Honeyed Words: It’s HOT Outside and I’m Sleepy – Another Smoothie, This Time a Blue One

It’s HOT Outside and I’m Sleepy – Another Smoothie, This Time a Blue One · 12 March 2007

While I originally envisioned the smoothie mostly as a food feature relating to The Onion Girl, it turned out that these juice blends were able to fill an empty slot in my daily food consumption, namely breakfast.

We all have our eating challenges. Mine mostly revolve around an unhealthy love of bread products, lack of time, and an almost chronic aversion to waking up early in the morning (as you might imagine pulling myself out of bed on time this morning, the first day of daylight savings time, was a chore). Breakfast has often fallen short of clearing all of these dietary hurdles. Most often, if I eat breakfast at all, I grab a muffin and run. But each day last week, I had a pitcher full of fruity goodness, just waiting to be poured into a glass that I could rush out the door with.

I noticed a positive difference in the level of my morning perkiness (historically about a 2 on a scale of 1 to 10) after drinking the smoothies. Anything that can add productivity to my weekly routine is an unexpected bonus and deserves my serious consideration. So, I embarked on an "extensive" analysis of the breakfast benefits:

Tasty? Check.
Easy? Check.
Healthy? Check.
Will I actually eat it in the morning? Check.

After drawing the obvious conclusion and factoring in today’s huge thirst brought about by the unseasonable warm local weather, it seemed inevitable that a follow up smoothie was in order.

I think Jilly (from the Onion Girl) will forgive me for delaying the next article that focuses on food in her world. After all, one of her defining traits was her unfailing devotion to others. If she were here, I think she’d heartily congratulate me for living a bit healthier, even the expense of her own publicity.

This blue juice blend is based loosely on the Naked Juice® Blue Machine.

Picture of a Glass Filled with Juice

Blue Juice Blend Smoothie:

32 oz bottle of mixed berry 100% juice blend (I used the L&A Mixed Berry at $1.99, which contains apple, boysenberry, blackberry, raspberry, blueberry, and grape juice)
10 oz bag frozen wild blueberries ($3.49, organic)
10 oz bag frozen blackberries ($2.99, organic)
1 banana ($0.20, approximately)
6 oz red grapes ($0.40, approximately)

Add ingredients to a blender or food processor in small batches, being careful not to overfill. Blend each batch thoroughly until all the fruit has been liquefied and the texture is uniform. Transfer blended mixture to a 64 oz pitcher in batches.

Repeat until all ingredients have been processed, then stir final mixture with a wooden spoon or spatula until it obtains a smooth and even consistency.

Shake or stir prior to serving. Ingredients will settle. Keep refrigerated.

Cost Analysis:

The cost analysis is substantially similar to the one I did for the red juice smoothie. Total costs were approximately $0.65 higher than the red juice blend, increasing the per ounce price slightly.

Taste Analysis:

The tastes of my blend and the Naked Juice® Blue Machine were similar. Again, mine was a bit more tart, which I ascribe to a higher blackberry to blueberry ratio, but I think my version would have benefited from more blueberries. While certainly tasty, my blue blend lacked the zing of my red blend and it also lacked the dominating flavor personality of the Naked Juice® Blue Machine. It came across tasting more like a generic mixed berry drink than anything else. Next time I’ll be looking for a 16 oz or larger bag of blueberries.

An 8 oz serving of this recipe meets 1 cup of the fruit recommendation for the 5 A Day program and is rich in antioxidants.