Smoothies are amazing and easy recipes that will help you meet the daily needs of your program while staying within the recommended food portions. Especially if you’re not a salad lover, smoothies are ideal for adding nutrient-packed salads such as curly kale, broccoli, spinach and Swiss chard to your diet.
In fact, combining green vegetables with sweeter flavours such as melon, berries or bananas will help reduce bitterness and give your smoothies a velvety texture. If you’re considering a smoothie as a meal replacement, this is a great idea, as the drinks can be a convenient and manageable alternative to a main meal.
Keep an eye on calories (keep it between 250 and 500) and include healthy fats like avocados or nuts, and proteins like yoghurt and soy milk to help you stay full.
FOR SNAKE:
Smoothie with cucumber and melon
1/4 cup soy milk
1 cup of red or green grapes
1 1/2 cup of diced melon
1/2 cup cucumber, peeled and chopped
1 cup of ice cubes
Place all the ingredients in the blender in the order indicated and secure the lid. Stir for 1 minute or until the desired consistency is achieved. The serving size makes about 5 cups, and each serving has 70 calories in total.
FOR MAIN MEAL SUBSTITUTE:
Smoothie with banana and leafy green vegetables
1 small frozen ripe banana, peeled
2 cups baby spinach, cabbage or Swiss chard
1 tablespoon of peanut butter
3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/2 cup of fat-free yoghurt
Place all ingredients in a blender, add ice (optional) and blend until smooth. The above recipe makes 1 serving, about 2 serving cups and has a total of 253 calories.
Banana – walnut smoothie
1 banana, medium, very ripe, frozen
1/2 cup of low-fat vanilla yoghurt
1/4 cup walnuts, finely chopped
1-2 tablespoons of honey
Place the banana, yoghurt, walnuts and 1 tablespoon of honey in a blender. Mix on low speed until the ingredients start to mix. Then increase to high speed and mix until the mixture becomes uniform. For sweetness, add another tablespoon of honey. Serve immediately. The recipe makes 2 servings and each serving contains 267 calories in total.
