Guanábana and mango smoothie

 

I’ve been on and off social media, and the internet in general, for a week now. It wasn’t on purpose, though. I’m still not one of those people who go through life shunning Facebook only to come crawling back to it 3 weeks later. I’ve just been busy with other “offline” events well worth of my complete and undivided attention.

Fun. I went to a friend’s house-warming party where we celebrated his first home with good food (and plenty of drinks). He and his partner were great hosts, and they were kind enough not to kick me out of the party for pigging out on their coconut bread pudding! The next day, I attended my buddy’s beautiful wedding. I was impressed by all the love and all the happiness displayed throughout the whole evening by the family and the guests alike. Since it was a large wedding I didn’t have a chance to spend much time with my friend and his beautiful bride, but I’m sure they know I’m ecstatic for their happiness (and because they fed me and gave me awesome drinks all evening). Cheers!  Sad. I went to dinner with my besties to say goodbye to my friend who’s moving out of state. We will miss her so much! But I’m not going to lie; I enjoyed saying hello to that $1 burger I had while we were at it. Someone found a new deal!  Disruptive. We have contractors doing work on the house (and they are very good at starting at 8 am), so we kind of have to work around them in the morning, and my day goes off-track from there on. At this phase there’s destruction and dirt everywhere. Hopefully it will be over soon.

It’s summer too! That keeps me away from spending too much time with my devices. As you can tell based on my new blog-series “Cleveland’s my gym”, I’ve been spending time outdoors. Yep, despite the impression given by the previous paragraph, I’ve done healthy things too. I’m not just pigging out! I’ve been walking, running and commuting by bike. I’ve even managed to go on one of my favorite bike routes, a 45-mile ride along Lake Erie! Sadly, the highlight of this ride is an ice-cream stop half-way, and this time I couldn’t get my frozen treat!!! Stupid ATM system was down.

Anyway, it doesn’t matter; I make ice creams often. Smoothies though, are my favorite cold treats. Besides being luscious, smoothies can be a great tool for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. If you abstain from using non-natural juices and/or excess sugar, smoothies can be a great way to consume many nutrients at a low calorie cost. The high volume of the smoothies makes you feel full, and if you use fruits and dairy, you can stay feeling full for a while, courtesy of the fiber and the protein (and fat if you use non-skim milk) in them. They’re quite easy to make, they’re ready in no time, and you can actually take your smoothies with you on the go.

I don’t think I’ve shared a smoothie recipe so far. It’s surprising since I’ve been making smoothies for years, and I have more than one blender to make them. Hell, when I moved to the States the first thing I bought was a blender. I owned a blender well before I had plates, Tupperware, or a microwave. So this first smoothie recipe I’ll share feature two of the ingredients I grew up eating from my own backyard: guanábana (a.k.a. soursop) and mango. Guanábana can be somewhat sour and tangy (much like yogurt) and mango can be sweet and a touch acidic. These tropical fruits can be found frozen in many supermarkets, which is great because when using frozen fruits I can avoid using ice (I don’t use any on this recipe). Less ice means my flavors won’t be watered down I won’t have to add too much sugar. This smoothie is just 184 calories per serving, and it really celebrate the warm weather we are having. Oh, and it brings a little bit of Puerto Rico to my kitchen.

On the road shortcut

Nutritional info per serving (makes 2 servings):

184 calories, 34 g carbs, 3 g fat, 8 g protein

1 ¼ cup milk, 2% milkfat

½ cup non-fat yogurt

1 tablespoon honey

7 ounces frozen guanábana

7 ounces frozen mango

Optional: If using a glass blender-cup, chill it in the freezer for 5-10 minutes.

Add all the ingredients and blend until combined and smooth. Drink immediately.

Alternatively, you can save your smoothie in an insulated bottle or tumbler and keep it in your fridge or freezer. The time you can maintain the smoothie’s texture will depend on your bottle.