Are you looking for a delicious, nutritious, filling, low-calorie treat?

Summer is the season of the smoothie, and I have one every night.

Here’s my recipe:
One cup of skim milk
One cup of frozen blueberries or strawberries
One banana (I don’t much like bananas, but they give the smoothie a nice texture, and the flavor of the berries dominates)
8 packets of Equal (yes, I know, that’s a lot of Equal, but I'm okay with that)
As much ice as I can put in without making the smoothie too bland
Blend well

This recipe makes an enormous amount of smoothie, and it’s a great treat for people who are watching their calories.

Studies show that while drinking water doesn’t make you feel full (contrary to what many people believe), high water content in food does make you feel full. So, for example, eating some ingredients made into a soup will be more filling than eating those same ingredients made into a casserole. Lots of ice in the smoothie makes it very filling.

Also, if you’re really watching every single calorie, consider that you burn up one calorie for every ounce of an ice-cold drink, because of the energy needed to warm it up.

Despite the photograph, I eat my smoothie from a bowl, not a glass. Eating out of an enormous bowl, with a spoon, makes me feel like I’m having something substantial and meal-like, while drinking a smoothie out of a glass makes it seem like a casual snack. Research shows that your perception that you've eaten a lot, or a little, plays a big role in satiety.

For a different treat, freeze the smoothie in little cups. That’s delicious too, but I can never manage to resist eating the smoothie right away.

*
Life Two describes itself as the "destination for information on middle age," but there's a lot of great information there that's not specific to middle age. Good round-ups of studies, useful links, interesting articles. This morning, one item particularly caught my interest, because it's an important issue for happiness: What we can learn from near-death experiences.

[Later] Aack, in my hurry, I completely forgot to note that the Life Two post was riffing off the interesting post at Marginal Revolution on the subject of near-death experiences. Check that out, too.

*
If you're new to the Happiness Project, you may want to consider subscribing to my RSS feed: Subscribe to this blog's feed.

Comments

[David]

I absolutely LOVE smoothies. It always makes me happy that I personally created such an awesome treat.

Gretchen, your recipe is very close to the one I use. However, I loathe Equal, so I wanted to offer my alternative: a couple of tablespoons of honey. It adds another taste to the smoothie, is healthier than Equal (just Google "aspartame") and actually helps thicken the smoothie a bit more.

Here's to smoothies! Now, to stock enough ingredients to make it a daily part of my routine...

[Daniel]

Hi,

you also have readers (many I suppose) not in the US - I don't know what "Equal" is.

And I would agree to comment #1: aspartame is supposed to be causing cancer. I'd go with the honey.

Cheers.

[Cascadia Girl]

A variation of this recipe is to slice and freeze very ripe bananas before adding, eliminate the sweetener and ice (the ripe frozen bananas substitute for both), and add a splash of vanilla!

[phquaryn]

I'd add frozen peaches and unsweetened dark cocoa, take away the skim milk and add soy milk and use agave nectar or maple syrup instead of equal. I'm going to try Casciadia Girl's frozen banana sub asap. Smoothies are the bomb.

[Jessica]

Gretchen,
Watching calories this much (1 calorie for your body to warm it up!?) seems a little over the top to me! It honestly reminds me a bit of when I had a borderline eating disorder and would count fractions of calories and look for "tips & tricks" on websites for how to shave off ever-decreasing increments of nutrition. I think it's great to be healthy, but I find it a little nutty to worry so much about every little calorie.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Thanks for all these great suggestions for variations on smoothies.

As for the risk of aspartame, to me, the evidence looks pretty solid that it's safe to eat. Many people disagree, obviously, and honey and ripe bananas are a great suggestion as substitutes. also, it's a good way to use the super-ripe bananas if your kids (like mine) don't like them too squishy.

I meant the fact about it-takes-one-calorie-warming-the-body to be a joke! You'd have to drink a lot of ice water before you saw any effects.

[AML]

I agree with Cascadia Girl: freezing the bananas really concentrates the sweetness. Whenever the bananas get too ripe to eat or one of the kids or dh or I don't finish one, I put the peeled banana in a ziploc in the freezer (one quart-size freezer ziploc that keeps getting added to). Same with strawberries that are starting to get mushy. So there is always a supply waiting in the freezer for smoothie making. A great sweetener that adds vitamins is frozen OJ concentrate. One more tip, I make my smoothies with an immersion blender (Braun) so you don't have to pour it into a new cup.