Tropical Smoothie

April 30, 2013 By 14 Comments

Tropical Smoothie

I think spring finally arrived!

With the nicer weather here, we have been spending time outdoors doing yard work;  a lot of yard work.  Trying to keep an eye on the twins or play campfire with Eden near the fire pit roasting pretend marshmallows, I don’t get as much done as I’d like.  I keep telling myself that everything will get done, it just might take a little longer than I would like.  Oh well, Rome wasn’t built in a day.  Somehow by the beginning of June everything is in bloom and the yard looks great.

Tropical Smoothie

On top of trying to get the yard ready for summer, Mr. Mother Thyme had surgery yesterday, so I’m the only one that can really get the work done until he is back on his feet.  No worries, he is fine.  He had his gall bladder removed but he is home and recovering fine.  Hence, the bit of an absence from posting this past week.  Between the kids, yard work, playing nurse and also keeping my house running smoothly, I am literally whipping up meals and snacks quick.  This tropical smoothie is one of them.  It is light and refreshing, perfect for the warmer months.  I love to take it on the go to have outside to sip and enjoy while running around the yard or just relaxing and enjoying the nicer weather outdoors.

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Tropical Smoothie

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Yield: 2 servings

Tropical Smoothie

Ingredients

  • 1 banana, peeled and sliced
  • 1 mango, chopped
  • 1 cup fresh pineapple, chopped
  • 1/2 cup coconut water
  • 1/2 cup orange juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon chia seeds
  • 1/2 cup ice (about 6-7 ice cubes)

Instructions

  1. Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smoothie. Pour and serve immediately.

You can also substitute the coconut water for 1/2 cup canned lite coconut milk for a creamier smoothie.

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Filed Under: beverages, smoothies

Strawberry Cheesecake Smoothie

April 8, 2013 By 14 Comments

Strawberry Cheesecake Smoothie | www.motherthyme.com

How about a slice of cheesecake?  Better yet, what if it’s blended into a smoothie, definitely acceptable for breakfast.

If you love cheesecake, you will love this thick and creamy strawberry cheesecake smoothie.   You can even make a blueberry cheesecake smoothie swapping out the strawberries for blueberries, or even combine the two.  

The twins love this smoothie, although they love most smoothies I make.  I can’t always count on them eating their veggies, but I know when I make smoothies, they’ll drink them, even the ones I sneak veggies into.  Eden loves when she sees me take out the blender.  She gets so excited and says “smoothie, smoothie”.   Once I get ready to start the blender she plugs her ears;  it’s too cute.  Just her reaction is worth making a smoothie everyday.

Strawberry Cheesecake Smoothie | www.motherthyme.com

This makes one generous serving or two small smoothies, perfect for when you get the urge for cheesecake.  All you need is about five minutes and a blender for one tasty treat.

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Strawberry Cheesecake Smoothie

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Yield: 1-2 servings

Strawberry Cheesecake Smoothie

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt
  • 3 ounces light or fat free cream cheese
  • 1/2 cup frozen strawberries
  • 1-2 teaspoons agave nectar

Instructions

  1. Add all ingredients to a blender and process until smooth and creamy. Serve immediately.

If needed, add a splash of milk while blending to thin it out.

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Filed Under: beverages, smoothies

Pistachio Banana Pudding Smoothie

February 15, 2013 By 10 Comments

Pistachio Banana Pudding Smoothie | www.motherthyme.com

Meet Pistachio Banana Pudding Smoothie.  Rich, creamy and so delicious.

It should come to no surprise that I love smoothies.  Not only do I talk about them all the time, but I drink them everyday.   While looking through my pantry I stumbled across a few leftover packages of pistachio pudding mix that I was using for my Pistachio Wedding Cookies over the holidays.  As tempting as it is to make another batch of those buttery cookies, I thought there was another use for these pudding mixes.  This smoothie hits the spot, especially when craving Pistachio Wedding Cookies.  It is rich and creamy and completely satisfying.   I add banana in it because I don’t dare call this a smoothie without some fruit in it.  Plus it compliments the smoothie nicely.   This reminds me of a dessert smoothie or if you just need a little fun smoothie to brighten your day. 

Just think of all the possibilities and combinations you can make with pudding mix and fruit in a smoothie.  Chocolate pudding with banana, banana pudding with strawberries, you name it.  This definitely makes a healthier treat or snack than a milkshake but this is just as satisfying as one. 

 Pistachio Banana Pudding Cookie | www.motherthyme.com

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Pistachio Banana Pudding Smoothie

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Pistachio Banana Pudding Smoothie

Ingredients

  • 2 cups skim or low fat milk
  • 1 cup vanilla non-fat yogurt
  • 1 cup ice
  • 1 package (3.4 ounce) instant pistachio pudding mix OR 1 package (1 ounce) Sugar Free-Fat Free instant pistachio pudding mix.
  • 1 banana

Instructions

  1. Place all ingredients in blender and blend on highest speed until creamy. Pour into glasses and serve.
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A few of my other favorites~

Orange Creamsicle Smoothie
Nutella Banana Smoothie
Tropical Chia Smoothie-  Yummy Mummy Kitchen
Healthy Green Smoothie- A Spicy Perspective

Filed Under: smoothies

Orange Creamsicle Smoothie

January 1, 2013 By 13 Comments

orange creamsicle smoothie

Happy New Year!  A new year means new beginnings.  Time to wipe the slate clean and start fresh.  I’m excited to look past the trays of cookies I probably consumed this holiday season, and not to mention my pants being a bit snug and start eating healthy again.  Whether you are looking to shed some pounds or maintain your weight, eating healthy should become a lifestyle not considered a diet.    

Being a weight-loss consultant in the past, the key to success whether you are maintaining your weight or looking to lose some extra pounds is portion control, exercise, and sleep.  I used to always tell my clients that our bodies are like cars, we need fuel to keep us going.  Our tank needs to be filled 5-6 times a day, so eating small, portioned controlled meals throughout the day will keep you going.  You should start with a healthy breakfast in the morning, usually within the first hour you wake up.  That is like adding fuel to the tank.  Believe it or not, that was hard for many.  Whether you are running late to work, getting the kids ready, many people found it hard to take a few minutes and eat a proper breakfast themselves.  Studies show, people that eat breakfast tend to lose more weight or maintain their weight than ones that don’t.  Bottom lines friends, eat breakfast. 

orange creamsicle smoothie

My favorite tool I like to use to help me count calories is My Fitness Pal.  It is a free online tool and there is also an app for your smartphone so you to can track all of your meals.  If you are looking to lose weight, you can plug in some information and it will let you know how many calories you can consume a day.  I am absolutely in love with this.  It is a great way to keep on track, manage your calorie intake and help you lose weight.  Oh, and did I mention the calorie counter is free. 

As you may know, I love smoothies.  So what better way to kick off this New Year, New You with a favorite of mine, an Orange Creamsicle Smoothie.  Creamy, smooth and gives your body a little boost of Vitamin C.  Best part, this smoothie is only 125 calories per serving, or 250 for the entire batch.  It requires just two ingredients plus a few ice cubes.  Even though it only requires two ingredients they “blend” so well making for one tasty smoothie.  You only need 1/4 cup of orange juice concentrate to make this smoothie.  What I like to do is take all the contents of the tube of concentrate and store it in a freezer safe container.  You can even divide it out into 1/4 cup portions so it is easy to pop in the blender.   

Enjoy this smoothie along with a healthy breakfast or enjoy as a mid-morning “snack”.   This probably doesn’t even require a recipe, so please don’t think I’m crazy when you see the recipe.  It is easy recipes like this that I often find that I then think to myself, “Why didn’t I think of that”?  I hope you think the same about this one as well.

Check out some of my other favorite smoothies:

Black Forest Smoothie
Peachy Green Smoothie
Nutella Banana Smoothie
Banana Blueberry Peanut Butter Smoothie

orange creamsicle smoothie

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Orange Creamsicle Smoothie

Yield: 2 servings (8 ounce each)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup non fat vanilla yogurt
  • 1/4 cup orange juice concentrate
  • 1/2 cup ice cubes

Instructions

  1. Place all ingredients in a blender and blend on high speed until smooth.
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Filed Under: beverages, light and healthy, smoothies

Low Fat Cookies and Cream Smoothie

August 15, 2012 By 14 Comments
low fat cookies and cream smoothie

Peanut Butter and Banana Smoothie watch out, there is a new smoothie in town.

I make smoothies everyday.  I am always coming up with new concoctions for my kids and I to enjoy. From fruit smoothies to green smoothies I can’t get enough of them.  This low fat cookies and cream smoothie was inspired after a recent stop at our local ice cream shop.  I have weakness for all things cookies and cream; especially those cookies and cream blizzards.  

This smoothie is rich and creamy with little chunks of chocolate cookie pieces mixed in.  It reminds me of one of those blizzards expect in a smoothie version.  You wouldn’t think you were drinking a low fat smoothie while enjoying one of these.  

I like to use a pouch of the 100 calorie package cookies.  To keep the cookies from breaking up to much you want to slowly pulse them into the smoothie just a couple times so they keep their texture.  Pour into glass and enjoy.  The result is pure bliss.  
low fat cookies and cream smoothie

Print
Low Fat Cookies and Cream Smoothie

Approximately 255 calories

Approximately 4 grams of fat

Ingredients

  • 1 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt
  • 1/2 cup skim or low fat milk
  • 1/2 cup ice
  • 1 pouch Keebler Mini Fudge Stripes Dark Chocolate 100 Calorie Right Bites or similar
  • Pinch of sugar or sugar substitute like Splenda (optional)

Instructions

  1. Combine yogurt, milk and ice in blender and blend until creamy. On low setting slowly pulse in cookies until just crumbled or until desired. Stir in sugar.
  2. Pour into large glass and serve.
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low fat cookies and cream smoothie
Filed Under: smoothies

Black Forest Smoothie

November 23, 2011 By 3 Comments
Black Forest Smoothie

I think I have found my new favorite smoothie.

I drink smoothies everyday.  I have my usual go to smoothies which is either a banana peanut butter smoothie or a banana blueberry smoothie.  I got this crazy idea not long ago to try making a Black Forest Smoothie.

When I was organizing my recipes I stumbled upon a recipe a family friend gave me years ago for Black Forest Cake.   Doesn’t a big piece of moist and delicious black forest cake sound good right about now?  Well, that is what I was thinking when I came across the recipe but I thought of what about trying it as a smoothie.  This came out fantastic!  It has just the right balance of chocolate and cherries.  

With just a few ingredients, a quick pulse in the blender, you can whip up one of these delicious smoothies.  If you enjoy smoothies, trust me you want to try this one!  

Black Forest Smoothie


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Black Forest Smoothie

Ingredients

  • 5.3oz cup of black cherry yogurt (such as Oikos Greek yogurt)
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup frozen sweet cherries
  • 1/4 cup chocolate syrup

Instructions

  1. Combine ingredients in blender and blend on highest setting until desired consistency.

Top with whip cream for an added treat You can substitute black cherry yogurt for vanilla yogurt and increasing the amount of frozen cherries to about 3/4 cup. If you use fresh, pitted cherries, add in 1/2 cup of crushed ice.

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Black Forest Smoothie






Filed Under: smoothies

Banana Cinnamon Smoothie

September 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I recently had a chance to get to the mall without the twins to do a little shopping for myself.  While I was there I saw a Yogen Fruz and since I am such a smoothie fan I had to try one.  I had the Banana Boost smoothie, and it was fantastic.  I had drank it all by the time I got to Macy’s (the next store over).  It is such a simple smoothie, with skim milk, yogurt, banana and cinnamon but it was so delicious.  

The following day I was at another mall (this time with the twins in tow) and I was hoping that a Yogen Fruz was open so I could inhale another one of those smoothies.  The good news is they are opening one later this fall.  I was thrilled to hear that since that mall is closer to where I live and where I usually go if I venture out to the mall.  

I have thought about this smoothie the past few days, so instead of wondering what excuse I could come up with to venture up to the mall with a Yogen Fruz again, I decided to create it myself and I think this is a great comparison to my love for the Yogen Fruz Banana Boost smoothie.  

Simple and delicious.  The perfect anytime smoothie.  Enjoy!


Banana Cinnamon Smoothie

Ingredients
1 banana sliced (about 3/4 cup)
1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt
1/2 cup skim milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup ice

Directions
Combine all ingredients in the blender and blend until smoothie.

Filed Under: banana, smoothies

Apple Pie Smoothie

September 12, 2011 By 2 Comments


Its the season of apples and this past weekend at the Farmers Market I stocked up!  If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you know how much I have been raving about the Caramel Apple Sweet Roll I baked last week by Sumptuous Spoonfuls.  It was divine and you must try it.  

Caramel Apple Sweet Rolls 

I have a list of apple recipes I can’t wait to make.  Some oldies and some are first attempts, but I’m sure you will hear about must of them, like this one.

It is no surprise that I love my smoothies.  I talk about them often and some of my most popular posts have been smoothies.  So with a bushel of apples sitting on my kitchen table and my Vitamix ready to whip me up a smoothie I thought giving a Apple Pie Smoothie a try since I just L.O.V.E. Apple Pie.    

I actually made Apple Cobbler this weekend that was delish!  I used my Blueberry Pear Cobbler recipe and just substituted the berries for apples.  You GOT to give that a try this fall!  We had it to serve for company and we never got to dessert so I got to dive in to that all by myself.  So this week, I got to be good with eating well. I am starting off the week right with my morning smoothie (even though I’d rather have a heaping stake of pancakes).  This smoothie satisfied my craving for some good old fashion apple pie (minus the crust and whip cream and a la mode, oh my) but it was wonderful.  

I do encourage you, should you decide to try my little creation here, to use apples and cook (or have them precooked and in the refrigerator to toss in this smoothie) opposed to using applesauce.  I tried them both ways for the best and simplest method, and using applesauce tastes like an applesauce smoothie.  To get that apple pie taste, using cooked apples is definitely the way to go.  I guess you could try that canned apple pie filling too, but I like fresh.  




Apple Pie Smoothie


Makes 1 serving


Ingredients

1 cup apples, diced

1 teaspoon sugar

Pinch of cinnamon

Non stick cooking spray or 1 tablespoon butter

1 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt

Pinch of all spice

1 cup ice


Directions

Generously spray a medium skillet or add in 1 tablespoon butter and heat on medium.  Add apples, sugar and cinnamon and cook until apples are tender, about 5 minutes.  


In blender add in yogurt, all spice, cooked apples and ice and blend until desired consistency.

Filed Under: apples, smoothies

Nutella Banana Smoothie

August 23, 2011 By 21 Comments
Nutella Banana Smoothie

I am so honored and thrilled that today Mother Thyme is featured on Yummly as a Featured Food Blog.  If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out at HERE.  

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook I posted yesterday a picture of a smooth and creamy Nutella and Banana Smoothie.  It was so good and delicious I have to share the recipe with you.

You may also know from previous posts I love my smoothies.  They are filling and delicious I have one about every day.  Being a busy mom its simple to whip up a smoothie to enjoy in one hand  while I am feeding the kiddos in another.  

I have shared before my Blueberry Banana Peanut Butter Smoothie which is delicious.  Since I am on a bit of a Nutella kick I switched up my usual smoothie and created this.  It reminds me more of almost a milkshake of sorts than a smoothie.  Super delicious!  

If you have some Nutella hanging around in your pantry.  Add a few ingredients to your blender along with some Nutella and give this smoothie a try.  If you do, let me know what you think of it!  

(p.s. If you are checking out the brownies in the pictures, those are Nutella Brownies too.  Check those out HERE).  

Nutella Banana Smoothie

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Nutella & Banana Smoothie

Ingredients

  • 1 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt
  • 1/3 cup Nutella
  • 1 banana, sliced
  • 1 cup ice

Instructions

  1. In a blender combine ingredients in order and blend on highest setting until desired consistency.
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Nutella Banana Smoothie




Happy Cooking!
Filed Under: beverages, nutella, smoothies

Peach Green Smoothie

August 10, 2011 By 5 Comments
Peachy Green Smoothie

I am a big smoothie fan.  I often have smoothie every morning when feeding the twins breakfast.  I have my usual go to smoothies, and this is one of them; Peach Green Smoothie.  This smoothie consists of chopped peaches and is combined with frozen and thawed spinach.  It is mixed with coconut milk (from the dairy section, not canned), a pinch of cinnamon, agave and of course crushed ice.  This creamy smoothie is satisfying and good for you.

 

There are not many smoothie shops in the area I live in.  I remember when living in Fredericksburg, you could find smoothie shops all over.  I would go in there from time to time to grab a smoothie while I was on the go.  I can’t believe how much a smoothie costs.  Making them yourself saves a ton of money.  I have been seeing in the stores fun and cute tumblers, which I have a few myself.  Pour a fresh smoothie in one of those and enjoy while on the road or lounging by the pool.

Peachy Green Smoothie

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Peach Green Smoothie

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup coconut milk
  • 1 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
  • 1 1/2 cup peaches, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon agave nectar
  • Pinch of cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup crushed ice

Instructions

  1. Place first coconut milk, followed by spinach, peaches, agave, cinnamon and ice in a blender. Blend on the highest level until desired consistency.
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Peachy Green Smoothie

Happy Cooking!
Filed Under: agave, peaches, smoothies, spinach