I've been on a fruit smoothie kick since my birthday back in July.  Great for breakfast or a snack.  Delicious, nutritious, and not as expensive as you would think.

My mom got me one of those Bullet style blenders that makes individual portions, it's a Bella Cucina Rocket Blender. It actually works pretty well for being inexpensive.  I've had it for 4 months, I use it almost every single day, and I tend to overload it most of the time and it's still hanging in there so I would definitely recommend it.  The trick is to blend it once, take the cup off the base and shake it up a bit, and then blend it again to make sure you get all the chunks.

Anyway, so I decided to start blogging my smoothie recipes so I have them to refer back to later.  I'm not a pro smoothie maker by any means, and I usually just make up my own combinations and hope for the best.  But the recipes I plan on listing are pretty yummy.

I cut down the cost of buying fruit by getting the large bags of frozen fruit.  Nothing pre-sweetened or syrupy or anything like that.  Just the plain jane frozen fruit by itself.  Because I add several kinds of fruit into each smoothie, each bag lasts a pretty good while (a month or more depending on the kind of fruit).  I do also buy fresh fruit, just because some things you can't find frozen like watermelon, plums, etc.  But again, because I add several different kinds of fruit to each smoothie I can make one plum last for 3 smoothies.  You can also buy fresh and freeze yourself for later.

Today's recipe is for a Pineapple Blueberry smoothie (I don't ever measure, I just kind of dump stuff in until I reach the fill line on my blender cup so the measurements are guesstimations)

Ingredients: 1/2 - 3/4 cup of fresh blueberries
                  1 - 1 1/2 cup of frozen pineapple chunks
                  2 frozen strawberries (whole)
                  About 5 frozen red grapes
                  2 frozen mango chunks
                  1/2 - 1 cup of Simply Orange with Some Pulp orange juice
                  3 large ice cubes
                  Blend until all large chunks are gone.
                  This recipe is for an individual portion

This smoothie recipe is DELICIOUS!!!  Seriously, one of the best I've made so far.  It does have a slightly weird consistency (almost gelatin like) and I have no idea why.  So if texture is an issue for you, you may want to add more OJ.

When adding whole berries or grapes you'll end up with a thick smoothie because of the skins, seeds, etc.  I do suggest peeling any large fruits such as peaches or plums as their peels are usually thicker and would probably not taste that great in a smoothie.  Also, try to balance out tart fruits like rasberries or blackberries with something sweet like watermelon or cantelope.  Even still, a little of a tart fruit goes A LONG WAY.  So limit them to 2-4 berries/chunks per individual serving (depending on your individual tastes).  Also, make sure to always use some sort of liquid to help the fruit blend.  I really like using orange juice, especially if you can squeeze it fresh, because it gives the smoothie a nice overall freshness and flavor.  But you can use water, apple juice, lemonade, carrot juice, etc.  If you're calorie counting, aim for water or 100% fruit juices (since we're using small amounts, the calories aren't too bad).  You can also add yogurt or milk for a creamier smoothie.  I like using vanilla yogurt sometimes.

I actually enjoy making smoothies and making up new recipes.  You do get some funky ones sometimes, but most of the time they're pretty good.  I added too many blackberries one time and it tasted slightly of vomit, but I drank it down because it was all I had for breakfast, lol.  I hope to update more often with new smoothie recipes as I make them!!