Fruit smoothies, how to make?

[Skribble]

My son loves V-shots and Innocent smoothies.

Ok So best way to make my own?

Is it best to get a juicer and is it best to get a whole fruit one (or are they all whole fruit).

Or should I get a blender and peel and core first?

Or will my good old magic mix hand blender do the job perhaps in a tall jug?

What do you add to smoothies apart from fruit? and finaly can you freeze juices if I make loads?

[Saturn74]

We use our blender to make ours.
We buy frozen berries, and add a bit of water or pure orange juice.
Some people add a bit of milk instead, I think.
Strawberry and banana and squeeze of lemon juice is another fave.
I don't add any sugar.
We freeze the ones using fresh fruit, but haven't refrozen the berry ones.
Have frozen them in ice cube trays before - very nice for a drink at summer parties, especially in a shot of vodka!

[Louise2004]

We recently started making all our own fruit juices/smoothies and have both a juicer and a blender. Basically, the juicer is good for fruits like apples and oranges, while the blender is good for making actual "smoothies" using fruits like bananas and for making fresh fruit milkshakes.

There are plenty of very good recipes on the internet - I just do a search depending on what fruit I've bought and then pick and mix the combinations! My other half likes fruit and vegetable mixes (for example, carrot and apple), but I prefer just fruits. Apparently it's best to add a dash of cream to carrot mixes, as it helps the carrot "go down" better...

I should think it's possible to freeze juices but I've never tried. We've really enjoyed making our juices ourselves - much more fun than buying them and somehow they just taste better too! And I'll definitely be trying the frozen fruit ice cubes in vodka this summer!

[NotQuiteCockney]

I normally do milk + banana + something else (berries, mango chunks, plums, whatever). Sometimes I add greek yogurt.

Your hand blender will do the job just fine.

[yellowrose]

Hi skribble - you can save masses of money making your own fresh juice and smoothies ! Those Innocent things are delicious but so expensive !!

I don't know any receipes, though there will be loads here or on the net generally.

I bought a Moulinex Juice Master Plus last year and couldn't be happier. It cost around £35 on Amazon (free post). It will do both soft and hard fruit and vegetables.

You can do the juice and then pour in some yoghurt or milk to make a milkshake.

I usually just blend some carrot, apple and orange and give it to ds with a straw.

I buy organic fruit from Asda or Tesco, so again save masses of money on buyig cartons of organic juice.

[Blandmum]

MIL bought us a smoothie maker, which was kind of her, but basically any blender will do the job just as well.

Personally I wouldn't bother with getting a smoothie maker, I'd get a blender, you will get more use out of it, and they are easier to clean and tend to take up less room.

We normally do fruit juice, and soft fruit, what ever is in season, Sometimes we add a banana, other times we don't.

[elclose]

in tesco they sell frozen fruit for smoothies they do a tropical mix and a strawberry and banana one each pack has 4 individual packs, makes quite a bit you just add a little oraneor apple juice or milk

[Skribble]

Oh thanks for all the ideas and advice. I will bef try with the hand blender before buying anything else, might buy a jug blender if popular. But I suspect they might not be so appealing when not in funky little packets and bottles and any whiff of mummy made make them roll their eyes. Mummy's homemade tomato soup went down like a ton of bricks after me blending it with in a inch of its life then straining it, argh!

I am not too fussed for a smoothie maker as they just look like jug blenders with taps that will be annoying to clan .

So will I really need a juicer to tackle apples and carrots or will the hand or jug blender cope?

Do the juicers save lots of time as you can chuck the whole fruit in?

Do all juicers cope with whole apples or do some need them to be cored?

[Skribble]

Oh and the frozen mixes sound interesting

[yellowrose]

Skribble - don't wish to advertise Moulinex all the time, but did lots of googling for reviews before I bought mine and it came out tops. It is generally a very good electronic brand, like say Sony or Canon if you were buying a camera !!

No, you can't use a hand blender for apples/carrots other hard fruit/veg, it won't JUICE them it will squash them.

Yes, with a juicer you can put pieces of the fruit in. You can't do a whole fruit, best take the core out and also peel if you are worried about what is on the skin.

I find mine relatively easy to clean.

[Skribble]

Thanks yellow rose, agree moulinex is great, I inherited my grans hand blender that must have been at least 30 years old when I got it it last for ages until I melted it a bit in some too hot soup.

mmh perhaps a moulinex juicer then, as DS loves the juices with carrots and apple in and I think the jug blender would just sort of chop it.

[yellowrose]

yes, if they like carrots and apples then a juicer is the best thing. dh and i get a glass of juice each time too, so its a good investment

[Tortington]

or if you dont want to fuck about you can buy frozen fruit and berries in the supermarket.

with apple juice, orange juice or - any pure juice.

just bung in the blender. the coldness of the frozen fruit will make it quite like a frescata from costas

[Skribble]

I want something to put my cheepo apples and carrots in though.

[Skribble]

I was about to buy a Moulinex Juice Machin Plus online for half price, then I read the reveiws and everyone hated it.

Any recomendations?