A low-calorie smoothie for you.
Recipe For Ginger, Berries and Oats Smoothie from Cooking light.
Ingredients / Calories
- 1/4 cup prepared oatmeal
- 1/4 cup 1% low-fat milk
- 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- 1 cup fresh blackberries
- 1/2 cup sliced strawberries
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1/2 cup ice
179 Calories according to the author.
Low-Calorie Smoothies
Smoothies are nice a versatile. There are so many options. You can play around with smoothies all day to find your favorite recipes. This particular smoothie has many interesting ingredients such as ginger. I have always heard that ginger is super good for you, but never knew why. It looks like there are many health benefits such as lowering blood sugar and reducing risk of heart disease. Learn more in 11 Proven Health Benefits Of Ginger from HealthLine.
I also thought prepared oatmeal in a smoothie was unique. I never would have thought about that, but I did some research and found several smoothies in oatmeal. I am assuming they are all super filling. And, the article, “Do You Have To Cook Oatmeal Before Adding It To A Smoothie” from Living Strong I learned, among many other facts, that you can add the oats without cooking, which is a relief because cooking the oats and then making the smoothie seemed a little too much for me especially in the morning. I continued to read “What Is The Nutritional Value Of Oatmeal” to learn even more about oatmeal. I could go down this rabbit hole of research all day.
I also love blackberries and strawberries. They are both low in sugar and delicious. For nutritional information, other than low sugar content, on blackberries read “Blackberries Health Benefits and Nutrition Information” from HealthLine. And, “Strawberries 101: Nutrition Facts and Health Benefits” from Healthline for more nutrional information on strawberries.
Additional Thoughts
Smoothies are so easy to make. And, they take minutes. But there is room for error. For example, sometimes, when I make a smoothie, I come out with four or five cups of smoothies instead of the two I was aiming for. At first, I just drank them assuming it was supposed to be like that, but I do not think that is the case and I was probably really overdoing it on the fruit. I have googled this and have not found other people having this problem. Since this problem still occurs even when measuring out the ingredients, I freeze the remainder for later. I read you can leave a smoothie in the refrigerator for two days, but I personally do not think they keep and just do not think they are that good.
I prefer frozen fruit to ice in my smoothie.
I tend to get hungry after a couple of hours after a smoothie so I like to keep some carrots on hand to avoid any junk food mishaps.
I try and taste my smoothie before pouring it out just in case I need to add anything to it. I feel like this is like tasting food before adding salt.
My husband told me drinking from mason jars is very early 2000. I do not know if that is true or not, but I love my mason jars and use them for my smoothies with reusable straws such as metal.
Smoothies are easy and quick to clean up if you clean your blender right away.
I am not going to lie, my vegetable intake would be very limited without smoothies. It just never occurs to me to make sides with my meals and sides are usually vegetables. So, unless I made salad, there are not vegetables This smoothie does not have veggies so I might add some spinach and see what happens. Spinach usually blends with the other flavors in the smoothie and I will not even notice it is there and either will my kids.
Equipment is everything. I feel so lucky because my sister in law gave me a Vitamix a few years back, which is completely life changing. Prior, I used the bullet and it is just not the same. It works, but a nice blender is ideal.
Lastly, I find green smoothies an excellent way to get vegetables into my kids diet. They get a little messy, but whatever works.
Here are some additional Low-Calorie Smoothie recipes I found online.