A Sweet Treat to Beat the Humid Heat

Don’t let the humidity get to you! Cool down by making yourself a nice cold smoothie. Smoothies can be a great tasting way to pack in some of your vitamins and nutrients for the day. Fare For All offers a variety of fruits that you could add to your smoothie, including apples, oranges, mangos and more!

Check out this great informational article about smoothies from Jennifer Murray at bellaonline.com: “While there are hundreds of ways to make a fruit smoothie, with varying tastes and textures, here are the basics: First, chopped fruit (one type of fruit or several) is the smoothie's fruit base. Great fruits to use are bananas, berries (including strawberries and blackberries), pineapples, mangos, and/or kiwi. Second, add an ingredient to the smoothie as a thickener. Good choices include low-fat yogurt, low-fat frozen yogurt, a can of frozen juice concentrate, frozen fruit, or a cup of ice. How much of these ingredients you will use depends on how thick you want your smoothie to be. Third, you will need a liquid so everything will blend smoothly. You can add skim milk, soy milk, fruit juice or even water (some smoothie makers use flavored water). Start with 1/4 cup and then add more if needed. An extra option to enhance flavor is to add a sweetener, cinnamon or vanilla extract. A good rule of thumb for the ingredient measurements is to make your smoothie with 1 part fruit, 1 part liquid, and 2 parts thick base. For example: for 1 smoothie (a little over 1 cup), you would use 1/4 cup fruit, 1/4 cup liquid, and 1/2 cup thickener. But these measurements are not set in stone. The great thing about smoothies is you can experiment to get exactly what you want!
Directions
Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Serve immediately or refrigerate. You may want to serve in a chilled glass if serving immediately.
Tips
A lot of people choose to add nutritional supplements to their smoothies, such as wheat germ, Vitamin C powder or ground flaxseed. Also, if you want extra protein, add soy protein isolate or soy protein concentrate. The most common recipe for a fruit smoothie is orange juice, strawberries, and a banana that is blended until smooth. Calorie-wise, a version of the fruit smoothie that is the lowest in calories just uses water (flavored water is optional), fruit, and ice cubes. Adding dairy products or soy adds protein, calcium, and a different taste to your smoothie.”

Jennifer Murray, www.bellaonline.com