44 years old and I finally got my first blender. Now what to do with it? I have also never had a smoothie so while the thought of a healthy drink for the ride into work appeals to me, I have no idea how to go about it. What do I do?
I plop a frozen banana (in chunks), some frozen fruit (whatever’s handy - blueberries and raspberries are good, as are peaches) and a little milk into the blender and run it on high. I then add a little more milk to make it the consistency I like. It’s simple, but it’s good. You can also add various protein powders to make the drink more nutritionally complete if you’re having it in lieu of breakfast.
They have recipes for smoothies now? 
I just throw things in.
“Green” smoothies are good - apple juice, melon, grapes, kiwi fruit with a little dash of lime juice if it’s a bit too sweet. The kiwi seeds and grape skins provide fibre, and as was mentioned you can put in some protein powders or other ‘goodies’ like ecinacea or whatever it is they use at juice bars.
Smoothies are all about what you like. Get a bunch of your favourite fruits, chop them up into relatively small but rough chunks and throw them in with milk (for berries and more non-acidic fruits) or juice (for citrus and other high-acid fruits). You can freeze the fruits to make your smoothie icy-cold. For a ‘dessert’ smoothie, you can add some vanilla icecream for creaminess and a little bit of naughtiness. It’s all up to you.
To have a guilt free but naughty seeming smoothie, use nonfat french vanilla yogurt–my favorite is made with Trader Joe’s tropical mix fruit (pineapple, mango, papaya and passionfruit) yogurt, a little bit of TJs vanilla fat free half & half and ice, drool. Peach-mango is good, so is peach-blueberry or the black and blue (berry) version. Basically, what can’t you put into a smoothie? Well, liver, but everything fruit is wide open. Try honeydew/canteloupe/yogurt, that’s ambrosial. Dammit, I want a smoothie now! 
I buy big bags of frozen mixed fruit at Smart & Final, that have honeydew melon, strawberries, blueberries, red grapes, peaches and pineapple all mixed together. I stopped adding fruit juice because it has too much sugar, and now use just water with a dash of stevia and some strawberry flavored protein powder. It is extraordinarily yummy.
I find I don’t care for smoothies made with raspberries or blackberries because of the seeds. I like the recommendation above about adding yogurt, though, and I’m going to try that tomorrow!
Me and the kids have a strawberry-banana smoothie for breakfast every day. (I’m lactose intolerant, but I seem to be getting away with it. I guess because it’s just a small amount of milk and it’s mixed in with the strawberries, bananas, and honey.) I also sometimes throw in whatever I find in the pantry…Carnation instant breakfast, applesauce, etc. I’m tempted to see if they notice the leftover cooked carrots…
I take a banana, whatever yogurt I have, some frozen berries from Trader Joes, some frozen mango from same if I have it, whatever flavor sherbert or ice cream I have in the freezer, some orange juice, and a bit of cayenne pepper (secret ingredient). I like the seeds from the berries, myself.
Oh yeah, and sometimes we add some Parrot Bay coconut rum to the blender–that’s a boozy shmoozy! Better to drink these quickly if they have the yogurt in them, though, 'cuz it gets a little separated sometimes…
As the other posters have indicated, there’s no need for an ingredient that finds its way into too many smoothies: ice. If you buy bananas, slice them & freeze the slices (in a ziplock bag, which can be reused) they will do the trick.
In fact, I made a smoothie last night …
Most of a punnet of strawberries, a slightly overripe banana, a couple of handfuls of frozen blueberries, and a few sloshes of apple/peach juice. It was dark purple, and lovely and sweet, but with a bit of tartness (I find frozen berries tend to be a wee bit underripe, but it’s still good). It would have been lovely with a bit of vodka…
I’m ODing on these things now. Thanks. I honestly had no idea what went into them but had a hunch that vodka would always work in the mix 
I’m ODing on these things now. Thanks. I honestly had no idea what went into them but had a hunch that vodka would always work in the mix
Frozen raspberries, mango, orange juice. Possibly a bit of vanilla soy milk.
It’s heaven, I tell ya. Not too sweet. A bit of rum is great as well, for summer days on the porch.
When I make them (rum-less, I’m afraid) in the mornings before work, I add some soy protein powder as well.
Oh, oh, I’m having one right now: clam-tomato juice, some worchestershire sauce, tabasco, wasabi, and Plymouth gin. . . oh, wait. Blender. Um. . .
I’m glad you started this devee - I was about to start something similar myself!
My standard smoothie is a 2 bananas, a half cup of whatever kind of berries are cheap, a cup of oj, a half block of soft silken tofu (oh stop, you can’t even tell!) and ice to fill up the blender. If the berries are underripe, a little sugar and some vanilla make it all better. And I’m serious about the tofu - it bulks it up, adds a lot of protein, and makes it all nice & creamy. Try it, you’ll like it.