Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Smoothie and berries

Experiment #3: Tropical Berry Smoothie
I made an awesome Smoothie this afternoon, but I can't really document it properly because I did no measuring. All of the following fruits were leftovers that had already been chopped up for my boys to eat. The strawberries had previously been cooked in a skillet with sugar (before I bought stevia) to make a topping for French toast.
Ingredients:
  1. 1/2 large papaya
  2. 1 1/2 cups pineapple chunks
  3. 1 cup strawberries
  4. 1 cup light vanilla yogurt (Meijer brand)
  5. 1/4 cup orange juice
  6. 1 1/2 cups ice, crushed (from the fridge dispenser)
  7. stevia to taste (3 scoops)
After all the ingredients were blended, I would say this made about 5 - 8oz servings. I know the kids drank at least 4 cups and I drank exactly 1 cup and I had a little leftover.
Thoughts: This was delicious. I loved it. I poured out some for my 1st son before adding the pineapple and OJ because he hates pineapple (and I forgot the OJ). So that makes it even harder to guess the proportions in mine, but it was excellent!
Nutrition Facts: 85 (depending on the proportions this will be anywhere from 75-100), Total Fat 1.0g, Saturated Fat: 0.5g, Sodium 38mg, Total Carbs 16.8g, Dietary Fiber 1.9g, Protein 3.3g
Experiment #4: Sweetened Strawberries
This may seem too simple to mention, but I will because I am still amazed how well this sweetens with no aftertaste. This is probably the 1st time I tried stevia without having it masked my some other strong flavor.
Ingredients:
  1. strawberries
  2. stevia
I cut 7 medium berries into fourths. I put them in a Glad container with a lid and filled the scoop just over half way with stevia. Then I held it over the berries and just gave it the tiniest of shakes letting some grains fall out. I closed the lid, shook the berries, tasted and they were CRAZY sweet. But not yucky! I gave them to the kids and they gobbled them up and asked for seconds.
So I cut up 5 more berries and shook them in the container without adding any more stevia and they were perfect. The boys asked for thirds and I admit, I told them no and bribed them with a cookie to go away. How backward is that?! I cut up four more and shook them in the container one more time and this time they were a tad tart. But I happily ate them before the boys could catch me and ask for more.
Calories: 25 per 1/2 cup serving
Thoughts: These were great. I didn't miss the sugar at all. Next time cut up a lot more berries and just keep them in the fridge for later so the stevia isn't so strong. or just ditch the scoop and just sprinkle on a tiny pinch. Maybe add a few drops of water to the container, pinch some stevia into that, then add the berries and shake to coat uniformly.
Next I need to figure out how to make the whole strawberry shortcake.

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