Groovy Green Smoothie

Recipe from Allrecipes.com

Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

2 Servings

        

It matters not whether you loathe spinach, I guarantee you are going to love this smoothie.  I tested three different recipes for “green smoothies” until I found just the right one.  It’s a keeper.  Allrecipes.com reviewers loved it too. (180 at last count.) I will definitely make this again. My husband and I, who are spinach lovers, did not taste the spinach at all.  The smoothie is very sweet due to the vanilla yogurt, apple and grapes.  If you prefer your smoothies not so sweet, try using plain yogurt and maybe a tart apple.  The recipe says it makes 2 servings, but they are BIG servings.  We were able to fill four glasses with this, two to drink right away and two for our snack the next day.  Serve this to your little Popeyes for a healthy after-school snack.

1 banana, cut in chunks

1-cup grapes (I used seedless red grapes.)

¾ cup vanilla yogurt (I used non fat vanilla yogurt.)

1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped (I used Gala.)

1 ½ cups fresh spinach leaves

Place the banana, grapes, yogurt, apple and spinach into a blender. Cover, and blend until smooth, stopping frequently to push down anything stuck to the sides. Pour into glasses and serve.

Pumpkin Smoothie

Recipe from Gina's Skinny Recipes at http://www.skinnytaste.com/
Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

Here's a quick breakfast or fall snack you can whip up in your blender. Use the Pumpkin Butter recipe from this blog. I’ve tried this recipe three times. The first time, I followed the original recipe below using Greek yogurt. It was good, but had more of a yogurt tang to it. The second time, I used vanilla yogurt and omitted the vanilla extract. We liked this one better. The third time, I tried making it with pumpkin butter in a jar that I had purchased at the store. It was way too sweet for me, but my husband loved it. If you try using prepared pumpkin butter from a jar, use about half the amount called for so it won’t be so sweet. The nutritional information below is for the original recipe. Making your own homemade pumpkin butter is very easy. It can be used to make smoothies, to spread on toast, to make lattes, to put on your oatmeal and to make pancakes. You’ll find the Pumpkin Butter recipe on my blog.

½ cup homemade Pumpkin Butter (Recipe on this blog.)
½ cup skim milk
½ cup crushed ice (If you froze some pumpkin butter in ice cube trays, no ice is needed.)
6 oz nonfat Greek or plain yogurt (You can also use nonfat vanilla yogurt. If so, leave out the vanilla extract.)
2 tsp vanilla extract (Omit this ingredient if you use nonfat vanilla yogurt.)
½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon (to taste)
2 teaspoons packed brown sugar (or to taste)

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Serve with a straw.

Servings: 2 • Serving Size: 1 cup Weight Watchers Points: 3 pts
Calories: 185.5 • Fat: 0.5 g • Protein: 10.6 g Carb: 40.7 g • Fiber: 2.6 g

Banana Mango Smoothie

Recipe from Fiona Haynes of About.com Guide Low Fat Cooking
Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

Makes 4 Servings

When I gave my husband took a taste of this, he said, “Mmmm, yummy. It tastes like it’s something bad for me. What’s in it?” Well, was he happy to discover that this is one of those delicious drinks that’s actually good for you. What a great after-school snack this would make for the kids! This is so tasty that you could serve it as a healthy dessert. Lost River Market & Deli now has frozen mangos and fresh mangos!

Ingredients:
2 frozen, ripe bananas (I was in a hurry and didn’t use frozen. I just peeled a couple of bananas and broke them into chunks.)
1 mango, peeled and sliced (I used several chunks of frozen mangos.)
10 ounces calcium fortified orange juice
1 cup low fat or fat free vanilla or mandarin orange yogurt (I used fat free vanilla yogurt.)

Preparation:
Cut banana into chunks. In a blender, combine all ingredients and blend until smooth. If the smoothie is too thick, thin with a little more orange juice. Pour into 4 glasses.

Per Serving: Calories 150, Calories from Fat 8, Total Fat 0.8g (sat 0.4g), Cholesterol 2mg, Sodium 29mg, Carbohydrate 32g, Fiber 1.9g, Protein 3.4g