Rice Milk Smoothie Recipe

I am currently dieting, and my breakfast of choice on most days is a home made smoothie. It is quick, simple, light, and filling. I originally fell in love with smoothies when a smoothie shop franchise came to my home town about ten or twelve years ago. Now I make my own smoothies at home to help myself live a more healthy lifestyle!

One week when I was at the grocery store doing my weekly shopping, I found a bunch of rice milk on sale, so I decided to buy it and try using it in my smoothies instead of regular milk. I absolutely love the extra layer of flavor that the rice milk brings to my smoothies, and plus it makes the smoothies even better for my weight loss goals!

Here is the base for my smoothie recipe.

Ingredients:

1/4 - 1/2 cup of rice milk
1/2 - 2/3 cup of non fat vanilla yogurt.
3 to 4 large ice cubes or a handful of small ice cubes
your choice of fruits

I start with the above base recipe and then I add in whatever fruit I happen to be in the mood for on that day. Here are some ideas for fruit choices.

Fruit choices:

1 whole banana, peeled
4 to 5 strawberries, with the leaves cut off
1/3 - 1/2 cup of blueberries
1/3 - 1/2 cup of raspberries
2 mangoes
1 or 2 fresh peaches

With the base recipe and those 6 fruit choices the possibilities are almost endless as to how many different smoothies you can make. I like to use at least 2 types of fruit in my smoothie, however, there are some days when I will throw in 3 or 4 different types of fruit into my blender.

Some of my favorite fruit combinations are strawberry mango, banana blueberry, peach mango, and banana berry (banana and some of each of the above berries). Every combination I have tried has been delicious!

When I make my smoothie, I add the fruit first, then top with the yogurt, pour in the milk and put the ice in last. I blend for at least 2 minutes to make sure that everything is mixed in thoroughly. I pour my smoothie into a large glass and in 5 minutes I have breakfast! There is usually a little bit of smoothie leftover in the blender and I split that between my three kids or give it to my husband.

Another thing that I love about smoothies is they make great drinks to go along with your breakfast, or even a great snack at any point during the day!