- Now that we're in the thick of summer, I've been receiving a lot of
requests for smoothie recipes but particularly for low sugar smoothies. As you might imagine,
many smoothies are loaded with natural sugars from the fruits contained in the smoothie. Now, to be clear I am not
against natural sugars from fruits but when
it comes to smoothies, it's just really easy to overindulge. I love a sweet mango
smoothie like anyone else and I even have a recipe
for one on my website but that recipe clocks in at more than 50 grams of sugar per serving so it should definitely
be viewed more as a treat rather than a smoothie
on regular rotation. So, today I wanted to share five easy, low sugar smoothie recipes that have less than 15 grams of sugar per serving. They're still fruity but not overly so and I'll be honest it may
take your palate a little bit of time to adjust to the
fact that there's less sugar. You can always add a half
an apple or half a banana to help bridge the gap as you
dial down the sugar quantity. I'll also share a few ways that
you can sneak extra veggies into your smoothie for a nutrient boost and of course this is totally optional but it's fun to experiment
with and most of the time these extra veggies are
pretty undetectable. I'm happy to partner with
Vitamix on today's video and I'll share a fun
giveaway that we're doing for my birthday at the end of the video but for now let's dive
into these smoothies. I'm sneaking a few veggies
into my smoothies today which I'll walk you through
in a second but zucchini, cucumber, cauliflower,
beets, butternut squash, leafy greens, and carrots
are always great options. Bananas are frequently added to smoothies because not only are they
sweet, they add creaminess and a little heft and when they're frozen they also keep our smoothies nice and cold but bananas are high in sugar so I have a couple of alternatives for you and the first one is frozen zucchini. So, let me show you how to prepare it. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and while you're waiting
for your water to boil, slice the zucchini into a
quarter inch thick slices. If you have an abundance of
zucchini from your garden, freezing is a great way to save it for months and to use
it in future smoothies. Add the zucchini to the boiling water and blanch it for just a minute or so. Blanching is key because
it deactivates the enzymes which would otherwise cause the zucchini to become discolored and mushy. After a minute. use a
skimmer or slotted spoon to remove the zucchini an ice water bath which stops the cooking process and then let it cool
for about two minutes. Drain the zucchini over a
colander and then pat it dry with some paper towels just
to remove any extra moisture. Lay the zucchini on a
baking sheet and what we're gonna do is pre-freeze
it all in a single layer. If we just tossed all of the
zucchini into a storage bag and froze it, we'd end up
with one very large clump of zucchini and that
wouldn't be very helpful. After one to two hours, your
zucchini should be frozen and you can now place it
into storage bags like my favorite silicone Stasher bags. The zucchini will keep for
several months in the freezer and now it's easy to toss as much as you'd like into any of your smoothies. The other sneaky vegetable I often add to smoothies is cauliflower
and let's be honest is there anything that cauliflower can't do? It's a favorite veggie in
the low carb, low sugar world as it's incredibly
versatile and I'll prepare it the same way I just
did with the zucchini. After I've sliced it into quarters, I'll remove the florets
and then use a knife to cut them down into bite sized pieces. Then, I'll add them to
a pot of boiling water and try not to let one
sneaky piece get away and blanch them for one to two minutes. In addition to killing
any lurking bacteria, blanching helps to preserve the quality and flavor of cauliflower
which is important if you plan to freeze it
longer than a month or two. Transfer the cauliflower
to an ice water bath, let it cool for two
minutes, and then drain it. Pat it dry with some paper
towels and lay it flat in a single layer on a baking sheet. You'll freeze the cauliflower
for one to two hours and once the florets are nice and frozen, transfer them to a storage container. Because cauliflower is a little bigger and takes up more space, I'm
using the stand up Stasher bag as I can fit more inside. And now that we've got our frozen veggies, let's get to making some smoothies. The first is a pineapple
coconut smoothie and we'll start with a half a cup of water and
a half a cup of coconut milk. Now, if you'd like to give
your smoothie a protein boost, there are many options and I'm
using a whey protein powder for the smoothie that has a
delicious vanilla coconut flavor but some other options for protein include a vegan protein
powder, collagen powder, yogurt, cashew butter or almond butter, a handful of spinach, and nuts and seeds. And I'll use a variety of these options in my smoothies today. Next, I'll add a tablespoon of chia seeds and a small piece of ginger which I'll peel using the back of a spoon. My Vitamix blender pulverizes
a whole piece of ginger with no problems but if your
blender isn't as powerful, you can finely dice or
mince the ginger as well. The sweetness in this
smoothie comes from pineapple and I'll use one cup of
frozen pineapple chunks then blend it up. The combination of creamy coconut milk, pineapple, and a hint of
ginger give this smoothie a delicious tropical vibe and I love those flecks of vanilla
from the protein powder. For our next smoothie,
we'll start with one cup of almond milk and I'm using
my homemade almond milk. Then I'll add a half a cup of Greek yogurt and you could use a dairy
free yogurt as well. Just make sure that
there's no added sugar. To that, add one tablespoon of hemp seeds and one cup of frozen blackberry though you could easily use strawberries or blueberries in this recipe as well. Now, we'll sneak in
some frozen cauliflower and I usually add about
a half a cup per serving which is just a couple of
florets and then blend that up. This is a luscious
smoothie and while it's not as sweet as it might look, it's loaded with nutrients to help power your day. For our next smoothie we'll start with one and a half cups of almond
milk and I should specify that if you buy almond milk, make sure that it's unsweetened. Then we'll add one
tablespoon of flax seeds and a half a teaspoon
of ground vanilla bean. If you don't have ground vanilla bean, you could use fresh vanilla or a splash of vanilla extract as well. To that, I'll add one
scoop of collagen peptides which I've written about
previously on my website and I'll grate about one
third cup of carrots. To sweeten this smoothie,
I'll add one orange and I've already peeled
and frozen my orange to keep my smoothie nice
and cold after blending. So, I'll add that to the blender along with a half a cup of frozen cauliflower. This smoothie is my spin on an
orange creamsicle in a glass albeit a little less sweet
and a whole lot healthier. All right, we're going all in on greens for this next smoothie. Start with one cup of water
and add a large handful of spinach and one cup of cucumber slices which is about a half
of a medium cucumber. To add sweetness along with
a good dose of vitamin C, we'll add one kiwi fruit and
to get the fruit out easily, just slice it in half and
use a spoon to scoop it out. For some healthy fats and
to help keep you full, add a quarter of an avocado and for protein add one
tablespoon of nut butter. You could add almond
butter or cashew butter though I'm going with cashew butter today. And to keep this drink nice and cold, add a half a cup of frozen zucchini. This is a thick smoothie
thanks to the avocado but it's still a light and refreshing, thanks to the kiwi and cucumber. Lastly, we're finishing off with a classic Downshiftology smoothie which you might know from my Instagram. We'll start with one cup of
water and add one tablespoon of chia seeds along with
a handful of spinach and a quarter of an avocado. To this, we'll add one
cup of mixed berries and a half a cup of frozen zucchini. Now, on Instagram I normally add a banana but to keep the sugar low, we're swapping that
banana for zucchini today. When you blend it up,
the combination of red and green makes my classic
reddish brown smoothie but don't let the color fool you because this may be the sweetest
tasting smoothie of the bunch. All right, let's chat about this giveaway. For several years running
now I have had the joy and pleasure of being able to
give away a Vitamix blender on my birthday which is August 31st. I get another year older and one of you in the community walks away
with a shiny new blender. The details for the giveaway are listed in the description box below
and whether you win or lose, I hope today's video inspired you with some new healthy smoothie options. If you have additional tips or ways that you make a healthy smoothie at home that I didn't mention,
please do share them with the community in the comments and if you'd like to see more
Vitamix videos in the future, make sure to give this video a thumbs up so that I know that you enjoyed it. All right, that's it for me this week. I will see you guys
again in the next video.
