I've never been much of a smoothie person. I never really enjoyed them. Maybe it was that I didn't enjoy drinking for nutrition. Maybe I always figured that food should be, well, food. Maybe I just never made them right or didn't care to put quality ingredients into them. Regardless of how much I enjoyed them in the past, I've come to realize that smoothies can be a nutritionally dense part of a balanced diet, especially for those that maybe don't eat much.
That's changed now that I've been put on a medication that severely limits my appetite. I've been battling pain and headaches for years, and nothing had really mitigated the symptoms, until topiramate. It wasn't a night and day different, per se. The change took place over a few weeks, and it has been phenomenal. My headaches are virtually gone. I've been able to read and relax. All of the generalized small joint pain that I've been having for the past several years has gone away, leaving only a couple of very specific issues that I can now actually focus on with my doctors. While I have my hypothesis on what's actually going on, that's a story for another day.
So, that brings us to now. With topiramate, I no longer can eat the way that I did. While I haven't been a heavy eater for years, I ate comfortably enough to maintain weight (and actually had gained quite a bit, likely due to some other medications). Because I'd drastically dropped to a very small number of calories per day, I'm sitting here, trying to cram as much nutritionally dense food into meals as possible.
So, enter, smoothies, which for me fill one meal a day now, almost every day. Keeping in mind what I've just said, I make these smoothies in bulk, cramming in a bunch of nutrition, and then dividing into 8 ounce jars. For my lunch time, this is about what I can handle. If that isn't right for you, certainly adjust!
Ingredients
Because I'm trying to keep these nutritionally and calorically dense, I don't use water or ice in these. All measurements were measured with my kitchen scale in my most recent batch.
This is the order I put them in the blender, but for the most part, it really doesn't matter. Exact portions probably aren't essential for most ingredients.
- 60 g lacinato (or other type) kale (from my local CSA)
- 152 g blueberries, frozen (from a local blueberry farm)
- 187 g red (or other color) raspberries, frozen (from a local berry farm)
- 251 g bananas, frozen
- 303 g plain yoghurt
- 335 g orange juice
- 3 g kosher salt
- 111 g unsweetened apple sauce
- 3 g lemon zest (from one organic lemon, if possible, otherwise wash the lemon)
- 76 g lemon juice (from one well squeezed lemon)
- 11 g raw carob powder
- 36 g carrot powder
- 7 g ground ginger
- 7 g ground cinnamon
- 155 g raw, unsweetened cashew butter
- 690 g whole milk (Save this for the very end)
Allergens
- Contains dairy
- Contains cashews/tree nuts
- Contains blueberries and raspberries (yes, I know people allergic to blueberries!)
- Contains carrots (same with carrots!)
Substitutions
You can probably substitute just about anything for anything, as long as it's liquid for liquid, solid for solid, etc. Experiment! Find something you like.
In particular, though:
- Any other berries for the blueberriess or rasperries should work. I've used strawberries. Blackberries should work, etc, etc, etc.
- Any non-dairy milk, like almond milk, should work for the milk.
- Another juice, like lemonade, can easily work for the the orange juice.
- Peanut or almond butter or tahini or something should work for the cashew butter, or leave it out. I added it for some extra calories, fat, and protein.
Directions
- Chop kale into roughly 1-inch pieces to blend easier.
- Put all ingredients except for milk in blender. Apply lid to blender.
- Begin blending on low until the kale and lower portions of the blender are processed.
- Stop blender. Remove the lid.
- Using a spatula, mix ingredients by hand so top layers are a little better incorporated.
- Reapply lid to blender. Start blender on low, and gradually work up to medium or high until well processed for a couple of minutes. Everything should be smooth.
- Stop blender. Remove the lid.
- Add milk to blender. Apply the lid.
- Begin blending on lid for two minutes until well mixed.
- Stop blender. Remove the lid.
- Portion smoothie into jars or other vessels.
- Cover and store in refrigerator until ready to consume.
Notes
I have a large Ninja blender whose liquid max fill line is at 72 oz. Depending on your blender, you may need to adjust portion sizes or batch sizes accordingly.
Storage
I portion my smoothies into 10x 8 ounce mason jars with the plastic lids. This works for me and is the perfect size for lunch. You may wish to adjust, depending on your appetite.
Nutritional Information
When portioned into 8oz portions, we end up with roughly 240 calories, 11g of fat, 30g of carbs, and 8g of protein. Not bad. I'm not a nutritionist, and maybe one would not be too happy with this, but it seems like it has decent nutritional value.
Consumption
These smoothies are great on their own, but you can certainly add additional berries or other garnishes, if you'd like.
They should last in the refrigerator indefinitely, so long as the individual ingredients would be good. I drink one per day, so mine last ten days without difficulty.
Final Thoughts
If you have any additional ingredients you think would add excellent nutritional value or flavor profiles, feel free to add to comments! I'm always open to ideas!
A Word on Links
I do not receive sponsorships for any of the links listed here. I'm linking to the resources that I do as a matter of transparency and because those are the products that I use or used. Sometimes the specific product can make a difference in the end result of a recipe, sometimes it doesn't.
