Hi

I've started making smoothies recently in a vain attempt to get my five-a-day, but have run out of new and innovating ideas and was hoping you lovely people could share some.

I don't have a very diverse fruit bowl - bananas, apples, oranges and occasionally raspberries and strawberries - but would be willing to go more exotic if any of you have exotic suggestions! My one and only rule is that we don't mention the devil fruit: pineapple.

Thanks in advance

I make a lovely one with oranges, mango, strawberries, and limes. It needs the lime juice as just too sweet otherwise.
Totally delicious and completely filling, and like you I use it as a means to get my 5 portions of fruit and veg into me.

You could try carrot with some of the fruit - very sweet in itself, and goes well with apple. Cranberries, passionfruit, and as above, mango too.

My staple is banana, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, a splash of orange juice and 3 ice cubes. Since the OH hates banana I make his with melon instead.

I recommend frozen raspberries. They are much cheaper than fresh, and you can have a big bag of them in the freezer and just use whenever. Supermarkets sell them ready frozen, sometimes in large bags. If you're blending in an electric thing, then just chuck in a handful of frozen raspberries - they defrost enough as you whizz them to make them edible, but the frozen-ness of them keeps the smoothie really thick and cold and rich.

Raspberry and banana is my favourite - one banana, a handful (or two) or frozen raspberries, and some orange juice.

Sainsburys do good frozen exotic fruit for smoothies. Not sure if pineapple in it though. Mind you I guess you could fish out the pineapple if it does have it.

Thanks for all suggestions so far.

I haven't seen the frozen raspberries or exotic mixes, but will look out for them!

They're usually near the frozen peas. Or sometimes near the ice cream etc.

you can get frozen mixed berry mix in Aldi/Lidl too and they are really good value.

I copied this one from the Juice Bar in my town centre:

Banana
Handful of strawberries
Fresh orange juice
Tablespoonful of probiotic yoghurt (I usually substitute this with a very low fat alternative)
Teaspoon of honey
Ice cubes

If you use frozen fruit then you don't need the ice cubes.

If you want a nice warming shake with a bit of zing to it, then grate some fresh ginger (or whizz in food processor etc) and blend with some apple (preferably a good sharp one, no Galas or Golden "Delicious"!) and some apple juice, and add melon too if you like.

This is quite a good site, with lots of recipes:
http://www.flowercarole.com/

I've just been having a browse, and there were a few recipes that had oats in. Just normal, uncooked, porridge oats. I think that sounds really interesting. They're good for you, and they might make an interesting texture to the smoothie. I'm going to try some different ones this weekend.

Again, thanks for your suggestions. I've taken note of them and will experiment tomorrow.

Elanor and everyone else who's suggested adding fruit juices to the mixture - how much would you suggest? Might sound a stupid question, but I'm prone to adding too much or too little and ending up with a thick/runny mixture.

Thanks, I've added it to my favourites list.

I never measure anything when I cook (except if I'm baking). I throw in a bit, see if it looks right, and if it's too runny, I add more banana (or whatever) and if it's too thick I add more juice. Start with less and add more later is obviously the easiest. But if you're aiming for a glass of smoothie, then just about half a glass or a bit more of the juice is probably about right, depending how thick you like it.

I'm not an experienced cook so rarely trust my estimations, but I suppose you're right in that trial and error is the only way to make a smoothie to taste.

Thanks for your help.

I wasn't experienced either a couple of years ago - the experience only comes with trial and error. None of it's going to kill you, or taste awful beyond repair, so I say experiment and see what you like.

Some of the vegetable smoothie recipes on that site look really tempting - I'm going to try a cucumber and apple one tomorrow I think.

I've not tasted a vegetable smoothie before. The apple-cucumber one sounds interesting, though. Do report back once you've tried it!

Same here really. Have fun experimenting.

Oh and thanks for the link.

Thank you, I have a blender lying unused and will get blitzing later

I've been playing about with my blender today and it's come out with some delicious results.

I found extrapolating on Mz Fizz's teaspoon of honey made for some tasty mixtures if you have a sweet tooth, and Elanor's frozen raspberries produced a chilled, slushy consistency that worked well with the chopped banana. Adding a little melon was a nice twist, too.

My simplest discovery was definitely 1 chopped banana, some milk and a little honey, blended together for 30 seconds to produce a banana milkshake-type concoction.

I went on a rampage through the fruit aisle this morning and came home with all manner of fruits - watermelon and apricots being some of the more unusual choices. I'll have fun with them tomorrow, I think. May even risk throwing some cucumber in and seeing how that goes.

1 packet of Tesco Summer fruits ( defrosted )
1 pineapple ( diced )

snooth up and add pure apple juice to taste.

Makes enough for a few pints and lasts a few days.

This site has loads of recipes on it.

www.lovesmoothies.com

My favorite type of smoothie has to be a blueberry and banana flavored smoothie! In my opinion, no smoothie combination beats a blueberry and banana combination smoothie!