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Login Here Signup Here Signup using FacebookI have not gone raw yet...am trying to collect recipes for when I do though!
I need ideas for thickeners for smoothies. I like very thick smoothies...not those runny ones! Right now, I make my smoothies with yoghurt, apples, spinich, avacados, bananas, and rice syrup (can't do honey-gives me headaches).
I understand that the yoghurt,and probably the rice syrup is not raw. But the yoghurt makes my smoothies nice and thick. So I'm looking for ideas to thicken the smoothies, to make it more filling.
Comments
When I want a smoothie thicker I will use frozen bananas or fruit.
Chia seed is also supposed to be good, I know also that if I use blueberries and let it sick that the drink often gels up.
Chia seed. That sounds like a good idea.
How about a little Irish Moss or psyllium seed? Well, I haven't tried either, but I did have a nut smoothie with irish moss.
I think nut milks make smoothies more filling.
hello Leyna :)wow my first post !
I'm not totally raw, and don't know if I ever will be.. although never say never hey!
Anyway my boyfriend and I make 2 litre green smoothies everyday and they're pretty damn thick, sometimes too thick for my liking so I water it down a bit.. our smoothies vary in taste day to day, we like to experiment and it depends what we have in the fridge!
* kale / spinach + whatever other greens we have on hand at the time(including broccoli sprouts sometimes)
* sometimes coconut water or just plain filtered water
* fruits such as banana, strawberries, rockmelon, watermelon, honeydew melon, mango, papaya, kiwi, pears, apples, frozen blueberries etc.
* we soak 2 tablespoons of CHIA seeds the night before and put them in, they become gel like, so they get quite thick ( you can get these I think online or at health food stores, they are very high in calcium & protein)
* we also add a tablespoon or so of LSA (crushed linseed, sunflower seed & almond mix)
* raw shredded coconut
* tablespoon cacao powder & small handful cacao beans
We never use any syrups or yoghurt and our smoothies are always thick as. Perhaps you need a bit more fruit and/or crushed seeds/almonds to the mix and the CHIA seed will help heaps too to thicken it.
Hope this helps you :)
Jasmine
Thanks for the answers! I will look for the Chia seeds...have not tried them yet, so hopefully I'm not intolerant to them yet. lol I have no idea what Irish Moss is though. Psyllium seed makes me very constipated, especially with the bananas. Will look for Cacao powder or beans.
Can you get these ingredients in a Whole Foods market?
Papaya thickens things up nicely. I use it for pie fillings it gets so thick. Persimmons are good thickeners for smoothies too. I'll chime in with the chia recommendations as well.
flaxseed will thicken a smoothie and add nutritional content to boot.
coconut milk also makes things thick (as well as fatty) but yum! Also, If you make a smoothie with almond milk you'll get a very smooth almost milkshake constancy! Using "milk" will keep the smoothing a nice texture..I'd think using flaxseeds would give it a different "feel". I used almond milk in a smoothie just yesterday for the first time. Almond milk isn't t0o hard to make and it stays good in the fridge for about 5 days. This Recipe Makes about 2 cups of almond milk.
Almond Milk
Yield: approx 2 1/2 cups
2 1/2 cups Water
1 1/2 cups soaked almonds (1 cup dry, raw almonds covered in water overnight)
3 pitted medjool dates, soaked 30 min (may ommit)
Place almonds and 1 1/2 cups of the water in blender. Blend until smooth. Add remaining water. Pour into cheesecloth over bowl and drain and squeeze out liquid.
Use almond milk to replace milk or yogurt. The dates aren't necessary. They just make the milk a bit sweeter.
The best thickeners are dense fruits such as bananas, frozen bananas and fresh & frozen mangos. The more of these dense fruits you have in relation to liquid, the thicker they will be. Be sure you have a powerful blender.
May I recommend trying it without the yogurt also - you may be surprised at how lovely it tastes.
The first raw book that I got was called Eat Smart,Ea Raw by a brit chick called kate Wood. She recommended psyllium husks as a thickener/binder... Not sure if it is classified as raw... I had beeen getting mine from Trader Joes (I wish they were in Canada!).
I have used the psyllium? plantago? husks in (my attempts at) raw energy bars from time to time, and they seem to work quite well. They look like what happened after my dog ate a hot curry, but they taste great!
I like using coconut meat scooped out of a young coconut, chia seed, and frozen banana(add frozen banana after everything's blended and blend until just barely blended through).
I agree--Creaminess comes from mango, papaya, banana. Thicker comes from blueberries. Chia seed can work nicely, but won't give you that sweet creaminess you might be looking for. Agave nectar or 1-2 dates is a nice sub for the rice syrup. You can make your own almond milk, which is really loaded with calcium, and use that to replace the yogurt. Psyllium husks makes things really thick--just be prepared for extra cleansing trips to the bathroom.