Cool Smoothies

Smoothies are great any time of the year, but they are particularly refreshing in the heat of summer. They pair terrifically with just about any meal. They make a tasty after workout or afternoon pick-me-up snack. Sometimes, a smoothie will suffice as a meal in itself.

I have a Vitamix blender, which handles frozen fruits and ice pretty well, even after years. If your blender or food processor bogs down, consider partially thawing and chopping larger pieces of fruits as part of your prep. If needed, add crushed ice - or pounded inside a zip bag - to keep it chill.

Let's get down to the basics!

LIQUID BASE

Start by choosing a liquid that suits you. Some choices are:

Milk

Almond, soy, or oat milk

Coconut water

Orange or apple juice

PROTEIN OPTIONS

Most people want some protein in their smoothie, especially if it's going to be a meal replacement. You may like these ideas:

Yogurt

Tofu

Peanut butter or sun butter

Nuts - walnuts, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds (pepitas) are common choices

FRUITS

Berries - blue berries, raspberries, strawberries

Mango (my personal favorite, always frozen)

Cherry

Pineapple

Pear

ADD-ONS

Matcha green tea - I bought this on Amazon

Spinach

Cucumber

Kale

Avocado - not for me

Tajin

Lime or lemon

Whipped topping - sugar free for me

Chocolate chips - sugar free for me

Flaxseed - for extra fiber

Acerola - for extra vitamin C

Here are two types of protein powder I favor. As diabetes runs in my family, I found ones that are low in sugar but still have flavor. Feel free to do your own taste-testing and let me know in the comments if you found one you like.

This first one has 2 grams of sugar per scoop. I don't necessarily use a whole scoop if I'm making a smoothie just for me.

Optimum Nutrition is whey based and is available in large quantity on Amazon.

The other kind I like, Truvani, is entirely plant based and has 1 or 2 grams of sugar per scoop depending on the flavor. They have some good ones! I bought vanilla, vanilla chai, peanut butter, and lemon cookie. They also have strawberry, pumpkin spice, mint chocolate, strawberry chocolate, banana cinnamon, matcha, and unflavored. Although their vanilla is available on Amazon, I found that if you go to their website, http://shop.truvani.com they have a great deal on a starter kit which ends up being a better deal, with extras thrown in for good measure.

Here's where things get really fun and creative. Now, you get to put it all together in ways that appeal to you.

The smoothie for my cover photo has almond milk, vanilla protein powder, frozen mango, frozen banana, aceroli, Tajin, and flaxseed. Yum!

This next one again has almond milk, vanilla protein powder, frozen mango, matcha green tea, cucumber, and some spinach from my garden (yes, I can grow things in Arizona!)

This is one of my favorites, and a repeat request from my best friend. It has almond milk, vanilla protein powder, frozen mango, frozen cherries, and aceroli.

This last one is a dessert smoothie using almond milk, peanut butter protein, peanut butter, sugar free whipped topping, a dash of cocoa powder, and some sugar free chocolate chips.

If you're in a partying mood, you can also spike a smoothie. Fruit based smoothies work well with rum - I favor spiced rum. I've also used Fireball and salted caramel whiskey. Just a dash gives it some additional flavor and a zing. If it's not chilled, you may want to add a few ice cubes.

I hope you will consider trying some of these smoothie ideas or make up some of your own. Enoy!