Fruit and veg smoothies recipes

[BedfordBoy]

Hi all, I was watching a documentary on YouTube about this Aussie bloke who lost a shed load of weight by going on fruit and veg smoothies for 60 days. Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead it was called. He's inspired me to have a go at it too. Has anyone tried it, and have you any nice recipes? Cheers!

[Cooper27 Administrator]

I remember watching it and having the same thoughts right after, but then I realised I don't like juice 😁

It is very inspiring, I think from watching the follow up documentary, it looks like you don't have to go the full extent of only drinking juice for 60 days to get the benefits, and of course, it highlighted that the most important thing is to work on your relationship with food.

[BedfordBoy in reply to Cooper27]

Hi Cooper27, yes I was very impressed with the people in the program, especially the will power side of things. It must have been so easy to just cave in to your inner desires! Just by chance I shopped in Tesco on Monday and they had lots of fruit and veg reduced to clear. So I came out with a trolley load! I've got a feeling that I might have to adapt the method a little bit to stop me from getting bored. Right now, even a week on this diet seems like an eternity! 😁

[Screen77]

It's an interesting idea, I'd advise caution with trying to shed a lot of weight quickly since it can be a bit of a shock to the body plus as you said it does take a lot of willpower to completely withdraw food volume from your diet. If it's difficult it might be best just to gradually replace 1 meal with smoothie and step it from there if you really want to try it, but make sure you get your nutrients in as best you can.

In summer I like to make smoothies and fruit salads. I don't like a ton of fruit and veg so make the choice based off what I do like and do different combos, usually maxing at 5 fruits for my 5 a day. The flavours are really up to you, but the usual base for a smoothie is banana+yoghurt+milk+ fruit. Banana gives decent texture and yoghurt and milk help that whilst giving the liquid. The type of yoghurt can go a way toward your flavour, for example greek yoghurt can make it more bitter whereas a fruit yoghurt like apricot could balance weaker flavoured fruit or enhance an already fruity one. My default fruits of choice are apple, banana, pear, orange, mango, strawberry, raspberry, blueberry and grape, mixed with raspberry yoghurt.

You could group your fruits based on flavour strength or type, such as doing red fruits (strawberry, cranberry, grapefruit, raspberry) or citrus smoothie (mango, grapefruit, orange/nectarine or other, lemon/lime), you could do a more subdued flavour smoothie (apple, pear, banana) or a berry smoothie (blueberry, strawberry, raspberry)

For added nutrients or flavours you can also think about herbs/seeds/nuts. Ground almond powder for example, or chia seeds, or things like mint might be nice to throw in if you like them.

Texture is a big thing for me as well with smoothies, things like blueberries don't always blend well because of the skin, same with kiwis for the seeds and strawberries too. I favour apple/pear as a base fruit and go for smooth fruits like mango or orange because it doesn't alter the texture too hard.

Vegetables I've never tried in a smoothie, I think for the most part their flavours arent really strong enough to sway a smoothie too hard if your fruit is strong enough so they'll be there more for nutrients and texture than anything else. Good blending will probably be needed. Kale and carrot are common smoothie ingredients I know, so perhaps try some experimenting to see what works for you and what flavours you prefer?

If you have any restaurants near you too, maybe have a spy on what smoothies they do in their drinks menu, if any. That might give you some 'recipe' ideas per se.

Hope this helps somewhat!

[BedfordBoy in reply to Screen77]

Thanks for the advice, I'll be busy trying stuff out now. The one thing I've discovered so far is that when blending vegetables, forget using spring greens, they make it very bitter and the smell is awful! So far carrot and spinach with herbs are my favourite. Strawberry on it's own was a bit disappointing, it needs something else to balance it out. Not sure what as yet! 😁