So there is this smoothie i LOVE to drink and wanted to know if it was good health/calorie-wise...

1 cup yogurt (I use Danon fit & active Vanilla flavor)
1/2 cup of Orange Juice
half a banana (if I have one around)
strawberries (quantity depends)
a cup of crushed ice

Calorie-wise you can probably add it up based on the labels, I'm guessing it's in the 2-300 range but it probably fills you up like something with 3 times as many calories. Even still, might I suggest you mix in some ground flax seed (1 tsp - 1 tbsp will give you a ton of fiber and omega fats and it's got a nice slightly nutty taste that you probably won't even notice over the fruits) and/or some vanilla whey protein powder? That'll give it an extra little kick to make it a supersmoothie.

It's going to be a little heavy on carbs... I'd also suggest adding a little flax and protein powder. Or... try cottage cheese instead of the yogurt.

Also, why use orange juice when you could just use an orange or portion thereof? More fiber...

Oh, frozen strawberries work well in smoothies, likewise for frozen banana slices if your blender can handle it. I've got an old Vita-Mix... it handles everything, LOL!

Cottage cheese instead of yogurt? Never had cottage cheese but still doesnt sound the appealing lol... is it one of those things that sound a little icky but actually taste amazing?

I use cottage cheese in smoothies regularly... tastes great with berries! Also good with chocolate protein powder, nuts, flax, etc...

Basically, given the OJ, banana, berries of your recipe above, using the CC will generally add fewer additional carbs than the yogurt. Either should be good though!

Another thing... both cottage cheese and yogurt can be mixed with protein powder for easy quick snacks. I do one with cottage cheese, strawberry PP and flax and blueberries. I also do one with cottage cheese, peanut butter, flax meal and chocolate PP. Very yummy and helps with Reese's PB cravings, LOL!

Tonight, as a pre-bed snack, I had plain fat free yogurt with banana PP, blueberries and a tablespoon of walnuts. Garnished with a sprinkle of cinnamon. Very yummy!

Anyway, once the cottage cheese is all blended up in the smoothie, it's really not icky.

BTW... things like spinach and kale make great smoothie additions as well if you need more veggies. Again, you want a good blender, but you can't taste them... they just turn smoothies on the green side, that's all.

Cynthia brings up a good point about the carbs, although I'm not necessarily saying you should cut them out... I usually have smoothies in the morning for breakfast if I make them, and I tend to try to avoid too many carbs late at night so I wouldn't necessarily do your smoothie as a post-dinner snack, but I'm also not a subscriber to the "carbs are bad" school of thought so if I'm in the mood for it, I'll whip up 8 oz's of smoothie goodness and not really think about carbs and stuff... and it's worked for me, but your mileage may vary.

I WISH I could find damn cottage cheese over here. In the land of damn cheese, I just can't believe it's so damn hard to come by. And damn...

Stina, something fun to add to smoothies is cocoa powder, (which is of course sans-sugar and a great antioxident), accent that with a few good-fats walnuts, cherries or berries, some fresh apple juice, a little soy milk and some protein powder and it's almost decadent tasting. Those walnuts really add the magic.

Can I just say again how much I LOVE putting a half a cup of worm-variety Fiber One in my smoothies? I am drinking one now: 1/2 cup fiber power, 1/2 cup stonyfield yogurt (fiber and protein, yay), 1/2 cup skim milk, 1/2 cup frozen blueberries, 4 big strawberries, 5 ice cubes. Yummmmmmmmmmmmmm.

K, for those of us across the old pond, this sounds highly "A-OOOOOOO-GAHHH!"

Is it really called, "Worm Variety"?!?! If so the F1 marketing dept. really scraped the bottom of the barrell that day...

Go here:

http://www.fiberone.com/product/cereals.aspx?key=h oney

Then click on the "Original" link. They look like cardboard pieces.

Thanks, Joe. I thought it'd likely look much like the similar All Bran style rabbit food.

I'd never think to plop it in the blender though. I'll have to remember that for when the fiber tank is low and I'm smoothing.

I have heard of people using the Fiber One cereal and mixing it in with waffles or pancakes. I believe they just blend it into the batter.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... Pannnnnnnnnnncaaaaaaaaaaaaaakesssssssssss...

I haven't had them for---since------------------WHOA! Last YEAR!

I'll have to change THAT soon.

Thanks for the reminder!

My main objection to the recipe posted is that I feel more protein is needed... carbs are certainly not necessarily bad. Morning is a better time to have them, I agree!

It's just that I'm 51, obese and too many carbs are not my friend... though I always make sure to get some after a good workout! And usually some fruit with the meal before.

Minu's suggestion of cocoa powder... YEAH TO THAT! A really, really tasty brand if you can find it, is Scharffen Berger. Lovely, lovely stuff and worth the cost!

Never thought about adding Fiber One cereal, but yeah, that should be a good fiber boost. I bet Kashi GoLean would work too. I know that a tablespoon or two of rolled oats is nice in smoothies. And another good fiber additive/thickener with minimal calories is plain old psyllium husks.

Plain yogurt, vanilla PP, dried apricots, some flax meal and spinach make a tasty smoothie!

man, I put those fiber worms in EVERYTHING. for the calories, they are the highest-fiber shiz you can find, better than kashi, all-bran, etc. you can put them in the food processor and basically powderize them, then add it to low-fat bisquick mix when making pancakes. or add it to your bread crumbs when making coatings for chicken.

remember kids, 1/2 cup is 14 grams of fiber :blink: for 60 calories. that's zero weight watchers points.

Too bad it's, (like so many things), not available over here. I LOVE that idea for the chicken. I'll make do with the All Bran Plus, cheers, Megan!

happy pooping, minu ;)

Heheheh!

*Ok... BACK TO TOPIC FOR A MINUTE! *

So if I were to have this as a snack, nixing the yogurt and going for something else would be better?

*continue *

Best smoothies for the bod fruit and juice only. Beef up your smoothie with bananas (great for energy)...also...a tip on smoothie making: Cut up fruits and freeze them or buy frozen fruit....do not add ice...your frozen fruit substitutes for ice and keeps it from being watered down...Also, THE BEST juice base is Pineapple-Coconut..adds to creaminess if that is what you like about smoothies with dairy..by the way...cuts OUT the calories! Have fun...Good post.

Hey Stina...the smoothie you are having sounds good...but as others have suggested, I'd skip the OJ & add in half an orange (or whole one!) instead. Ups the fibre & lowers the sugar load a bit. Also, you can sub soy milk for the dairy, if you want. I generally don't add ice to mine, instead half the fruit I use is frozen. Here are some smoothie recipes that I use, if you want to try something different. All are very healthy, low fat & quite yummy!

I don't know about "better"... so much depends on your body, how it handles carbs, how you are working out, when you are eating it, etc...

If you are having the snack after a workout, some carbs and protein are a GOOD thing. I'd just then add some protein powder along with the yogurt.

If you are having it without having worked out, and if your body tends to store carbs as fat easily, then you might want to cut the carbs a little in ways already suggested.

Mostly, I'd say experiment and have fun! And if you want to get the lowdown on just what your smoothies look like nutritionally, enter them in fitday.com and see if they are meeting your needs/goals. 'Cause let's face it... everyone has different needs and goals!