Fruit Smoothie Universe

Holidays can be a stressful time with all the activities that come in such a short period of time. Finding time to prepare the right kinds of health inducing foods is not an easy task either. There is an easy way to help relieve that stress and that is the wonderful Smoothie. Adding a fruit smoothie to your daily intake will not only help relieve the stressful holidays but also give you the proper nutrition to keep you energized. By adding a fruit smoothie with it’s tasty nutrient dense goodness you can get the proper vitamins and minerals that will fight off stress related fatigue. Fruits such as oranges, strawberries and blueberries contain magnesium, vitamin C, calcium and folic acid. You can also add supplements such as supergreen powder, maca, bee pollen, flaxseed oil, sunflower seeds or I like to add almond butter to my smoothie. My morning fruit smoothie usually has just about every item I have mentioned above but you make it to your liking and enjoy this holiday season with a delicious fruit smoothie!

Pumpkin is a wonder ful ingredient for a healthy and delicious fruit smoothie you can serve to friends and family during the holiday season. Pumpkin is full of antioxidants and is a healthy alternative to pumpkin pie for those who are in need of a healthy alternative.

1/2 cup pumpkin (canned or homemade)

1 cup plain yogurt or kefir

sweeten to taste with honey or agave nectar, cinnamon and or nectar.

If you are feeling bold you can also add a touch of egg nog to give it that holiday yummy goodness! No matter how you do it, I think you will find wonderful ways to spread holiday goodness without the guilt.

The Pomegranate is an ancient food going back to biblical times but it has recently gained popularity for its health properties. The fruit contains a high antioxidant level and has been attributed to fighting such diseases as high blood pressure, kidney and prostate ailments and also gum disease. I decided to give this fruit a review in the blender as part of my morning smoothie. I must advise you that the route I took to obtain the juice was not the road I would recommend as this is a fruit that does not give up its fruity goodness without a fight! After finding some directions on how to procure the juice from the fruit I proceeded by cutting the top, or crown of the fruit and cutting down the side between the sections. remove the seed clusters from the skin and remove anything that is not a seed and put into blender. At this point I could see there was going to be a problem with skins or outer layer of the seed but I proceeded with the blending operation. once juiced I removed the shell with a strainer and added the juice to the rest of my drink ingredients and BAM! What a refreshing flavor the Pomegranate gives.Very citrus and a slight bitter but I added a touch of almond butter to the mix and it neutralized it quite well. Overall the Pomegranate was an interesting experiment that I had to experience but I would just go buy the darn juice at my local grocer next time and forget the ancient Roman way of getting the juice. You can purchase the juice or you can get it a syrup form but I recommend juice as it has less sugar and you can get all the healthful benefits of the wonderful Pomegranate without all the fuss. My tasty pomegranate recipe is as follows:

1 cup yogurt or Kefir
1 splash of Agave nectar
1 cup of pomegranate aril extract (the juice)
1 cup of mango slices
1 cup of blackberries
1 tbsp of peanutbutter or almond butter

That is how my drink came together but you can mix or match the combinations any way you like, in fact, if you come up with a great pomegranate smoothie recipe, please share your recipe!

Since the fall of man back in the Garden of  Eden, the apple has just gotten better over time. Now autumn’s finest can be found in literally thousands of recipes all around the planet. It has been baked, burnt, dried, made into cider, applesauce, and many forms of juice and now smoothied!

The health properties of the apple are well documented and it’s nutritional qualities are extraordinary so the old addage “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” can be substantiated. The varieties are also unlimited depending on your taste, you can choose from Braeburn,Granny Smith, fuji, Jonagold, Pippin and the list goes on.

Throwing an apple into the blender to enhance your smoothie comes without great stress as the apple is still relatively inexpensive compared to other fruits and it will add a zing to your fruit smoothies that’s hard to beat. Try the humble apple in your next smoothie and see if you don’t agree!