Berry Blitz
Posted: August 1, 2011 Filed under: Recipes | Tags: banana, berries, blender, blueberry, breakfast, dairy, easy, fruit, gluten-free, healthy, low-fat, milk, protein, quick, raspberry, shake, strawberry, vegetarian, yogurt 1 Comment »Smoothies are a great way of changing up the norm without having to invest in an expensive piece of equipment like a juicer. Chances are you have a blender; whether you use it or not is another story.
I generally make fruit shakes / smoothies after a weeknight work-out or on a Saturday or Sunday morning. It literally takes 5 minutes and that’s including clean-up (see Tips section below).
You want to talk about healthy, one glass of this refreshing concoction will get you that much closer to fulfilling your daily nutritional goals.
Recipe
Serving Size (1-2 people)
Estimated time: 5 minutes
Ingredients:
- 12 oz skim milk
- 1/4 cup mixed berries (I use frozen)
- 1/2 a banana
- 2 spoons low fat greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon strawberry jam
- 1 scoop whey protein (optional)
Appliances:
- blender (I have a KitchenAid Artisan)
Directions:
- freeze glasses 5-10 minutes ahead of time
- blend all ingredients together (liquefy) and serve in frosted glasses
Tips:
- you can use fresh berries, which I often do. however, frozen ones are much cheaper, last much longer and are optimal for smoothies since they’re, well, frozen. here’s a helpful link I came across on fresh vs. frozen fruit.
- I used to be intimidated by the clean-up associated with a blender. taking off the blade, cleaning around it carefully, etc. however, I quickly learned (thanks YouTube) that the easiest way to clean a blender is to immediately rinse it, and then run it half-full with soap water. you will of course want to do a more thorough wash less frequently, but this is a great way to get by without having to dread the post-smoothie clean-up.
This recipe looks good, although I have to say my favorite part was the trick for cleaning the blender. I hate taking it apart and nearly slicing open my finger on the blade.