Tag Archives: smoothies

{“drink the rainbow” : berry-cream vitamix smoothie!}

16 Jul

it’s been a while since i’ve done a post about a vitamix smoothie!  however, it’s that time of year when i find myself wanting to eat a little less and drink a little more. the heat of the summer causes us to sweat out toxins and i find that my body craves the freshness of a cold fruit smoothie to help replenish vital minerals.

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berry-cream vitamix smoothie : frozen blueberries, blackberries, cherries, and peaches, with fresh dates and coconut milk

do you sometimes do what i do?

…catch myself feeling guilty for not drinking more smoothies, so i’ll run out and buy a bunch of stuff to make them with, but then i don’t make nearly as many smoothies as i said i would, and those yummy ingredients go bad in the fridge. and nothing upsets me more than wasting food! {and money, for that matter!}

well, may i suggest something i do in order to avoid wasting precious resources?!  just keep canned or boxed coconut milk in the house and/or fridge! you can purchase coconut milk in aseptic {shelf-stable} containers. why coconut milk? well, i personally prefer coconut milk for the healthy fat content as well as the the fact that the coconut is pretty much one of the most amazing things on the planet! not only is coconut milk loaded with vitamins and minerals, it’s also great for your heart, your hair, your skin, your nails… shall i go on?! furthermore, i’ve created the habit of freezing any overripe fruits that i buy, and that way i always have the two main ingredients i need to make a smoothie!

of course, you can also add in spinach or kale to get a little extra vitamins and nutrients. for this concoction, i kept it pure and simple. just frozen blueberries, blackberries, cherries, and peaches blended with fresh dates and coconut milk. it’s light and fresh and only gently sweet. dates are nature’s candy! they are loaded with potassium and create a little sweetness without adding in unnecessary calories or sugar. and this smoothie is perfectly refreshing on a hot summer afternoon!

drink the rainbow!

{thirsty thursday : “plumango” vitamix smoothie}

10 Apr

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“plumango” vitamix smoothie :

– 1 fresh plum

– 1/4 cup dried mango

– 1/4 organic banana

– 1/4 cup frozen cherries

– 1/4 cup fresh spinach

– 1 teaspoon flax seeds

– 1 cup almond milk

 

{cherry sweet-tart vitamix smoothie}

22 Mar

i’m a little late on posting today – it’s snowing here in colorado… and, sigh – i’ll just go ahead and say it – i’m over it!  can we please be in spring now?!  i’m just dying to put on my sanuks and put away my wellies.

i’ve been making a smoothie every morning since we are ‘officially’ in spring now – but i admit it’s just not as satisfying first thing in the morning as a warm cup of coffee or tea.  but i’m determined to start cleansing my body out, preparing it for a different season, and lots of different veggies to compliment!

in the meantime, here’s another smoothie recipe.  i created this one in mind as more of an evening smoothie. tart cherries and tart cherry juice are good for insomnia, remember?!  i call it “sweet-tart” because i used sweet frozen cherries and tart cherry juice… and it turned out rather delicious!

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cherry sweet-tart vitamix smoothie :

– frozen sweet cherries {1/2 cup}

– 3 frozen strawberries

– 3 frozen pineapple chunks

– 1 pitted date

– 1/2 cup coconut milk

– 1/2 cup tart cherry juice

{drink the rainbow : purple-ish antioxidant-rich vitamix smoothie!}

19 Mar

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how’s that for a title?!

vitamix-ing {and really, smoothie-making in general} is all about experimenting.  sometimes you nail it. sometimes you don’t. more times than not, it turns out amazing… like in this case. 🙂

purple-ish vitamix smoothie :

– 1/4 cup frozen blackberries

– 1/4 cup frozen pineapple

– 1/4 cup red/purple cabbage

– 1 pitted date {for sweetness}

– 2-3 dehydrated apple wedges {i like to dehydrate stuff}

– 1/2 – 2/3 cup coconut milk

– splash of orange juice

– sprinkle in a little raw protein powder

and the fact that it tastes amazing is a huge bonus to how incredibly healthy and good for you it is!! 😀

check out that colour!!!

{st. paddy’s day green vitamix smoothie}

17 Mar

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it’s been a while since i wrote a vitamix post!!  green smoothies are always fun, and this is fitting for the holiday. this week i decided to do a short cleanse. partially in honour of the moon, partially in honour of the upcoming solstice, and partially because i have been eating donuts almost every day for breakfast for about 2 months… not even kidding. *ahem* anyway, i was super excited to bust out my vitamix again! Continue reading

{a week of vitamix smoothies – day five : strawberries, blueberries, mangos, vanilla ice cream}

30 Aug

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it’s magenta!

this one should be like, the official “food and foto” smoothie… right?! 😉

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– fresh strawberries

– frozen blueberries

– frozen mango

– apple juice

– splash of grape juice

– squeeze of honey

– vanilla {coconut} ice cream

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i decided to try the ice cream since it was in my freezer anyway, and i had run out of regular coconut milk. i try to limit my dairy intake overall… i admit it’s tough because i LOVE cheese!!!!!  so i substitute where i can in other ways.  like with this smoothie, i used coconut milk ice cream 🙂

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this was SUPER good… and was more rich than other smoothies i’ve made, probably because of the ice cream.  it’s good to mix it up sometimes, yanno?!  variety is the spice of life, right?!

drink the rainbow!

😉

{a week of vitamix smoothies – day four : blueberries, spinach, dates, orange juice}

29 Aug

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this one was definitely green… albeit an odd shade…

tasted great, though!

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– frozen blueberries

– frozen raspberries

– fresh spinach

– 2 pitted dates {could substitute honey or agave}

– lots of orange juice

– few splashes almond milk

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i usually use more “milk” than juice, but i wanted to switch it up this time….

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i bought a TON of blueberries on a one-day sale and froze them. when they are in season, they still taste great, but the freezing process zaps some of the sweetness.  the dates really help sweeten without overpowering.

drink the rainbow! 😀

{a week of vitamix smoothies – day three : bananas, blueberries, flax seeds, coconut milk}

28 Aug

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yep…

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– frozen blueberries

– frozen banana chunks

– flax seeds

– coconut milk

– 1 pitted date or teaspoon honey to sweeten {optional}

…that’s it.

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kept this one SUPER SIMPLE.

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and what a lovely colour, i must say!

drink the rainbow! 😀

{a week of vitamix smoothies – day two : mangos, blueberries, spinach, flaxseeds, almond milk}

27 Aug

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yet another colourful creation… and although this one is definitely “green”… it’s not at all green.

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– frozen blueberries

– fresh spinach

– 2 pitted dates

– whole flax seeds

– apple juice

– almond milk

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as i’ve mentioned before, i’m not big on measuring – i just ‘eyeball it’ usually… i’d say the basic ratio is roughly 1 cup solids to 1 cup liquids, generally speaking…

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adjust consistency to your liking, adding more liquid or fruit as necessary… easy peasy.

DRINK THE RAINBOW!

😀

{a week of vitamix smoothies — day one : blueberries, pineapple, coconut milk}

26 Aug

the kids are up early and back in school, the leaves are slowly beginning to change their colours, the air just smells different, and the produce section is starting to feature those fall harvests we look forward to…

and i figured since the seasons are about to change, i would honour the idea of cleansing with the seasons.  so, this week i will feature 5 different vitamix smoothie recipes – each creation will also feature seasonal blueberries… mmmmm…

so here’s the first one :

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this mix created such a pretty colour!  it’s always a surprise when one experiments with smoothie concoctions in the vitamix… but it’s also {obviously} half the fun! 😉

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– blueberries

– pineapple

– black grapes

– teaspoon local honey

– mango juice

– coconut milk

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{thirsty thursday – the everything vitamix smoothie}

1 Aug

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there’s a lot going on in this smoothie i’ve been having in the mornings lately :

– frozen blueberries

– frozen bananas

– frozen pineapple

– frozen grapes

– frozen cherries

– frozen strawberries {they are hiding! :)}

– carrots

– celery

– spinach

– dates Continue reading

{i don’t remember exactly what i put in this vitamix smoothie…}

17 Jul

…but it was still delicious!

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and pretty! …

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it appears to be berries, spinach, dates, coconut milk, flax… i feel like i’ve made this one before?! Continue reading

{purple cabbage smoothie}

20 Jun

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i read somewhere online that cabbage was a good “blending” type of veggie in that the flavour didn’t take over when combined in a smoothie, much like spinach.  i was excited about this because of the colour!

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so i mixed mine with some watermelon, frozen strawberries, frozen banana, frozen mango, coconut milk,  and flax seeds…

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made a lovely shade of… something. it’s not quite plum, not quite magenta, not exactly pink…

what would you call this colour?! other than delicious 🙂 ?!

{drink the rainbow! – clementine creamsicle vitamix juice}

23 Apr

this is super delicious, as you can imagine!!

my only issue with this drink right now is that i want one, and yet it’s snowing outside, so it’s just kinda weird… have i mentioned how i’m so beyond ready for spring?!? – even though technically it ought to be here by now…! sigh…

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for this creation, i used some clementines i bought in a bag and just pre-peeled some for smoothies and snacking…

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– clementines {about 3/4 cup}
– coconut milk {about 3/4 cup}
– ice

blend on high until desired consistency is reached and ENJOY!
coconut milk is wonderfully creamy and makes drinks like this extra delicious and frothy.

{drink the rainbow! – “pineapple island dream” vitamix juice}

10 Apr

another good one… i’m hoping all of these tropical-type drinks will convince nicer weather to stick around, instead of more snow!  {we got another 6 inches or so here in colorado – boo!}

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– frozen pineapple

– fresh mango

– fresh kiwi

– coconut milk

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and if you want, throw in a little frozen banana…

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this one is a nice balance of sweet and tart, it’s very refreshing, and makes me want to be on the beach!!

and it also needs a little umbrella…

{vitamix smoothie w/ dehydrated fruit}

2 Apr

so yesterday i showed you that i made some dehydrated fruit, right… delicious mangos and honeycrisp apples – nom nom, right… well, may i just first comment on the difference in flavour from a fresh mango and a dehydrated one? i really believe the taste is very different. i mean they are both outstanding, i don’t have a favourite. but they do taste way different.
and i suppose that applies for apples, too… but mangos – i just love love love dried mangos! something about ’em…

i {barely} saved a few of each and threw some in with a smoothie that included frozen mixed berries, fresh spinach, 1/2 a banana, some orange juice, a little grape juice, splash of almond milk and some ground flax seeds.

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one is never really certain just what colour the smoothie will turn out. at least the way i do it sometimes… lots of colour in there, doesn’t always blend to the prettiest, but this turned out great! and a pretty dark reddish-purple. oh, and it was for sure delicious!

cheers!

{drink the rainbow! – red-beet & antioxidant vitamix juice}

29 Mar

well folks, unfortunately i haven’t been feeling so great over the last few days… aches, pains, watery-eyes, stuffy-nose, sore-throat, the whole {nasty} bit… it’s okay, i will patiently let it run its course… but what better way to cure what ails me than to drink some colour…

MAGENTA, in this case 🙂

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– frozen mixed berries {about 1/4 cup}

– orange juice {about 1/2 cup}

– 1/2 fresh pear or apple, cut in half

– 1/2 large boiled red beet {could also do raw}

– 2 or 3 pitted dates {one of my favourite go-to sweetners}

– splash of almond or coconut milk

– squeeze of lemon or lime

– filtered water

i heart the vitamix. you just throw this all in and crank it on high until well-blended. then drink, enjoy, and watch your skin glow and your system restore itself!

have a great weekend! i’ll be taking mine nice and easy…

{thirsty thursday} — vitamix juice w/ grapefruit, spinach, and apples

28 Feb

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super healthy drink with fiber, vitamin c, iron, calcium, antioxidants, and loads of other goodness!

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– frozen mixed berries

– whole apple {honeycrisp is my pick, seeds and stems included}

– baby spinach

– grapefruit

– grape juice

– orange juice

– almond milk

and i always add in a little protein powder and ground flax seeds.

then let the amazing vitamix do its thing – amaze.

{thirsty thursday} — still lovin’ the vitamix

7 Feb

when i tell people i have a vitamix they usually ask two questions :

1. do you love it?

2. how often do you use it?

and i always say, “yes.  and every day!”

and i really do.  i use it at least once a day to make a smoothie.  usually for breakfast or with it or before i head to work in the afternoon.  i use my vitamix every single day.  and i love it!  i’m working on perfecting recipes to share on the blog of other amazing things it does.  for example : nut butters, soups, flours, and sorbet to name a few.

but it was still love at first sight and i’ve been falling in love more every day. how can i not?!  heavy duty, all one-piece, little to no food waste, easy cleanup – what more can you ask for in an all-purpose kitchen appliance?!

this creation was one of my favourites to date :

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{thirsty thursday} — my morning vitamix smoothie

24 Jan

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this has been on the menu for a few weeks now.  eventually i’ll switch it up and try new things.  but i have had a lot going on in my life as of late – however, i believe the dust is finally starting to settle.  and no, i don’t have measurements for you – i just wing it! 🙂  i try to use all organic products, as well… for many reasons.  i ought to write a blog on organics soon…

– frozen strawberries

– frozen blackberries

– frozen cherries

– fresh kale or spinach

– 1/2 banana {a whole one takes over the flavour!}

– 1/2 pear {seeds included}

– a few dates {pitted}

– orange juice

– grape juice

– almond milk

– raw protein powder {this is my favourite}

– flax seeds

– maca root powder {a smidge – stuff is potent!}

throw it all in that amazing vitamix machine on high and blend for about a minute – the consistency is so awesome with the vitamix!  i highly recommend investing in one.  it’s totally worth it!  i can’t wait to experiment more with other things like soups and nut butters… !

SLAINTE!

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