The Ultimate Smoothie Guide

Oh, YEA!!!
Smoothies are one of my very favorite ways to eat large amounts of fruits and vegetables. I haven't quite mastered the smoothie with veggies in it, but I have bought them and thoughly enjoyed gulping it down. They can be hard to get right when you make it yourself though. There are a few tips and tricks that can really help the end turnout.

The first and foremost is to choose ingredients that make sense with each other, and that one isn't cancelling all the rest. Avocado, peanut butter, and celery (I would only suggest this guy for a savory smoothie or else it's positively gross...) totally take over. So make sure to add only a little of these or find a recipe that can help you know what other flavors will stand up for themselves so you don't only have one dominant one!
I like to mix a citrus fruit like oranges or berries, with a milder one like banana. I absolutely LOVE adding berries, they add so much punch!!! You can do other mixes like spiced pumpkin, or make a "chunky monkey" with bananas, peanut butter, and almond milk. Did I mention both of these work well with cinnamon ?

After you've made sure not to combine the wrong ingredients, there's another very important trick to the right texture. What is it? Add the hard ingredients to the blender FIRST! I made the mistake of doing the ice first and then everything else. I had two, super-annoying chunks of strawberry that just wouldn't give in! For some reason, it hadn't registered in my mind that the frozen berries would be that hard. Oh, and really make sure you don't add any liquid in the beginning. You won't ever get it smooth. This is the order I did mine the second time: ice, frozen strawberry, banana, tofu, defrosted and falling apart peach, and last but not least, orange juice. Once I tasted it I added a teaspoon or two of lemon juice.

Let me just say the smoothie I made the other day was delicious. So if you want to be totally sure of a perfect smoothie, here's my recipe:

4 cubes of ice
30 slices of frozen strawberry
1 banana
6 oz soft tofu
11/2 peaches
Orange juice
Lemon juice

Blend the first 5 ingredients in their order! Blend well after each ingredient so you don't get a slushy, icy, chunky smoothie. Oh wait, then it would be a chunky. I made 2 batches so I poured each one into a pitcher before I added the orange juice. You'll still need to do this with one. Then you add the orange juice, just until it's drinkable, not a pudding consistency. If you like a little more zest, add a teaspoon or two of lemon juice.

Now, I said add the liquid later because it's easier to just stir it in instead of letting the blender overflow, then having to take half of it out and blend the other half, and then finally ending up stirring it all together in a pitcher at the end!
Enjoy!
Also, I really appreciate comments about my posts and any tips you have to add...