Ever since I talked my husband into buying a Magic Bullet in December I've been on a smoothie kick, trying recipes I find in magazines and perfecting my own concoctions. My last Health Magazine featured a Coffee and Banana smoothie that I've been wanting to adapt and try. I've always loved the creamy combination of peanut butter with bananas and coffee sounded like a nice new way to enjoy one of my favorite fruits. My initial thought was this could either turn out great or disgusting. I was lucky to find it was the latter. Initially I made this one for myself only since my husband doesn't like coffee but it was so delicious I made a second one for him so I didn't have to share mine. It was filling, rich, creamy and caffeinated! This would be the perfect breakfast before a morning workout or long day of work and I can just picture how great it would be during the afternoon blues when hunger and drowsiness kick in.
Number one: Use a frozen banana (I always toss bananas in the freezer if they start to brown or "over ripen" to use in baking or smoothies). I only had one banana in my freezer so the second smoothie had a fresh one. Truly, the one with the frozen banana was noticeably better to both of us.
Two: Chill the coffee before you add it. We have an espresso machine so I made 3 ounces of coffee with espresso beans and then added ice to get to 1/2 cup and chill it quickly.
Three: Choose your sweetener. The original recipe calls for 2 tsp sugar but sugar isn't my favorite sweetener. You could choose Splenda or Truvia to decrease the calories or a natural sweetener like honey.
COFFEE AND BANANA SMOOTHIE
-1 sliced, peeled FROZEN banana-1 cup soy milk or other low fat milk (I used a light vanilla soy milk)
-1/2 cup cold black coffee
-1/2 cup of ice
-1/4 cup plain low fat yogurt (regular or Greek)
-1 packet of Splenda or 1 tsp honey or 2 tsp sugar (Note: if you use a flavored soy milk you may not need to add sweetener)
Add all the ingredients to a blender, blend until smooth and Enjoy!
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