Healthy (or Not) Smoothie

Whenever I'm hungry, (or in truth, bored,) I tend to wander around the kitchen, flipping through cupboards and looking in the fridge for a snack. I normally walk away empty handed, or with a piece of cold bread and a handful of Gold fish crackers, wishing I had the patience and skill to make something better. Every once in a while, I find a half gallon of ice cream in the freezer, but that doesn't happen every day, so I am more often then not left dissatisfied.

Then, today I had an idea. What if I make a smoothie. They're relatively easy, and fast. There aren't too many dishes involved either.

So out came the blender, ingredients, and what little cooking prowess I possess, and it was time to make a smoothie!

The only thing to mention in safety is the blades of the blender. Unless, I suppose, you are allergic to something or other.

The blades of a blender are sharp. On my blender particularly (A Ninja Blender), the blades are very sharp. The first time I pulled it out of the dish washer I cut myself. If your blender is older and you've had it longer, the blades will be duller, but in some ways, this is worse than razor sharp. It hurts a lot more to get cut with a dull blade than a sharp one. So be very careful.

Biotic Ingredients:

Yogurt, plain and/or vanilla work best

Frozen bananas*

Frozen berries*

Spinach,* This is where we get the healthy or not, as it is optional.

The amounts I used were 1/4 a cup of cranberries, 1 heaped cup of blueberries, 2 bananas, 2 cups or so plain yogurt. The berries and amounts can be different. My family regularly has smoothies with blackberries, Marion berries, raspberries, strawberries, so on and so forth.

*The bananas and berries don't have to be frozen, but it keeps the consistency of the smoothie nice, and it keeps it cold with out adding ice, which is sort of like adding water to your yogurt container. Not a great idea. The spinach doesn't matter as much as the others, since if you put any in, it will likely be a small amount, in order to conceal the flavor and color from the person you are serving it to.

Abiotic Materials:

Blender, complete with all necessary attachments, including, but not limited to:

Sharp and potentially hazardous blade

Lid

Electrical cord

You might also need: Electrical socket. That could be helpful.

The order of the ingredients doesn't matter much, but I suggest you put in the yogurt last. This will allow the fruit to get blended faster instead of just sitting on the top of the yogurt and spinning uselessly, on the edge of a whirlpool. So throw in the bananas and berries, and scoop some yogurt on top. The spinach would probably go best with the fruit, but I wouldn't know as well as you would if you tried it. Blend well. You might need to get out a spoon and stir it a bit in able to get some things to the blades. It should be a purple-ish color when mixed well.

In the proportions loosely mentioned here, it makes enough for 3-4 people. Due to the consistency of the smoothie, being slightly runnier than a milkshake, it will pour out a large amount suddenly(as can be seen in he picture above), perhaps causing it to over fill the glass and run onto the counter. Besides a snack, these smoothies go well with almost any breakfast.

Thanks for reading my instructable! I hope you enjoyed it, and will make these as slightly healthier, yet just as good alternatives to ice cream. And definitely a better alternative to cold bread. Unfortunately, this will not work very well as a midnight snack, unless you live by your self. Oh well. Enjoy anyways!