Questions About Fruit Smoothies

[SeanCan'tCook]

OK, so I hate most veg and fruit. I got the idea of making fruit smoothies in order to get a couple of servings of fruit down a day.

I'd been experimenting with creating an Orange Dreamsickle shake at my local Quick Trip. I found if you have them put seven squirts of candied orange in a vanilla shake, it's pretty freakin' awesome ... not exactly what I'd call "healthy" though.

I decided to see if I could come close with a fruit smoothie. I searched for recipes, and tried a few.

Every recipe I found had me putting some kind of yogurt in there. To me, every yogurt I try has a strong sour cream aftertaste. It spoiled the smoothies for me. Eventually, I decided to just leave the yogurt out altogether, and they started tasting much better.

Every recipe I found had me either using frozen fruit or ice cubes. I found the ice cubes watered the taste down a lot, and frozen fruit is a lot more expensive than fresh, or canned. I realized the recipes called for them because the friction of the mixing process makes the smoothies too warm, even if you've refrigerated all the ingredients.

I tried making ice cubes out of orange/pineapple juice, and it worked fine, as long as I refrigerated all of the other ingredients, too. I found a better way, though. I bought 24 oz wide-mouth Mason jars. I make the smoothies up ahead of time, store them in the Mason jars, and keep them in the fridge. By the time I drink them, they're way colder than any other method. I just shake them up for a minute, and they're ready to eat.

I've experimented with fresh, frozen, and canned fruit. There is no difference in the taste. The fresh is a pain in the butt, and the frozen is really expensive. I'm using canned now. I just drain the liquid. A 20oz can of mandarin oranges drains down to about 15-16 oz of fruit. Even after calculating the lost fluid into the cost-per-ounce, the canned fruit is 60-70% cheaper than frozen, is only a little more expensive than the fresh fruit, and is a whole lot more convenient.

Here's my basic recipe:

1 banana

1 10oz can of pineapple chunks. These are packed in juice, not syrup, so I throw the juice in to add a bit of sweetness.

2 20oz cans of mandarin oranges (no sugar added), drained

1/2 cup skim milk

1/2 cup orange/pineapple juice

2 tsp vanilla extract


This makes two 24oz smoothies. It's no Orange Dreamsicle shake, but it's pretty good, and it puts 4-5 servings of fruit into me that I wouldn't have been eating, otherwise.

Alternate versions replace the mandarin oranges with peaches, or mangoes. Pretty good.

I have a couple of questions.

1) Would adding orange extract be a good way of amping up the orange flavor? I tried adding a couple of tablespoons of frozen orange juice concentrate, but wasn't happy with it.

2) What to do about the heartburn from the citric acid? Tums work OK, but I'm not sure about the consequences of taking them every day. is there a better way to deal with the citric acid?

3) I'd love to hear about others' experiences along these lines.

Thanks

 

[Aunt Bea]

Freeze your own fruit in chunks that your blender can handle. Toss the chunks of banana or peaches in a little lemon juice, orange juice or pineapple juice to help reduce discoloration. Berries should be fine without the bath in fruit juice.

Try freezing your favorite brand or orange or other fruit juice in ice cube trays, use that instead of regular ice cubes.

Experiment with adding powdered milk or whey powder to help thicken the finished product.

Good luck!

 

[GotGarlic]

Adding orange extract is a better way to get the flavor than more juice.

I understand why you want to make this with orange and pineapple juices, but heartburn isn't the only problem. All that acid dissolves the enamel on your teeth, causing dental problems. You might consider alternating different ingredients so you're not having so much acid every day.

Long-term use of Tums isn't a problem, though. Doctors often suggest it for older women as a great source of extra calcium.

 

[Kitchen Chatters]

I prefer to juice my fruit and veggies. Taste much better that way. Only drawback is that you lose the fiber in the produce.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

The original Fruit Smoothie may be just the flavor you're looking for, Orange Julius. It was created way back in the 1920's.

Recipe:
6 ounces frozen orange juice concentrate
1 cup milk,
1 cup water
1⁄4 cup sugar, or 1 cup Stevia Sweetener
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 ice cubes

Once you've tried it and loved it, use the same recipe, except use different fruits, such as frozen peach slices, or Strawberries, or blackberries, or blueberries, or bananas, or, or...

You can even add things like peanut butter, or fresh apple slices. Pear slices are very good when made into smoothies. Keep the skins on as they contain the most valuable fruit nutrients (besides, ever try to peel a blueberry?)

Hope this helps.

Seeeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Cheryl J]

Not that it matters, but I thought the original Orange Julius's were made with eggs, or maybe it was just egg whites. My grandma and mom used to make them, I loved them when I was a kid.

 

[taxlady]

Not that it matters, but I thought the original Orange Julius's were made with eggs, or maybe it was just egg whites. My grandma and mom used to make them, I loved them when I was a kid.

Yeah, I remember eggs too.

I used to make something we called "Tarzan breakfast". It was O.J., a raw egg, and milk. It's thicker if you just add milk powder instead of milk. I would put everything in a bowl and beat it with an egg beater. It works with a whisk too.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Orange Julius did have egg white. Unless you are using pasteurized egg, or a pasteurized egg substitute, like the ones that are simply egg whited in a carton, most people now days don't like using raw egg in anything. And yet, there are recipes where the use of raw eggs is accepted by the general public.

So, add egg if you must to the Orange Julius recipe. I'll drink it either way. It tastes great.

Seeeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[AnthonyJ]

I prefer to juice my fruit and veggies. Taste much better that way. Only drawback is that you lose the fiber in the produce.

We have a great juicer at home that I don't use for this very reason. When it does get used, the scraps go into the garden.

I was honestly surprised at how well things tasted when blended together. Though now I'm avoiding fruit 6 days a week to scrap the sugar intake, I did use one apple for "sweetness" on top of kale, spinach, broccoli stems and various other greens.