Smoothies... those delicious, creamy, frosty fruit drinks, are good for you and so simple to make. Creating the trendy, cool, thirst quenching concoctions in your kitchen couldn't be easier. Choose your ingredients, wash the fruit, peel or cut into chunks, if needed, then let your blender do the rest. Kids love them too, and smoothies are a good way to add extra nutrition to their diets.

To make fresh fruit smoothies, use just one fruit or a few kinds of fruit that go well together, such as strawberries and bananas, pineapples and oranges, peaches and berries, etc.

Yogurt used in a smoothie can be plain, vanilla or yogurt with fruit... regular, low-fat or non-fat. You can also use milk, either whole milk, 1%, 2% or skim milk, or use a combination of both milk and yogurt. For high protein smoothies, replace the milk with soy milk. To cut the fat but still have a rich and creamy drink, use fat free or low-fat soy milk. To reap the benefits of soy without sacrificing calcium, use calcium fortified soy milk.

When fresh fruit is not available, buy unsweetened frozen fruit... berries, peaches, melon, etc. Use it straight from the freezer... no thawing needed. There's no need to add ice cubes when making smoothies with frozen fruit. If you have bananas that are becoming over ripe, freeze them to use in smoothies. With frozen bananas you can also have cold frosty smoothies without adding ice cubes.

Fruit juice can be fresh, from a carton, or from frozen fruit juice concentrate. Use orange juice, pineapple juice, white grape juice or a juice blend. Your choice should compliment the fruit you're using. Add a dash of cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla or perhaps a little honey or maple syrup. Be creative!

For a basic smoothie, use -

about 4 ice cubes
Combine all the ingredients in a blender. Process on high until the ice is completely crushed and the drink is smooth and
creamy.

The blender used to make smoothies can be a basic blender, with just a high and low setting, or a deluxe multi speed model, as long as it's powerful enough to crush ice cubes. Smoothie makers, new counter top appliances like the one shown above, feature powerful motors, heavy-duty ice-crushing blades, built in pusher/stirrers and convenient dispensing taps for easy serving.

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Smoothie Recipes

Cherry Smoothie Chocolate Raspberry Smoothie Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie Creamsicle Smoothie Sunny Morning Smoothie Berry Orange Smoothie Apple Smoothie Apple Strawberry Smoothie Purple Cow Smoothie

Mixed Melon Smoothie Kiwi, Grape & Honeydew Smoothie Tropical Island Smoothie Strawberry, Pineapple, Banana Smoothie Copycat Orange Smoothie Peach Smoothie Blueberry Smoothie Strawberry Yogurt Smoothie

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Get a powerful new smoothie maker or blender ....

Back to Basics Smoothie Elite Maker This smoothie blender features aa 56-ounce capacity, a handle for easy pouring and an interchangeable blender cap for chopping and blending dry ingredients. It has a 500-watt pulse-power motor with three speeds. The unique stir stick breaks up air pockets and increases mixing efficiency. An ice-crushing blade creates consistent smoothie texture and the dispenser valve neatly and efficiently serves the smoothies.

Cuisinart 40-oz. Duet Blender/Food Processor This 2-in-1 appliance features 7 speeds, including a special ice crush setting and pulse. To slice or shred vegetables or fruit, simply remove the blender jar, replace it with the 3-cup food processor bowl, collar and cover. A chopping blade and reversible slicing/shredding disc are included. The food processor's unique design lets you position the handle and feed tube facing front, side or rear. Extras include indicator lights so you know what functions are operating, hidden cord storage, a dripless pouring spout and a feed tube pusher with a built-in liquid dispenser.

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