Receta Berry Banana Smoothie ~ Low Calorie, Non-Dairy
Although this is a recipe post, it still fits in with the weight loss theme that my Thursday posts have been leaning toward lately....
I love smoothies. And while they are a great way to enjoy getting those servings of fruits into your daily routine, they can be a pretty high-calorie snack. Not that I cared too much about calories in the past few years! But now that I'm trying to lose weight and I'm counting and limiting my calorie intake, if I want a smoothie for breakfast, I need to know the nutrition information in order to track my count for the day.
Recently, I entered the ingredients for my Strawberry Banana Smoothie recipe into the recipe builder on the My Fitness Pal site. The calorie count was 352! Although I knew it would be a pretty high number, I was very shocked to see just how many calories were in that single serving! Yikes! To think, sometimes I drank two of those in a day!
So, since 352 calories is really too high for a snack and really didn't keep me full enough to be considered a meal, I started to experiment with my smoothies. Using less banana or less milk to lowered the calorie count, but not enough to make it worth it.
After seeing a pin on Pinterest, I decided to try adding dry oats, figuring that would help keep me from feeling hungry so soon after. That didn't work either.
One night, I was venting to Nicole (from Colie's Kitchen) about wanting a lower calorie smoothie. She gave me a few tips and tricks that uses when she makes her smoothies.
I always use frozen fruit when I make my smoothies, but it never occurred to me to cut the dairy out of my recipe. And after I thought about it, it actually made a lot of sense. I decided to give it a try.
Here's what I came up with:
Low-Calorie Berry Banana Smoothie
Ingredients:
- 1 large banana, sliced and frozen
- 2 large strawberries, sliced and frozen
- 1/4 cup blueberries, frozen
- 1/2 cup water
Directions:
Add all ingredients to blender and blend until smooth.
Notes:
Oh my goodness! Yum! These smoothies are soooo good! I always thought I needed to add the yogurt and milk to make the smoothie creamy. The frozen banana is enough to give it the creamy texture that I love!
These low-calorie smoothies are great for a snack on their own. They are also wonderful for breakfast along with a handful of almonds or a low-calorie English Muffin.
Serves 1
Total calories: 153
If you want to lower the calories even more, use 80 grams frozen banana, 35 grams of frozen strawberries, 35 grams of frozen blueberries, along with the 1/2 cup water. Those small changes bring the calories down to 101 calories per serving!
I love the flavor and texture of these fruit smoothies and have been enjoying them almost every day, sometimes twice a day! I love that I was able to find a lower calorie option that will free up some calories so I don't feel as if I'm just drinking my meals each day. Now, I can enjoy smoothies twice a day in addition to my regular (lower calorie) meals and still have calories left to EAT some yogurt later in the day!