Well, it all started with liking to drink smoothies. We tend to gravitate towards things that we enjoy and for me I just loved a cold blended beverage of fruit and whatever else was in a smoothie. From there I thought, how hard can it be to just throw things in a blender and make one myself. And to be honest, it really is not that hard to do. The blender does all the work. The hardest part for me is thinking of what might make a good combination or making the last minute additions that I think will best balance out the flavors before pouring and serving (giving myself the ‘accidentally’ more full glass, of course).

After making smoothies for a while, I realized that due to the nature of me randomly throwing ingredients into the blender I never made the same smoothie twice. But there were times when I liked certain smoothies more than others.

And so The Smoothies 101 was born to force me to track what I typically just threw into the blender and make me set out the recipe so that I could fine tune and make the best ones over and over again. I just hope that some of the recipes and information here might help you out as well.

They can become nearly whatever you want. They have the sweetness of the fruit, can cleverly disguise some greens and veggies, and can have some added powders, seeds, sprouts and nuts that really make them healthy powerhouses. It is like a milkshake full of nutrition!

Use them as a meal replacement, as a snack, or as a dessert. Have it sitting on the coach or take it on the go. Your smoothie can move wherever you want to go. And literally the only piece of equipment you need to make a smoothie is a blender, and I guess a cup to pour it into. But make sure to get a good quality blender or you will likely end up regretting it (though this doesn’t mean you have to spend a ton of money for the top-of-the-line product).

And, amazingly, smoothies take mere minutes from start to finish. You literally can just throw things in (make sure you have good aim…), cap the blender, and hit the power switch. Let it do its magic. Taste it for flavor and texture, then make any necessary adjustments before pouring, serving and enjoying. Doesn’t get much easier than that. I’ve even waited in line longer at a fast food restaurant than the time it takes to whip up a good smoothie.

Not sure how to make the perfect smoothie? Get in on some of the smoothie basics or take a look at some of the smoothie books that I enjoy most for some quick info to get you started.

One of the ways to make smoothies a go-to meal is to make sure you have what you need on hand. You’ll do best to have a variety of both frozen and fresh ingredients on hand to be able to make one whenever the desire strikes.

I have the luxury of keeping a deep freeze in my garage. This affords me a fair amount of freezer space. In there right now I have large bags of frozen: blueberries, cherries, mango, pineapple, and strawberries. I typically also have raspberries to round things out, but have not replaced that yet from when I last ran out.

Apples and bananas are great for snacking on any time, so we usually buy those whenever we go grocery shopping just to have at home. They also happen to go great in smoothies. Whatever is in season is typically best to buy fresh, so try to take a look at our ingredients pages for more info on what to get when (please bear with me as this part of the site is still currently under construction. I am trying to add to this while still going through my normal schedule as well).

And finally, it is usually good to have juice, yogurt, milk, and ice available to use whenever you may need them. These help everything blend together and can add to and enhance the flavor of the rest of the ingredients.

So remember the next time you are having trouble deciding what to make for breakfast or as a healthy snack, just think about smoothies. Why smoothies? Because they are quick, flavorful, healthy and easy. What’s not to love?