Smoothie-Making 101: The Liquid

Liquid ideas
A great smoothie can be sabotaged by using the wrong liquid base. Choose from these proven winners. Look out for another post that will help you match them with fruits and veg. 

• Soy milk. I recommend Silk soy milk for it's smoothness. 
• Almond milk. I recommend Almond Breeze almond milk for it's tastiness.
• Coconut milk. Can or carton is fine. Beware: high fat content.
• Cashew milk. The recipe can be found here. 
• Sunflower seed milk. A strong taste and can be bitter. 
• Hemp milk. Easy to make at home, expensive to buy at the store.
• Apple juice. Sweet and thin, to reduce the apple-y taste, just dilute with water or OJ.
• Orange juice. Tangy and slightly sour, pick one with very little added sugar.
• Coffee. A bitter, strong-scented liquid.
• Cranberry juice. A slightly, bitter berry juice.
• Guava juice. A very sweet juice.
• Hot chocolate. Cool it down first, of course. 
• Coconut water. Great refresher liquid.

Smoothie-Making 101: Tips for Great Smoothies

Tips for Great Smoothies

• A one-to-one ratio. For each one cup of frozen fruit, plan for one cup of liquid. 
• Freeze fruit ahead of time. I like to have a freezer stocked with frozen fruit. Be sure to peel and chop the fruit before bagging it and laying it flat in the freezer. Some surefire staples are bananas, strawberries, mango and blueberries. 
• Keep it simple. If you limit the number of ingredients, your fruits will have a chance to shine, but the more you add, the more you invite disaster. 
• A decent blender. Do not buy a plastic pitcher blender that is marketed for smoothies. They tend to be weak and crack easily. You want a glass pitcher blender with a strong motor (try "industrial blenders" on Craigslist or 1950s blenders at Goodwill or the equivalent). Ninjas are great - but break the bank! (If you have an unlimited budget, by all means- go for it.)