposed of. There's always something, isn't there?!

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  10. Have tried smoothies and wish they'd work for me. But I've found that apparently I'm addicted to chewing food -- liquid or soft foods just serve as appetizers -- they make me hungrier than I was before. (It might work along with the piece of toast though. But so does a peach or an orange along with toast and peanut butter.)

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  11. Do you add any apple juice to thin the smoothie at all? I've seen different recipes which suggest this

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    1. When I've thawed too many berries, and it is too thick, I will sometimes add orange juice or even water.

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