Ice, Ice, baby!
04 Jul 2010 Leave a Comment
in Smooth Operator Tags: blackberry protein shake, blackberry smoothie, cappuccino smoothie, cappuccino strength, chocholate protein shake, chocolate peanut butter blend, chocolate peanut butter smoothie, chocolate protein powder, chocolate smoothie, clean eating diet, competition diet, frosted key lime pie, healthy diet, healthy eating, key lime smoothie, lime protein shake, lime smoothie, protein pancake, protein powder, protein shake, smoothie, vanilla protein powder, vitamix
I’ve been the Smoothie Queen this week, thanks to my Vitamix! I can’t seem to get the right proportion of ice & water in my smoothie though! On my first attempt, I used the proper amount of each ingredient, but didn’t follow the tedious assembly of ingredients. Case in point:
Pour cold water into the blender. Then add Right powder and blend on medium speed for 15 seconds. Add coffee and half the cinnamon; blend for 30 more seconds. Add ice cubes and blend on high speed until smooth, about 30 more seconds.
Cinnamon, coffee & one AMAZING blender!
You would think that since I own the most amazing blender in the world that I should be able to add all of the ingredients, turn the Vitamix to smoothies setting & walk away, right? Not so. The smoothies were too runny, lacking in the “smooth” category.
So I made another smoothie, but this time I followed the instructions explicitly, including the specified amount of each ingredient:
12 oz. cold water
1 scoop Vanilla protein powder (subbed for vanilla right light; per BFL instructions, I could substitute my protein powder of choice for Right light)
2 t. instant coffee
1/4 t. cinnamon, divided
6 ice cubes
Unfortunately, this produced the same effect: a water-y smoothie. Not good.
So, I began to experiment with different concentrations of ice & water until I achieved the desired effect.
I finally achieved the proper consistency of smoothie for the Cappuccino Strength, but then I realized that it was the taste that I didn’t care for. I love the idea of a cappuccino smoothie, though. Without all of the calories packed into the Starbucks variety.
Serving size: 1 smoothie
Calories: 126; Fat 2g; Na 51mg; Carb 4g; Protein 23g
Cappuccino Strength Nutrition Facts Label courtesy of Nutritiondata.com
I’ve also made Frosted Key Lime Pie, my favorite smoothie so far! I have a lot of experience using Limeade in margaritas, so this was a delicious familiar flavor! I have tried several versions of this recipe, but when I used the measurements indicated by the recipe, the smoothie was very watery and appeared to separate out in to 2 separate layers.
Smoothie is separating out into 2 layers
To achieve the consistency of smoothie I prefer, I used:
4 oz. of cold water
1 scoop of Vanilla protein powder
3 T. of frozen limeade
18 ice cubes
Add ice & water to make a smoothie
I threw everything in the Vitamix and walked away. I was able to achieve a similar ice-y consistency with the original smoothie, but it had to be frozen and then slightly dethawed prior to serving in order to get the right consistency. It is much quicker to just do it right the first time!
Serving size: 1 smoothie
Calories: 210; Fat 2g; Na 50mg; Carb 26g; Protein 23g
Frosted Key Lime Pie Nutrition Facts Label courtesy of Nutritiondata.com
I made Chocolate Peanut Butter Blend as my post-workout recovery shake yesterday. After multiple failed attempts with too much water and too little ice, I began with an equal amount of water & ice. (I elected for more water in this smoothie than in the Frosted Key Lime Pie due to the viscosity of the peanut butter!)
8 oz. cold water
1 scoop chocolate protein powder (I used Myofusion Chocolate)
1 T. natural peanut butter
12 ice cubes
I added all of the ingredients at once & mixed. I will definitely make this delicious smoothie again! Though, I still need to manipulate the amount of each ingredient & assembly before I would call it the perfect smoothie!
Delicious chocolate smoothie!
Serving size: 1 smoothie
Calories: 252; Fat 11g; Na 60mg; Carb 9g; Protein 28g
Chocolate Peanut Butter Blend Nutrition Facts Label courtesy of Nutritiondata.com
I made Blackberry Smoothie before I came to work today. I used the ingredients indicated by the BFL book, because I knew that I would have to put this one in the freezer until it was time for me to eat it!
12 oz. cold water
1 scoop Vanilla protein powder
2 T. frozen orange juice concentrate (I had to use frozen apple juice concentrate, because I didn’t have any OJ concentrate in my house & I alreaady had my heart set on it!)
10 frozen blackberries (I bought fresh berries & put them in the freezer yesterday. Why frozen?)
3 ice cubes
I prepared the smoothie according to the BFL directions:
Pour cold water in blender. Then add Right powder & blend on medium speed for 15 seconds. Add frozen (juice) concentrate and blackberries; blend 30 more seconds. Add ice cubes & blend on high speed until smooth, about 30 more seconds.
Note: please stop the blender before you drop the ice cubes into the masher hole at the top of the Vitamix. That didn’t work out too well for me.
Serving size: 1 smoothie
Calories: 200; Fat 3g; Na 55mg; Carb 29g; Protein 24g
Blackberry Smoothie Nutrition Facts Label courtesy of Nutritiondata.com
Then as I was scrolling down the page, I came across this “tasteful tip”:
To make your nutrition shakes and smoothies thicker and creamier, add less water. To make them thinner, add a few ounces more water. Simple!
So apparently, I wasn’t the first one to think of this. I wish they’d have put this on p. 314, the first smoothie recipe, rather than embedded all the way at the bottom of the recipe on p.321, ’cause this is the first that I’m hearing of it.
So, add more Ice, Ice baby! (I just couldn’t resist!!!)
What you have to say about it.