Food + Family + Friends

Beverage

Cantaloupe Banana Smoothie

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The most used appliance in our house is our Vitamix… this is not a paid sponsorship, but rather a ode to my favorite appliance for almost 15 years. Each day, this well loved kitchen friend produces smoothie after healthy smoothie, velvety soups and sauces, smooth muffin batter, chunky dips and spreads, and even the best banana milkshake I’ve ever had.

Many years ago, before we had a Vitamix, but still a high quality blender, my husband used some overly ripe cantaloupe and a banana and threw it in the blender with some rice milk (what we drank at the time) and a few ice cubes and produced the most refreshing afternoon snack. To this day, it remains one of our most simple, refreshing smoothies during the summer months when melon is at its peak. Honeydew is an equally delicious substitution and often gets mixed with matcha green tea powder for a great afternoon pick me up – recipe to come!

I hope you enjoy this simple and delicious smoothie.

Cheers,

Christina

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Cantaloupe Banana Smoothie

A simple, refreshing smoothie during the summer months! It's a perfect afternoon snack to cool down and rehydrate after some fun in the sun. Honeydew is an excellent substitution and one we make all the time. Enjoy!

Course Beverages
Keyword cantaloupe, smoothie
Servings 2 servings
Author Christina Shoup

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cantaloupe chunks
  • 2 bananas
  • ¼ cup almond milk any dairy or nondairy beverage should work well
  • 5 ice cubes

Instructions

  1. Add all ingredients and blend until smooth.

Cherry Peach Smoothie

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This refreshing smoothie is one of my favorite summer smoothies.  The fresh peach and mint are such a great flavor combination. During the summer, I buy extra peaches each week and wait for them to get almost too ripe before transferring them to the refrigerator – this way I have them always ready for this smoothie.  Note: while ripe fresh nectarines also work well, frozen peaches do not.  They just don’t have enough ripe flavor!  

As always, a high powered blender such as a Vitamix is key to making the best smoothie texture.  We were recently on vacation in Lake Tahoe and while the kitchen in our rented home was one of the most stocked kitchens I’ve ever been in (for a rental), our smoothies just weren’t the same without a good blender.  There were chunks of peach peel and ice that just never blended – it was still very drinkable with good flavor, but generally not as enjoyable as usual.  

Here’s to ripe summer fruits and healthy summer snacks!

Cheers,

Christina

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Cherry Peach Smoothie

This refreshing smoothie is one of my favorites for summer. Fresh peach and mint are such a great flavor combination. During the summer, I buy extra peaches each week and wait for them to get almost too ripe before transferring them to the refrigerator – this way I have them always ready for this smoothie. Note: while fresh nectarines work well, frozen peaches do not. They just don't have enough flavor to make this tasty.

Course Breakfast, Snack
Keyword smoothie
Servings 2 servings
Author Christina Shoup

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup almond milk any dairy or non-dairy milk will work
  • ¼ cup plain Greek whole or lowfat yogurt
  • 1½ cups frozen cherries
  • 2 fresh peaches, cut up
  • 1 banana, cut up
  • 2 tbsp ground flaxseed
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 10-12 fresh mint leaves
  • 3-4 ice cubes

Instructions

  1. Place ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Ben’s Tropical Smoothie

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Not bright orange like Jamba’s Mango-a-go-go, but with added flax meal, healthier and just as tasty!

Years before Jamba Juice was a thing, my hometown of Bakersfield had a local shop called Bagels and Blenders.  It was a favorite in our family and on occasion, we began our Saturday mornings before sports and activities with a stop here.  I still remember their Peanut Butter Bagel, an oblong shaped bagel with chunks of peanut butter throughout- something I’ve never seen anywhere else. Yum. They also had a giant list of blenders, aka smoothies, and those were delicious as well.  Before there was much talk of carbs, this seemed like a good concept. 

I distinctly remember thinking I was having a healthy breakfast! It was good fuel, for sure, but I cannot imagine what the crash would have been like with all those carbs…although I don’t really remember it being a thing.  It was the 80s and this was health food at its finest.  I have clear memories of our family making smoothies at home. With a family of 6, this was definitely a smart economic choice, which my parents were very good with. They usually consisted of fruit juice, frozen fruit and ice.  

Fast forward to the opening of Jamba Juice in the early 1990s and smoothies were everywhere. What town didn’t have a Jamba Juice? Their early menus consisted mostly of fruit smoothies that had juice, frozen fruit and often sherbet or frozen yogurt.  Basically – sugar, sugar, and more sugar.  But it had fruit! So we were all good…

The most recent menu at Jamba Juice doesn’t look much like it’s original menu.  The old saying –  when you know better you do better, certainly applies here. The offerings now, thankfully, have many more redeemable qualities such as non dairy beverage instead of fruit juice, Greek yogurt instead of sherbet or frozen yogurt, and combos of veggies and fruits.  It’s a refreshing treat that we can feel better about, but with the price of those jambas, it’s still considered a treat in our household.

Same smoothie, kale added
Enough for everyone!

The most healthy and economical option is to make smoothies at home.  A good quality blender such as the VitaMix is invaluable and a worthy investment if you’re a fan of smoothies. For over 15 years, with few exceptions, our family has made a smoothie every single day – it resembles many of those you now see at Jamba Juice, but always with a balance of fruit, veggie, protein and often with added fiber.  We’ve never used a recipe, so it’s been a challenge to measure out everything and think about serving size.  I tried my best with the posted recipes, but I suggest that you use them as a guide.  And before long, your family will come up with great combos that magically serves just enough for everyone to have a glass.  

Cheers,

Christina

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Ben’s Tropical Smoothie

Since my kids were little, they have always loved the Mango-a-Go-Go smoothie at Jamba Juice. With all that sugar from the juice and sherbet, who wouldn't? Here's a much healthier alternative. My youngest makes his own version with no measurements that rivals anything we have purchased at Jamba Juice. I did my best to copy his recipe!

Course Beverages, Breakfast, Snack
Servings 2 servings
Author Christina Shoup

Ingredients

  • 1 cup frozen mango chunks
  • ½ cup frozen pineapple
  • 1 banana
  • ¼ cup plain Greek whole milk yogurt
  • ¾ cup almond milk coconut or soy milk are also great options
  • ¼ cup orange juice or 1 whole peeled orange
  • 1 handful spinach optional
  • 1 tbsp ground flax meal
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 2-3 ice cubes

Instructions

  1. Place ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Berry Banana Smoothie

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I cannot count how many smoothies we’ve made over the years, but I can safely say it’s in the thousands.  My husband and I made them almost daily when we were first married and haven’t stopped since.  The early days of smoothie making always began with some frozen fruit and some type of liquid (usually rice or soy milk), but always had some mystery ingredient such as cinnamon or chili pepper and a few times tamarind.  We got pretty creative. We even had dreams of pre-packaging smoothie “pouches” and marketing them.  Almost 18 years later, from the looks of the freezer aisle and smoothie delivery companies, we were on to something.  Oh well…

Fast forward 18 years and 3 kids later we are still making smoothies – literally every single day for 18 years, there is some sort of smoothie made in our home for breakfast, lunch, snack or accompanying a frittata for a quick and easy dinner.  To say that our trusty and pricey Vita-Mix we’ve owned for almost 15 years was a good investment, in an understatement.  Our only upgrade was one that we were gifted a few years ago and has multiple speeds which is pretty necessary if you use it for soups and sauces – high and low just doesn’t cut it for these tasks! Our Vita-Mix is an essential tool in our kitchen.

The funny part is for all these years not one person in our family has measured out ingredients.  We can all successfully eyeball the ingredients and make enough smoothie for anyone in the house – either 2 tall glasses enough for a meal or 4-5 small snack glasses.  In our house, there’s no such thing as making a smoothie for one… 

Cheers,

Christina

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Berry Banana Smoothie

This beautiful purple smoothie is both satisfying and packed with nutritious vitamins and minerals. Blueberries are high in fiber and vitamin C and the spinach gives the smoothie a boost of nutrition with vitamin C, folate, and iron. Bananas give a healthy dose of potassium as well as fiber. And a little Greek yogurt for protein makes this a perfect way to start the day or midday snack.

Course Beverages
Servings 2
Author Christina Shoup

Ingredients

  • ½ cup almond milk
  • ¼ cup plain, whole milk Greek yogurt
  • 1 banana
  • 1 heaping cup frozen blueberries
  • 1 handful spinach
  • ½ tsp honey
  • 1 tbsp ground flaxseed meal
  • 2 ice cubes

Instructions

  1. Place ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Eric’s Sipper (House Manhattan)

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I’m not sure if we are the only ones, but the older my husband and I get, the more the old saying, “less is more” seems to apply to our lives.  Be it friends in our orbit, clothes in our closet or alcohol in our system- quality over quantity couldn’t be more true for this couple. Having been together for almost half our lives, I can see how our tastes have become very similar and our Friday night beverage of choice is no different! What used to be the obvious question of red or white, has become the question of rye or bourbon… one drink each seems to be just enough for both of us. Quality over quantity! 

Eric’s sipper was created about a year ago and our first real appreciation and enjoyment of brown liquor.  I have to say, it’s pretty dang good and has become staple ingredients in our liquor cabinet. It’s delicious over ice, but can be served up in a coupe glass as well.  Either way, don’t forget the cherry or orange peel!

Cheers,

Christina

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Eric’s Sipper (aka House Manhattan)

This drink is a lovely mix between an Old Fashioned and a Manhattan and is an excellent cocktail to sip while the ice melts, perfectly diluting the drink. It's known in our house as Eric's Sipper, and one that we are more fond of each time we make it. It's a fun drink to experiment with- served up or on ice, less sweet vermouth or more, 2 cherries or 4. Either way- cheers!

Course Beverages
Servings 1 drink
Author Christina Shoup

Ingredients

  • 2 ounces Whiskey We like High West and Angel's Envy Bourbon
  • 1 ½ ounce Sweet Vermouth
  • 2 dashes Angostura Orange Bitters
  • 2 dashes Angostura Aromatic Bitters
  • 1-2 cherries, plus ½ tsp juice Favs include Luxardo Maraschino or Fabbri Cherries
  • orange peel garnish

Instructions

  1. Add all ingredients except cherries and orange peel to shaker with ice and shake for 30 seconds.

  2. Add large cube of ice to low ball and pour drink over ice.

  3. Garnish with 2 cherries on a toothpick and orange peel.