How to make a fruit smoothie to suit everybody
Introducing the brand new concept: The 4 Way Smoothie! From now on, all the recipes you see on Green Thickies will be extremely flexible. You’ll be able to make 1 of 4 recipes (or more) smoothies from every recipe. Not all people want the same type of smoothie all the time so it’s great to have more options. So let me break down exactly how to make a fruit smoothie in 4 different ways:
1: The Fruit Smoothie
From now on, all recipes on the Green Thickies website are going to start with a fruit smoothie base. This will be a simple smoothie made up of
- Liquid (water, orange juice, coconut water, milk, coconut milk etc.) and
- Fruit. (Any type of fruit such as banana, mango, pineapple, berries, pears, apples, oranges etc.)
- Extras (Healthy sweeteners, nuts, seeds, lemon/lime juice, herbs, spices, nut butters or other healthy flavourings)
2: The Green Smoothie
If you love your green smoothies, the good news is you can easily convert any fruit smoothie to a green smoothie. (Read why you would want to do that here) Fruit smoothie recipes on this website will be for 2 servings. Each serving will be approximately 1 pint. So you should add at least 1 cup of leafy greens to your fruit smoothie per serving. So for a whole recipe, add 2 cups of greens. Mild greens that are good to make green smoothies out of are:
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- Spinach
- Chard
- Romaine lettuce
- Kale
- Herbs such as parsley, basil, and mint
3: The Fruit “Thickie”
You can turn your fruit smoothie into a complete meal by adding some filling healthy carbs to your smoothies. This will thicken it up (hence the name “Thickie”) and fill you up a lot longer. I recommend you add about 1 cup per recipe (2 servings). Carbs that are good fillers in smoothies are:
4: The Green Thickie
Now we’re talking! This is my favourite option by far. The greens will do wonders for your health and the filling carbs make this into a complete meal option so you only have to worry about one quick meal in the morning. To make a green thickie, take a basic fruit smoothie recipe (about 2 pints, approx 1 litre or half a blender) and add:
- 2 Cups of greens
- 1 Cup of carbs (see list above)
Do you want to try a Green Thickie? This basic Green Thickie Recipeis the perfect starting point.
How to make a fruit smoothie to suit everyone
Does everyone in your house want a different smoothie? No problem, just make one big batch of fruit smoothie, and split it into as many portions as needed. Then add greens to one serving to make a green smoothie, add oats to another serving and greens and oats to a different serving for all Green Thickie fans.
All that blending can make your smoothie too warm so add in some frozen fruit at the start or ice cubes at the end for a cool smoothie. If you don’t plan to drink this straight away just store it in the fridge and it will cool down a treat.
How do I calculate the calories of my Green Thickies?
From now on, I will provide the calories for the fruit smoothie base. However if you want to add the usual cup of oats to your smoothie, there are 307 calories in one cup of oats. If you only drink one serving there are 153 calories in half a cup of oats. There are only 7 calories per cup of spinach so you don’t really need to worry about those too much.
What about extra ingredients?
If I add any extra ingredients to my smoothie recipes they will all be added to the fruit smoothie base recipe so you only need to add your greens and carbs as required to make your own smoothie option (Fruit smoothie, Fruit Thickie, Green Smoothie, Green Thickie). Extra ingredients are things such as:
- Nuts/ Nut butters
- Seeds
- Lemon/Lime Juice
- Vanilla
- Herbs/ Seasoning
- Cocoa powder
- Sweeteners such as dates, date syrup, raisins, maple syrup, agave, molasses etc.
What about old recipes on the Green Thickie website?
I’m not going to go back and change the format of all my old recipes, but if you come across an old Green Thickie recipe that you want to make but you’d rather have a different type of smoothie, just take off the oats for a Green Smoothie or take off the greens for a fruit thickie. Take off the greens and the oats to make a standard smoothie.
Does this mean I recommend all types of smoothies, not just green thickies?
For health reasons I absolutely recommend that you add greens to your smoothies. This will do you the world of good. However if for some reason you just can’t stomach the thought of greens being in your smoothie you can either hide them by adding in more purple berries than greens or if you really can’t bear green smoothies, just make a fruit smoothie, but I really hope you like salads as leafy greens are, essential for optimum health and healing.
If you don’t want to add filling carbs to your smoothies to make a ‘Thickie’ then that is absolutely fine too. I used to have my green smoothie separately to my porridge/ oatmeal when I had more time to enjoy a sit down meal. But now I don’t have the time and if you don’t have time either I think you’d totally benefit from a Green Thickie.
I will still break every recipe down for you with all the different options so don’t worry if you can’t get your head around this at the moment. You’ll understand it more when I post my next recipe.
[tweetherder]The new 4 Way Smoothie: How to make a fruit smoothie 4 ways[/tweetherder]
Let me know if you like the new recipe structure and my 4 way smoothie.
This has been shared with Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Allergy Free Wednesdays, Healthy 2Day Wednesdays, Wednesday Whatsits, Hearth and Soul, None, Simple Lives Thursday, Fight Back Friday, Foodie Friday, Gluten Free Friday. Natural Living Mondays, Healthy Vegan Friday, Wellness Weekends,
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veggie mama says
I love the idea of separating them! Lucky I don’t have to here, everybody loves the same thing :)
Sheryl @ Lady Behind The Curtain says
I love your recipes! Thanks for sharing them with us at Cast Party Wednesday!
~Sheryl~
Jessica says
Now you’re really making me hungry! Thanks for sharing at Meatless Monday!!
Ana says
Great post!
I love smoothies and have them everyday, especially the green ones.
One thing I add to all my smoothies, every single day, and that help make them thick, creamy, and incredibly delicious is avocado!
One or two thick slices and you get the creamiest and most delicious smooth ever, pure love!
Ana
April @ The 21st Century Housewife says
This post is a great resource! I love that you have provided the calories as well as so many different recipe options.
Cindy (Vegetarian Mamma) says
GREAT information (as always!!) And your pictures are also so pretty I want to drink them right up!! Thanks for linking up at our Gluten Free Fridays party! What a fantastic link up of recipes and other GF goodies! Each week, I am so amazed! I have tweeted and pinned your entry to our Gluten Free Fridays board on Pinterest! :) I hope that you’ll join us this week! Cindy from vegetarianmamma.com
Jacqueline @ deeprootsathome.com says
This is really pretty incredible! I love how you present it and show why it is good for you! Please keep sharing your yummy and inspiring posts! Thanks,
Jacqueline
Cindy says
What a fantastic compilation of smoothies! I got a Vitamix not too long ago, and I’ve been enjoying trying different recipes. The variety you shared is particularly helpful for me as I have 4 boys and 1 of the 4 is not too keen on adding greens….but I sneak them in there. Your advice for masking the green by adding more purple berries is a great idea! Thank you!
Katherine Natalia @ Green Thickies says
Thank you so much! Wow 4 boys! It’s hard to get kids to eat well isn’t it. My toddler is becoming very fussy at the moment. That’s great you are sneaking them in. You could also put the smoothies in a coloured cup so they can’t see what colour it is until they’ve realised how nice it tastes!
Lily-Mae Andrew says
An excellent idea and one that seems so obvious when you stop and think about it. It can get a bit tedious making a two or three different smoothies for the kids. This idea won’t half speed the process up. Really pleased I found this site.
Lorraine says
Hi! Hope you are faring well and major congrats to you!
One thing, would the 4 way approach mean putting
dry ingredients and / or greens, if desired, last?
Thanks…
Editor says
Hi Lorraine, yes dry and green ingredients go in last.