Blending is a super quick way to get fruit and vegetables into your body, but getting the most out of your smoothie isn’t as easy as you may think. Below, are some simple mistakes that you can avoid when making your smoothie.
Don’t Always Follow the Recipe
Get to grips with basic recipes that you like and then get adventurous. However, don’t always stick to recipes you know because your body needs different fruits and vegetables.
Not Using Liquid Correctly
A liquid is an important part of creating a good smoothie and affects the overall quality of the mixture. Too much or too little liquid will affect the taste, consistency and the nutritional value of the smoothie.
To much liquid can make your smoothie a diluted mess, especially if you already have fruit and vegetables that have a lot of water content. To avoid this, freeze fruit and vegetables that have a high water content as this will help thicken your drink up. If you want to make your smoothie creamy add fruit and vegetables such as banana’s, peaches, apricots, mangos and avocado.
Too little liquid can create a lumpy texture, especially if you have drier fruits and vegetables like leafy greens. Be sure to add liquids like water, coconut water, any types of milk and fruit juice.
Not Washing the Blender Immediately After Use
This is probably the most common mistake people make when blending, as they will leave it in the dishwasher or wait and clean it with other dirty dishes. This is a breeding ground for bacteria and can actually make the container have a nasty smell.
Using Too Many Sweet Fruits
Fruits already contain a lot of sugar and do the job of sweetening your drink up, but if you have a lot of bitter vegetables in your smoothie then its worth adding non-dairy milk and dates. These are both a great addition if you want your smoothie on the sweeter side. If your smoothie ends up being too sweet, use lemon or lime juice to balance out the taste.
Using Too Much Ice
Ice makes it harder for good fats such as coconut oil, nuts and seeds to blend into the drink, so add your ice cubes in after you’ve blended everything together. Another option would be to freeze kinds of milk or leftover juice and add them to your smoothie.
It's popular to add frozen fruit into your mixture, but make sure you cut it up beforehand and then freeze, as your blender may struggle to break down a whole piece of frozen fruit unless you have a top blender like Vitamix or Blendtec. Another tip is to slightly thaw any frozen food you plan on putting in your smoothie, as this will help get rid of any lumps.
Forgetting to Wash your Ingredients
If your buying fresh produce, the majority of the time the ingredients will have dirt or small bugs on them, especially leafy greens. So, make sure you wash your produce before throwing it in your blender, add half a tablespoon of white vinegar to a sink full of cold water. Let your produce soak for around five minutes and then wash again under cold water.