Sunday, August 24, 2014

Tangleberry Avocado Smoothie

Let me just set the stage for you you here.  I recently received a case of avocados straight to my door.  They were part of a prize.  I should back up.  Several weeks ago, I entered this Great American Recipe Contest put on by the California Avocado Commission.  My recipe for Fire Roasted Corn Guacamole ended up winning the Grand Championship in the guacamole and salsa division of the contest, and now for three months straight, I will be receiving a case of avocados.  I also won a little charcoal Weber grill.  Pretty sweet, huh?  Well anyway, I have been pawning off these gorgeous avocados on my friends and neighbors left and right, because there are only so many one family can eat, right?  And gosh, they are expensive! 

I'm sure you already know that avocados are an excellent source of healthy fats and potassium.  So let me offer you something other than guacamole to make out of them.  Keep an open mind, okay?  I'm definitely not against guacamole (don't even think that)... but along with guacamole, let's face it - you gotta have the chips and stuff!  I'm just trying to lean a bit healthier here as we start off a new school year.  Let's do this thing right!  You have faith in me, right?!  Avocados have been called "nature's butter for a reason.  They are are very mild and creamy, and will give our smoothies a ton of richness.  And NO - the smoothies will not taste like avocados, if you are scared of that.  And NO - they won't be green, if you are scared of that.


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Ingredients:
(I doubled this recipe for a total yield of 4 cups because I had several for breakfast this day.)
  • 1 cup frozen berries of your choice
    • I used raspberries
  • 1/2 ripe avocado
  • 1 ripe (slightly speckled) banana, peeled and frozen into 1/2" pieces
  • 1 individual container of fat free vanilla Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 cup ice cubes
  • 1/2 - 1 cup of milk product of your choice
    • I used Very Vanilla Silk soy milk
  • Sweetener of your choice
    • I used 1 tsp agave syrup.  It has a very low glycemic index.
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla

Step-by-Step:
Night before prep -  The night before, peel and slice the bananas and put them into a zip top bag.  Pop them into the freezer.  The frozen bananas will allow you have a thicker smoothie with less ice.  Make sure you use bananas that are ripe, with some brown speckles.  This will mean they have less starch and more sugar - meaning you will have a sweeter smoothie and need less extra sweetener.  As a bonus, many grocery stores deeply discount the ripe bananas.  As the produce manager!  :)
1 large banana, cut into 1" pieces
And ready for a night in the freezer!
Just before, prep -  The only other thing to do is to get your avocado out of it's jacket.  Other than that, everything else just gets dumped in. 
1/2 avocado regular recipe (around 2 servings).
For the other half, consider rubbing it with lime juice to prevent oxidation.  Then check out my Fire Roasted Guacamole recipe!
*Tip - You could also consider freezing the other half of your avocado in cubes if you will be making more of these.  That way you will be ready for round 2 with even less prep time.
 
Now let's get it started!
I will give you amounts listed in the ingredient list even though I doubled them for what I made.

 1 cup frozen berries  +  1 large frozen banana in 1/2" pieces

1/2 ripe avocado  +  1 container nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt

1 tsp agave syrup  +  1/2 tsp vanilla.
The amount of sweetener you use will depend on the type of sweetener you choose as well as how sweet your bananas are.  Agave is a lot sweeter than sugar, so you can use a lot less.  Agave is lower on the glycemic index which means it is less likely to spike your blood sugar.

We aren't done yet, but I wanted to just give it a little whirl to get it going.

1/2 cup - 1 cup of milk product of your choice  + 1/2 cup ice.
I am using Very Vanilla Silk Soy Milk.  It comes in these great individual containers that are shelf stable.  They are lactose free and have 50% more calcium than dairy milk.   (And it tastes GREAT!)


Here's another tip. 
I had enough for 4 smoothies, but only needed 3, so I froze the rest into a silicone ice cube tray.  That gave me frozen "smoothie cubes" that were ready to throw into the Vitamix!
 

I hope you enjoyed this healthy, simple and delicious recipe!
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Written Instructions:
Night before prep -  The night before, peel and slice the bananas and put them into a zip top bag.  Pop them into the freezer.  The frozen bananas will allow you have a thicker smoothie with less ice.  Make sure you use bananas that are ripe, with some brown speckles.  This will mean they have less starch and more sugar - meaning you will have a sweeter smoothie and need less extra sweetener.  As a bonus, many grocery stores deeply discount the ripe bananas.  As the produce manager!  :)

Just before, prep -  The only other thing to do is to get your avocado out of it's jacket.  Other than that, everything else just gets dumped in.  The amount of sweetener you use will depend on the type of sweetener you choose as well as how sweet your bananas are.  Agave is a lot sweeter than sugar, so you can use a lot less.  Agave is lower on the glycemic index which means it is less likely to spike your blood sugar.

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