Tag Archives: smoothie

January 23, 2020 · 12:32 am

How about a super breakfast smoothie?

This is a redo of a post I wrote 10 years ago when the blog first started. I thought it was worth revisiting as it is full of useful information and people love smoothies.

I wake up slowly. As a result, one of the problems I have had in maintaining my weight was meal management. I don’t feel like eating in the morning. For years, I started the day on coffee and a donut or something equally tasty and nutritionally inadequate. I drank coffee all morning at work and then found myself starving by lunchtime. If I had a busy workday and was only able to get a small lunch, I would be uncomfortable all afternoon. If I had time for lunch there was a good chance I would eat too much which of course cut into my productivity that afternoon. There’s no way a bad start worked out well for me.

Your first meal should be your biggest. What could be more logical? You are fueling up for the day. Fill your tank early and spend the rest of the day burning it off. You will be healthier, happier and more productive. If you wait and load up at lunch, or worse, at dinner, you are adding a lot of calories that you might not have time to burn. This is a sure recipe for weight gain.

I have replaced my original blender with a Vitamix machine.

How do you solve it if, like me, you start out kind of foggy and don’t feel like eating first thing?

My solution was a happy accident. I bought a Vitamix machine at Costco. With my new toy, I found myself looking forward to mixing up stuff in the morning to drink. For some reason it was easier for me to drink a smoothie than to think about preparing and eating a breakfast. Go figure. As a result, I now have a morning smoothie that I call my rocket fuel because it fuels my morning bike rides. I include a banana, strawberries, blueberries and salad greens. Also, green tea for all its nutritional value and apple cider vinegar for the same. Another benefit of the smoothie is that I can put in my vitamin and mineral supplement pills. That way, I don’t have to swallow a bunch of pills every morning – one by one. I don’t take any drugs. I have been doing this for around 15 years and continue to tweak the ingredients.

The latest version has 400 calories 2 grams of fat, 14 grams of carbs 7 grams of fiber and 23 grams of protein not to mention all of my vitamin and mineral supplements.

2020 addition: After reading about and writing up raw cacao and turmeric, I have begun including a spoonful of each in my morning smoothie, too. The slight tartness in the cacao is softened by the sweetness of the berries.

Tony

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Filed under breakfast, healthy breakfast, smoothie, smoothies, Vita Mix

Tagged as breakfast, breakfast smoothie, healthy breakfast, smoothie, smoothies, Vita Mix

June 27, 2014 · 5:48 am

Secrets to Making a Great Smoothie – Infographic

I have been a smoothie fan for years. I started with them around 20 years ago when I got my first blender and then moved in to the big leagues with my first Vita Mix machine around eight years ago. I am not a big breakfast eater, but making a smoothie first thing allows me to fuel up for my first bike ride. Smoothies are a great way to incorporate a lot of good nutrition into a single meal element. It is also handy to throw in all my vitamin and mineral supplements, so I don’t have to swallow them one-by-one.

Here are some really good suggestions on making a great smoothie.

Tony

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Tagged as breakfast smoothie, smoothie

March 11, 2013 · 8:22 pm

A St. Patrick’s Day Green Smoothie – Vita-Mix

I have recently decided to up my consumption of leafy green veggies. My diet falls short in that department. I don’t make many salads, so it isn’t the easiest thing to add. I decided to go the smoothie route.

Herewith my first attempt to consume more green leafy veggies:

One cup of apple cider, 1/4 avocado, one slice pineapple, several strawberries, one cup kale, one cup arugala, one tablespoon of chia seeds, one tablespoon of hemp seeds.

Toss it all in the Vita-mix machine, add a half cup of ice cubes and let ‘er rip.

I got lucky and it tasted lovely. I think the avocado and strawberries smoothed out and sweetened up the taste with the pineapple.

Here is the nutritional breakdown:
Calories 265
Total Fat 13.6 grams
Saturated Fat 1.7 grams
No cholesterol
Sodium 84.3 mg
Carbohydrates 47 grams
Sugar 20 grams
Fiber 12 grams
Protein 11 grams

All in all a very successful first attempt.

Tony

Other Vita Mix recipe posts include:
How to Vita Mix a Low Cal Copy of the Jamba Juice Orange Dream Machine,
Vita Mix – Drinking a Watermelon
Vita Mix – Hot Chicken Soup
Vita Mix – Another Green Smoothie
Vita-Mix – Cold Peach Summer Smoothie
Vita-Mix – Cold Green Soup
Vita-Mix – Green Smoothies
Vita-Mix – Watermelon Sorbet Recipe
Vita-Mix – Garden Fresh Cocktail

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Filed under green smoothie, hemp seeds, leafy green veggies, smoothie, St. Patrick's Day, Vita-Mix

Tagged as breakfast, chia seeds, food, green smoothie, health, hemp seeds, leafy green veggies, smoothie, St. Patrick's Day, vegetarian, vita mix machine

August 13, 2011 · 8:37 pm

Vita-Mix – Cold Peach Summer Smoothie

Here is a lovely cool summer smoothie that served a double duty for me. As I described in my post of Aug 10, I had some very heavy duty dental work done this week. As a result I am not able to chew on the right side of my mouth for the next two weeks. So, Mr. Lazy Cook set about putting together a healthy, tasty smoothie that relieved him of the obligation of chewing.

A beautiful peach, the heart of this summer smoothie

Here is the result. I had two peaches that I picked up earlier this week. I cut them up and removed the pits. Into the Vita-Mix machine. I started with half a cup of non-fat plain yogurt and half a cup of soy milk. I found some celery in my fridge. Into the machine.

Toss in a cup of ice cubes and start the machine. I ran it 30 seconds on low speed and another 30 seconds on high. Remove cover and enjoy lovely cold peach aroma.

MMmmm good. It tasted just great; just like a peach milk shake. Very smooth and cool. Perfect for a sunny August afternoon. Didn’t chew one time.

Nutrition:

2 peaches
136 calories
No fat, cholesterol or sodium
34 grams Carbohydrates
6 grams fiber
4 grams protein

Non-fat yogurt
50 calories
No fat
2.5 mg cholesterol
67.5 mg of sodium
9.5 grams carbohydrates
No fiber
5 grams protein

Soymilk
50 calories
1.8 grams fat
No cholesterol
47.5 grams sodium
4.5 grams carbohydrates
0.5 grams fiber
3.5 grams protein

Tony

Other Vita Mix recipe posts include:
How to Vita Mix a Low Cal Copy of the Jamba Juice Orange Dream Machine,
Vita Mix – Drinking a Watermelon
Vita Mix – Hot Chicken Soup
Vita Mix – Another Green Smoothie
A St. Patrick’s Day Green Smoothie – Vita-Mix
Vita-Mix – Cold Green Soup
Vita-Mix – Green Smoothies
Vita-Mix – Watermelon Sorbet Recipe
Vita-Mix – Garden Fresh Cocktail

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Filed under calories, healthy eating, lazy cook, Vita-Mix, Weight

Tagged as calorie counting, diet food, healthy eating, lazy cook, smoothie, Vita Mix, weight

August 10, 2010 · 12:47 pm

Vita Mix – Another Green Smoothie

This is yet another Green Smoothie based on the Vita Mix website.

I got a new Vita Mix machine yesterday and have been playing with various FRESH whole food smoothies. This is one particularly appropriate for August 10 in one of the hottest summers in my memory.

I wrote about a Green Smoothie on July 5 with a recipe from Vita Mix.

Here is another different, but delicious Green Smoothie from that site.

2 cups spinach
1 banana
1 carrot
1 cup vanilla non-fat yogurt.

Put it all into the container and blend for about a minute.

What comes out is delicious and nutritious!

Here is the breakdown:
235 calories, no fat or cholesterol, 280 mg of sodium, 44 grams of carbohydrates, 4 grams of fiber and 3 grams of protein. MMMMmmmm good and good for you.

Tony

Other Vita Mix recipe posts include:
How to Vita Mix a Low Cal Copy of the Jamba Juice Orange Dream Machine,
Vita Mix – Drinking a Watermelon
Vita Mix – Hot Chicken Soup
Vita Mix – Another Green Smoothie
A St. Patrick’s Day Green Smoothie – Vita-Mix
Vita-Mix – Cold Peach Summer Smoothie
Vita-Mix – Cold Green Soup
Vita-Mix – Green Smoothies
Vita-Mix – Watermelon Sorbet Recipe
Vita-Mix – Garden Fresh Cocktail

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Filed under healthy eating, men and healthy eating, men's health, Vita-Mix

Tagged as calorie counting, diet food, green smoothie, healthy eating, smoothie, snacking, Vita Mix, weight

August 9, 2010 · 6:32 pm

Vita-Mix – Garden Fresh Cocktail Smoothie

Tony’s new Vita-Mix blender came today replacing his 5-year old one. As a result, I had to make the first item in the ‘Getting Started’ booklet. It was the following Garden Fresh Cocktail:

One cup fresh tomatoes
1/2 cup spinach
1/4 cup carrots
1 sprig parsley
1/4 cup bell pepper
1/8 teaspoon hot sauce (optional)
1/8 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (optional)
Dash salt (optional)
1 cup ice cubes.

The Vita-Mix blender took this combo and pulverized it in a minute into a delicious hot weather drink that aptly lived up to its name. In addition it got a fresh tomato and 1/4 bell pepper into me. That is no easy trick as I don’t normally eat them. Another fine feature of this machine is that it not only extracts the juice from fruits and veggies, but is combines them with the skin so there is minimal clean up and you, the consumer, get the full benefit of the whole foods and fiber.

The 20 ounce Cocktail has the following nutrients:
50 calories, No fat or cholesterol, 31 mg of sodium, 11 grams of carbohydrate 3.5 grams fiber and 2.5 grams of protein.

Tony

Other Vita Mix recipe posts include:
How to Vita Mix a Low Cal Copy of the Jamba Juice Orange Dream Machine,
Vita Mix – Drinking a Watermelon
Vita Mix – Hot Chicken Soup
Vita Mix – Another Green Smoothie
A St. Patrick’s Day Green Smoothie – Vita-Mix
Vita-Mix – Cold Peach Summer Smoothie
Vita-Mix – Cold Green Soup
Vita-Mix – Green Smoothies
Vita-Mix – Watermelon Sorbet Recipe

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Filed under healthy eating, men and healthy eating, portion size, Vita Mix

Tagged as calorie counting, diet food, healthy eating, men's health, portion size, smoothie, Vita Mix, weight

July 5, 2010 · 5:23 pm

Vita-Mix – A Green Smoothie

It has been hot and humid in Chicago this holiday weekend and my natural reaction to that is to eat something cool and light. I own a Vita-Mix machine. Some call it a blender, some a food processor. Whatever, I have owned it five years now and use it every day for my morning smoothie if nothing else.

Anyway, I went to their website and they had a section on Green Smoothies. Their reasons included that a green smoothie looks gorgeous, the more you add leafy greens to your diet, the more you will want them.

They offered recipes which included kale and pears and romaine lettuce. They also offered a page with mix and match ingredients.

I made the following from that page.

Ingredients included 1/2 cup broccoli, one banana and one carrot and fruit juice. I used half a cup of apple cider and half a cup of orange juice. To that you need to add a cup or ice. Throw it all in the Vita-Mix and blend it up for about 45 seconds.

In case you have never heard of the Vita-Mix blender, I suggest you check them out on their website.

They are very high-powered machines that pulverize fruits and veggies. In my morning smoothie, I include strawberries which are washed, but the leaves are still attached. If you are a Costco customer, you have probably seen them demoed there.

The smoothie came out lovely. It breaks down as follows:
Calories – 267
Fat – 1 gram
Cholesterol – 0 mg
Sodium – 222.5 mg
Carbohydrate 62 grams
Fiber 6 grams
Protein 6.3 grams

A nice change of pace for hot July days.

Tony

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Filed under green smoothie, healthy eating, men and healthy eating, men's health, Vita-Mix

Tagged as diet food, green smoothie, healthy eating, men's health, smoothie, Vita Mix, weight

March 10, 2010 · 1:29 pm

How About a Super Breakfast Smoothie?

I wake up slowly. As a result, one of the problems I have had in maintaining my weight was meal management. I don’t feel like eating in the morning. For years, I started the day on coffee and a donut or something equally tasty and inadequate. I drank coffee all morning at work and then found myself starving by lunchtime. If I had a busy workday and was only able to get a small lunch, I would be uncomfortable all afternoon. If I had time for lunch there was a good chance I would eat too much which of course cut into my productivity that afternoon. There’s no way a bad start worked out well for me.

I have replaced my original blender with a Vitamix machine.

How do you solve it if, like me, you start out kind of foggy and don’t feel like eating first thing?

My solution was a happy accident. I bought a Vitamix machine at Costco. With my new toy, I found myself looking forward to mixing up stuff in the morning to drink. For some reason it was easier for me to drink a smoothie than to think about preparing and eating a breakfast. Go figure. As a result, I now have a morning smoothie that I call my rocket fuel. I include a banana, strawberries, blueberries and salad greens. Also, green tea for all its nutritional value and apple cider vinegar for the same. Another benefit of the smoothie is that I can put in my vitamin and mineral supplement pills. That way, I don’t have to swallow a bunch of pills every morning – one by one. I have been doing this for around 15 years and continue to tweak the ingredients.

The latest version has 400 calories 2 grams of fat, 14 grams of carbs 7 grams of fiber and 23 grams of protein not to mention all of my vitamins and mineral supplements.

After reading about and writing up raw cacao and turmeric, I have begun including a spoonful of each in my morning smoothie, too. The slight tartness in the cacao is softened by the sweetness of the berries.

Tony