Making Smoothies At The Health And Wellness Expo

I'm happy to report that there were no cooking accidents this weekend at the HMG Health and Wellness Expo this past weekend.  Since I was using a blender, I did have a few nightmares that something spectacular would go wrong.  After all, I did heat up the oven once at the first Expo I did with the oven manual in it!  Fortunately, there was no fire.

As always, I enjoyed "cooking" even though making smoothies hardly qualifies as more than food prep.  Just goes to show that eating healthy doesn't need to involve complicated cooking!  I made four different smoothies, three of which have been featured before on this blog.  All seemed to be well received, even the spinach smoothie.  In fact, an eight year old girl said it was her favorite!  Add a bit of protein powder and a smoothie can be a good breakfast, lunch, dinner side, dessert or snack.  Just remember to keep the added sugar to a minimum with maybe a bit of honey.  There really is plenty of sugar in the yogurt, fruit or a splash of orange juice.  I avoid smoothies at fast food restaurants or even those from the grocery as they are usually calorie and sugar laden affairs, negating any nutrition.

                                            Making the banana, peach, buttermilk smoothie.

Assembling the infamous twinkie tree.  If it doesn't grow, if you can't harvest it, or it doesn't run or swim or fly, do you really want to eat it?

I'm also going to share the final recipe I made on Saturday.  This smoothie isn't for everybody as it has approximately 600 calories.  I created this smoothie for my daughter the swimmer because she needed to gain weight.  So if you know someone who has been ill or who trains so hard that they need the extra calories, this is a great tasting smoothie.  The rest of us need to look away.

600 Calorie Smoothie
1 serving of chocolate Carnation Instant Breakfast*
1 cup 1% or skim milk
1 banana
1 serving of protein powder*
1 to 2 Tbsp. peanut butter
Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth.  *Depends on the kind of protein powder you buy as to how many scoops make a serving.  Also, Carnation Instant Breakfast comes in tubs or envelopes so check the package for a serving size.  You can also add 1/2 cup Greek yogurt for more protein and calories.

I make a lower calorie version of this for myself occasionally.  Blend 1 banana, 1 cup skim milk, 1 tsp. of peanut butter and 1 serving of Carnation Instant Breakfast or 1 serving of chocolate Slim Fast until smooth.  Makes a decent breakfast or lunch once in awhile, certainly better than a granola bar and a cup of coffee.