How to make smoothies

Follow these easy tips and instructions so you will know how to make perfect smoothies and enjoy a delicious drink in a few minutes from now.

The word smoothie was first used for a refreshing drink originally made from fresh pureed fruit that is "thickened" with ice-shavings and banana without yogurt.

The drinks themselves originated from warm countries like India, Malaysia, the Mediterranean and the Middle Eastern countries, where refreshing drinks are made with fruit, honey and yogurt. Mango Lassi is a well known traditional and delicious yoghurt and mango smoothie from India.

Compared to fizzy drinks: smoothies are easy, healthy, quick and cool refreshments on a hot day.

• For tastier drinks: when you have a strong blender, use frozen fruits instead of "tasteless" ice cubes.
• For soft ice: when blended with added cream, your smoothies will resemble ice-cream, especially when you put them half an hour or so in the freezer before serving.

How to make smoothies that suits your needs perfectly

There are an enormous amount of smoothie recipes out there, but in order to make your perfect smoothie, you need to follow the following tips and instructions:

• You need a smoothie maker, blender, a food processor or: an immersion blender with a narrow recipient. The stronger the blades and engine, the bigger ice cubes or frozen fruits you can use. When you have simple kitchen equipment, do crush the ice cubes first with a pestle or roll them up in a kitchentowel and bash them with a wooden rolling pin. Using a magic bullet blender, I have broken many blades due to too big ice cubes around the blades in the narrow blender.
• use frozen fruit: in stead of using fresh fruit, frozen fruit will make your smoothie thicker and keep it cool longer. It’s also cheaper to use frozen fruits as you can buy them cheap when they are in season and freeze them for later use. Always make sure to cut your fruit in ice cube sizes, otherwise your blender wont be able to process the fruits and the blade could break easily. Big fruits that you can’t finish at once – like a bunch of overripe bananas or a big melon – are ideal to cut in small pieces and freeze to use in smoothies later on.
• keep an eye on the fat content: adding (ice)cream is an easy way to make any smoothie more tasty, but to keep the calorie count low, you could use alternatives like soy milk or frozen yogurt. You could also add wheat germ and body builders would surely add in some protein powder.
• how to make a thicker smoothie: when you follow a recipe to the dot but your drink turns out to be very thin, simply add a few extra ice cubes or frozen fruit pieces to the mixture and blend again
• bananas – the best of all smoothie ingredients : both fresh or frozen and cut into pieces – are ideal to thicken your smoothie. Avocado is a great alternative as well, be it a little more pricey but containing less sugar than bananas (ideal when you follow a low carb diet and want to thicken e.g. berry smoothies)
• grapes are ideal to make a sweet smoothie without using added sugars
• stevia is ideal to make any sour drink deliciously sweet without adding extra sugar
• Like ice cream, you can freeze your smoothies and drink them later: ideal for moments when you don’t have the time to start cutting fruits. Do make sure to freeze your smoothies in e.g. ice-cube sized portions, so you can blend them easily once you want to defrost them. Add a bit of milk or yogurt and you have a delicious smoothie ready in only seconds!
• help: my smoothie curdles: once you have made a perfect smoothie, you could notice that half an hour later, it starts to curdle. If that happens, you simple put all back into the blender, add some extra ice and mix again.
  Yoghurt smoothies that contain fresh kiwi or fresh pineapple are better served immediately, as the enzymes in those types of fruit will make the drinks slowly but surely more watery.

How to make smoothies in 5 easy steps

1. Add first the liquid ingredients in the blender, so the blade will be able to mix all the ingredients easier.
2. Then add ice cubes and fruit or vegetables.
3. For small blender without a powerful engine, it is recommended to add your ingredients one at a time.
4. Blend until your drink is smooth, taste and adjust when needed.
5. Clean your blender immediately after each use.

We do recommend that you serve your drink immediately after blending, so to keep the smooth consistency and all the vitamines intact.