Smooth(ie) Operator
You would be hard pressed to enter a university and not find a smoothie outlet with plenty of students lined up for their treat. Sure, those smoothies taste amazing, but just imagine how much money a smoothie a week will add up to by the end of the semester!
We get it though: When you are in a rush to get to class in the morning, you do not always have the time to make your own smoothie. Instead, you will opt for grabbing some cash from your wallet or swiping your credit card to pay for a healthy smoothie from your nearest Jugo Juice or Booster Juice to replace your meal. Now let us take Jugo Juice, for example. On average, a 24 oz. smoothie can cost almost $6 depending what smoothie and added benefits to choose. If you buy one smoothie a week for one semester, those delicious smoothies will set you back close to $85. Not so delicious anymore, are they?
So what does The Student’s Life do? Well, we have learned to make our own smoothies which have, ultimately, saved us so much money. Not only has it saved us money that we could otherwise spend on more important things — like books, clothes, alcohol or gas for the car. Who needs to waste money on smoothies when you more than likely have all the ingredients at home to make your own? And it has helped to make a week’s worth of servings over the weekend and then just chill in the refrigerator. That way it’s good to go in the mornings.
Here is our go-to recipe for the supreme smoothie:
What you will need:
- Low-fat or fat-free frozen yogurt (you can also use just normal yogurt instead of frozen yogurt)
- Skim milk, 1% milk or a juice of your choice
- Frozen fruit
- Banana
- Blender
- Sweetener
What we use:
- 3/4 cup Eating Right fat-free vanilla frozen yogurt from Safeway
- 1/2 cup Our Compliments original soy milk from Sobey’s
- 3/4 cup defrosted frozen berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries)
- 1 banana
- 1 tsp honey
So now that you have all your ingredients, the next part is easy. Mash up the banana and then mix the frozen yogurt, soy milk, banana and frozen fruit together in a blender. Once it is all blended well, pour the honey into the blender and mix again. Grab a spoon and dish some of the smoothie out just to taste. If it is to your liking, pour the rest of the smoothie into a cup. If it is too sweet, add some more yogurt. If it is too tart, add a bit more honey.
Now that you are sipping your own homemade smoothie and enjoying it, you are probably wondering what exactly are the health benefits of the beverage you are holding in your hands. Well, let me tell you…
Soy milk, for one, is higher in protein than that of its cow milk competitor. And, because soy milk is made from beans, it also contains more fiber. Secondly, frozen yogurt is much healthier than ice cream because it has less fat, but it still has less benefits than regular yogurt — so if you are not opposed to using normal yogurt, use that in your smoothie instead. Milk and yogurt are excellent sources of Vitamin D but in order for the Vitamin D to be of any use to your body, fat is needed to act as the carrier. Therefore, do not go “fat-free” for the entire smoothie, otherwise the Vitamin D will be wasted. And, as we all know, bananas are a great source of potassium.
Bonus: You probably noticed that you did not have to pay for much to make this smoothie. And all that you did pay for, you can be sure that the ingredients will last you for many more smoothies to come.
Now you can really enjoy!
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Category: Quick Eats