Blueberry-Oatmeal-Cookie

Oh how I love this smoothie!! Can you tell I'm excited? I always tend to get a little excited when I try something new and it ends up being delicious... Since with this cooler weather I've been craving oatmeal, I thought to myself it'd be the perfect time to add some oats to my smoothies. So this is the beginning of my Adventures In Oats, I'm sure you're going to love it.

1 banana
1 ripe avocado
1/2 cup plain yoghurt
1/2 cup orange juice
1 handful rolled oats
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
splash of cold water

I'm noticing a bit of a trend lately, with my deep purple smoothies. This is of course due to an overstock in frozen blueberries in my freezer... This smoothie has a really neat flavour to it because of the oats. Being my first foray into the realm of oats in smoothies, I was quite conservative adding only a handful. I'm going to experiment with more, but you'll notice I had to add a splash of cold water because the oats really thickened this smoothie up.

Oats, as most of us know, are a fantastic source of fiber. Doing my homework about oats I came across a great website www.eatmoreoats.com which is chock full of great info about the benefits of adding more oats into our diets. One of the major benefits is in cholesterol reduction and heart health, but there are plenty others, such as blood sugar control, cancer reduction, blood pressure, weight loss, bowel health, and many more. I have lots of great ideas which will be blended up this week, so stay tuned! Smoothie on!

Have you tried oats in a smoothie before?

Strawberries-Green-'n-Yoghurt

Sometimes, albeit rarely, a mix doesn't quite work the way I'd hoped. This just happens to be one of those times. I think had I added some more fruit, it could have worked better, or perhaps arugula and coriander just weren't meant to be... I will experiment further and get back to you on that. It wasn't terrible or anything, just not my fave.

1 banana
3/4 cup green tea
1 stick celery
1 cup yoghurt
1 handful frozen strawberries
1 handful arugula
1/2 handful coriander
1 tbsp salba

What do you think would improve this smoothie?

Green In Disguise

Would you believe me if I told you that this is a green smoothie?? Well, believe it or not, it is. Yes, even though technically it's purple. It's because blueberries have a magical property - they turn every smoothie you use them in purple, regardless of what other ingredients you may use. That's a great tip when you're trying to trick someone into drinking a green smoothie... They won't even notice the green stuff, I can guarantee it.

1 banana
1 handful frozen strawberries
1 handful frozen blueberries
1 handful arugula
2 cups green tea
1 tsp honey




This smoothie was incredibly nutty from the arugula, and less creamy than some other smoothies because I didn't use yoghurt. That being said, it was really refreshing, nutritious and tasty. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did, smoothie on everyone!


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Avocado-Strawberry Awesomeness

Yesterday I decided that it was time to kick it up a notch, so when friends came over for dinner it was the perfect opportunity to make an extra special smoothie that I could also share with all of you. I have to give credit on this smoothie to my sister, since she's the one who first introduced it to me. She had a similar concoction at a Hawaiian smoothie joint, and decided to give it a go herself. This is my take on it, and it just so happens to be one of the most fabulous smoothies I have ever made. I actually served it for dessert last night, and it was perfect. I usually use orange juice for the strawberry part, but I was out, so you'll see how I improvised... So this smoothie has 3 parts for dramatic effect: (Serves 4)

Avocado (Green) Part:
3 ripe avocados
1/2 cup milk, or enough to make it pourable
Blend, then pour into glasses, rinse blender

Strawberry (Pink) Part:
1 banana
1 cup frozen strawberries
3/4 cup Sangria (yeah baby), or enough to make it pourable
Blend, and then take a spoon, turn it upside down over the avocado, so that the scoopy part of the spoon is facing down, and slowly pour the strawberry mixture onto the spoon, so that it slowly pours and sits on top of the avocado mixture.

Now add a spoonful of ricotta to each glass, topped with chopped/bashed pistachio nuts, and then drizzle some good quality honey over it, et voila.

I'm sure you're going to be amazed at how awesome this smoothie is, and if you're anything like me, you're just going to want to make it every day... Let me know if I need to start a rehab group for this one! Smoothie on!

It Ain't Easy Being Green

This smoothie was inspired by me looking at my garden sadly, knowing that to my dismay all my cauliflower plants ever did this season was grow humongous leaves. No cauliflowers at all. Since the leaves are so beautiful and awe-inspiring, I thought it'd be worth checking out whether or not they're edible. Turns out not only are they edible, but they're a lot like kale, ie. full of wholesome goodness. The colour of this smoothie is spectacular, and it's really nice and fresh tasting. I think next time I'll add a bit of honey to sweeten it up a bit, or maybe some mint for some zing... I've also noticed that a disadvantage of using green tea in smoothies, is that there's quite a time lapse between brewing it and it being cool enough to go into s smoothie. Here I added 2 ice cubes to the tea to hurry the process along, but I think in the fututre what I'm going to do is brew a big batch and put it in a jug in the fridge. I enjoy cold green tea, already, so I'm pretty sure that'll work out great. Here we go:

1 ripe avocado
1 small banana
1 cup balkan style yoghurt
1 humongous cauliflower leaf, or kale leaf
1 1/2 cups green tea
1 apple

Here's a photo of my big, beautiful cauli leaf. It might not pack quite the nutritional punch of the much darker green kale, but it still measures up with plenty of antioxidants, minerals and vitamins.





What did you think of this smoothie? Comments are welcome, smoothie on!

Antioxidant Punch

I'm just so excited about today's smoothie! It's something I've never tried before, and never even thought of, except that I was reading an article on green tea, and bam... it hit me... (because ever since starting this blog my whole world revolves around smoothies) put it into a smoothie! This has sparked lots of ideas for the next few smoothies I make. I was also requested by Emily in a comment on Zingy Speckle a couple of weeks ago to include some banana replacement options, so here goes:

1 ripe avocado
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 handful pineapple chunks
1 handful honeydew melon chunks
1 handful strawberries
1 handful cantaloupe chunks
1 acai blueberry yoghurt Astro Biobest smoothie
1 1/2 cups green tea, cool

I can't describe to you how refreshing and tasty this smoothie is. I will by trying it with a banana in the future, but for the banana averse amongst us, the avocado does a great job at adding thickness and smoothness to this concoction. It also gives that nice nuttiness as an added bonus. The subtle bitterness of green tea is not an issue in this drink, it just gives the whole thing a really great flavour, and of course the benefits of all those antioxidants.

There are tons and tons of websites extolling the virtues of green tea, but in a nutshell because there is very little oxidation in the processing of green tea, it is widely considered the healthiest of teas. It's rich in antioxidants, particularly catechin polyphenols which have been shown to slow the aging process. Handy for weight loss because of its ability to enhance fat oxidation and increase the body's metabolic rate, it also has documented uses in all kinds of areas of health and well-being, including reproductive health, digestive health, etc.

One thing I was surprised to read was that green tea is actually a great source of vitamins and minerals, containing vitamin C in comparable amounts to a lemon, and tons of different types of B vitamins which are water soluble and so readily available in a tea. In summary, 5-6 cups of green tea a day, and you have a lot of your body's mineral requirements covered, and this smoothie helps you get there.

Have any of you tried a green tea smoothie before? Tell me all about it in the comments below. Smoothie on!

Avocado Amore

Who loves avocados? I do, I do!! When I first heard of avocados in smoothies, I wasn't exactly sold in the whole concept. Now I know that they are absolutely sensational in a smoothie, adding a really yummy nuttiness and incredible smoothness. Try this one on for size:

2 avocados
1 banana
1/2 cup frozen strawberries
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
3/4 cup Balkan style yoghurt
1 cup orange juice



One thing you have to remember is that the addition of avocados, while adding to the flavor and texture of your concoction, will also make it a lot thicker. You can see from the peaks, this was a thickee. I enjoyed it almost like a dessert, but to loosen it up a little either omit one avocado, or add some more liquid: oj, milk and water would all work a treat. Smoothie on!!

How was your first avocado smoothie? Let me know in the comments area below!


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