Instead of picking up a cold can of pop this summer try a healthy alternative by making a smoothie. Before you think that smoothies taste gross or it’s obviously not as refreshing as a can of pop or a cocktail, you probably never had a very good smoothie then. What about milkshake? If you like a good milkshake, there are ways you can turn your healthy smoothie into milkshake like! The difference between the two heavily lies on the fact that milkshake is more sweet through sugar and thicker through cream, versus smoothie isn’t as sweet and not as thick as well. But there are ways to create that texture EASILY with these great recipe.
Roasted Banana and Almond Smoothie
You will NEVER believe it’s not a milkshake… AND it’s also vegan and dairy free! This one is called the Roasted Banana and Almond Smoothie and the key ingredient to this one is (dun dun dun) roasted banana. The banana keeps the smooth thick, sweet, and frosty just like any other milkshake would taste.
Ingredients:
- About 2 cups unsweetened almond milk, divided
- 2 medium bananas, peeled
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 2 dates, pitted and roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons almond butter
- Extra banana slices and almonds for garnish, if desired
Instructions:
Make the almond milk ice cubes. Using about 1 cup of the almond milk, fill the wells of an ice cube tray (you’ll only need about 4-6 ice cubes for this recipe). Freeze until solid.
Roast the bananas. Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. Place the peeled bananas on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, then sprinkle with the brown sugar and a pinch of salt. Roast the bananas in your pre-heated oven for 20 minutes. Remove and set aside until they are completely cooled.
Meanwhile, add the chia seeds, chopped dates and 1 cup of the almond milk to your blender. Let this sit for about 10 minutes. Then add the almond butter, cooled bananas (making sure to scrape in any of the brown sugar) and 4-6 ice cubes. Blend on high until smooth.
Pour into a glass. Garnish with fresh banana slices and sliced almonds, if desired. Enjoy immediately.
Image Courtesy of Floating Kitchen | via
Green Power Smoothie
Another way to keep the smoothie thick is with yogurt, it is also better with geek yogurt due to its texture. A lot of people actually like to use yogurt in their smoothies because it is another substitute for milk. The yogurt will provide a consistent creamy and rich texture PLUS there isn’t any extra sugar or saturated fat added to it. This recipe is not your typical green smoothie, this is a 5 ingredient smoothie and only one ingredient is green. The ingredients are: spinach, banana, mango, cherries and Greek yogurt.
Ingredients
- ½ cup spinach (roughly one handful)
- ½ banana, frozen
- ½ cup mango chunks, frozen
- ¼ cup sweet dark cherries, frozen
- ¼ cup french vanilla yogurt, fat free
- ½-1 cup water
Instructions:
- Place spinach, banana, mango, cherries, french vanilla yogurt and water in a blender.
- Blend until smooth and no more pieces remain, enjoy!
Image Courtesy of Sweet Phi | via
Red Velvet Green Smoothie
Don’t like food that’s too green? No worries, because there is the red velvet green smoothie! Just like the classic red velvet cake but a whole lot healthier and there is NO CAKE IN IT!!! Whu is it red?? It’s because of the beets and antioxidant rich cacao. And believei t or not, this is THE HEALTHIEST smoothie of all! Beets is high in immune-boosting vitamin C, fiber, potassium, manganese and B vitamin folate – like how healthy does this sound?!
