How to Make a Smoothie

Smoothies are a healthy, easy, and fun way to have a snack or a meal. With a few minutes of preparation and a few minutes of blending, you can enjoy a frozen fruit smoothie or a veggie smoothie that has almost an entire days worth of essential nutrients that your body needs. Smoothies do not require a lot of ingredients and they have an easy clean up time as well.

So, How do you make a smoothie? There are just six easy steps!

First, get yourself a good quality blender. Make sure that you get a blender that fits your personality and lifestyle.

Second, get a recipe. There are many books and websites dedicated to helping you find the perfect smoothie recipe for you.

Thirdly, Shop! Who doesn't like to shop, especially when it comes to being creative with fruit and veggies in a healthy smoothie. Make sure that you have several recipes handy in case your produce market doesn't have all of the fresh fruit that you may need or something is out of season. Mangos, bananas, kiwifruit, peaches, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and pears work the best in smoothies. Fruits with alot of liquid such as watermelon and citrus fruit work best in small quantities along side heartier fruits and vegetables. Don't forget the bananas!

Fourth, Prepare! This is my favorite step. If a recipe for tomorrow calls for frozen bananas or another fruit simply prep it, peel it, or whatever it needs and put it in a plastic baggy in your freezer. I always sample the fruit first...that's the fun part.

Next..Make the smoothie! I always start by adding any yogurt first and then the fruit. This helps the yogurt to incorporate better. After the fruit goes the wet ingredients: juice, milk or soymilk, or even a little H2O if the recipe calls for it. Make sure that you add enough wet ingredients now or your blender could freeze up. The "puree" function is the best for smoothies. Then...ice...it always goes in last and always a little bit at a time to make sure that the mix actually mixes without getting frozen up on you. I slowly drop the ice in from the opening in the top of the lid and never put my fingers in while it's blending!

Lastly...Drink and enjoy.