In collaboration with Gracewell Healthcare.
Smoothies are a great way to get quite a few of your five a day into you in a delicious and nutritious way. I’ve been making smoothies for my family for years, and now that I own an Optimum 9400 high speed blender it means I can be a bit more versatile with the ingredients I put into my smoothies.
No longer do they just have to be soft fruits and vegetables. My blender makes short work of carrots – one of the key components of this creamy delicious sunshine smoothie.
This recipe is slightly adapted from one that the chefs at the Gracewell care homes serve to their residents. Smoothies, in addition to being a great way to get fruit and vegetables into fussy children, are also a very palatable way to get nutrients into older people who may not have much of an appetite.
The original recipe calls for unsweetened coconut milk which I’ve replaced with soya (there was no coconut milk in my village shop!) and skimmed milk powder which I’ve replaced with vanilla protein powder.
It’s really a rather tasty smoothie – not too sweet like a lot of fruit based smoothies can be. If using protein powder each portion provides 12 grams (23% RDA) of protein, 164 calories and a whole host of vital vitamins and minerals.
Sunshine, in a glass!
Gracewell Healthcare provide warm, luxurious, comfortable care homes and they believe that dining is about more than simply providing delicious and nutritious food for their residents. They believe it’s part of how they provide personalized care that meets the individual needs of each resident.
To find out more about Gracewell and the service they provide, visit their website or follow them on Facebook or Twitter.
Do you have a favourite breakfast smoothie? Let me know in the comments!
Sunshine Smoothie
Ingredients
- 180 ml unsweetened soya milk or unsweetened coconut milk
- 20 grams vanilla protein powder or skimmed milk powder
- 1 mango
- 1 peach or nectarine
- 1 small carrot peeled and chopped
- 3 dried apricots or more, to taste
Instructions
- Peel, chop and core ingredients as required.
- Place all the ingredients in a high speed blender and blend for 2 minutes.
- Serve immediately.
Click here to view the nutritional information for this recipe.
OTHER SMOOTHIE RECIPES YOU MIGHT LIKE
Oaty Green Smoothie with Orange by Natural Kitchen Adventures
Quick Breakfast Smoothie by Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary
Raspberry and Mango Smoothie with Chia Seeds by Supper in the Suburbs
Citrus Coconut Nutriblast by Planet Veggie
Watermelon Smoothie by Eats Amazing
Banana Nut Protein Smoothie by Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary
Vitamix Green Power Smoothie by Supergolden Bakes
Apple Pie Smoothie by Little Sunny Kitchen
Oaty Banana Smoothie Bowl by The Veg Space
Pineapple and Coconut Smoothie by Fab Food 4 All
Fruity Little Number from Tinned Tomatoes
Pre-workout Coconut Green Smoothie by Recipes from a Pantry
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Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary received financial compensation from Gracewell Healthcare for the ingredients used in this recipe as well as a spiralizer. Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary is a Froothie Ambassador and she uses the Froothie Optimum 9400 blender, the Froothie Optimum 600 slow juicer and the Optimum ThermoCook to make many of her recipes. These, as well as the protein powder link, are affiliate links, meaning if you make a purchase through them we will earn a small commission. As always, all thoughts and opinions are our own.
Mum of three, daydream adventurer, OU Life Sciences graduate, occasional crafter, ex-pat Canadian & quite possibly Britain's most northerly food blogger.
Katie Bryson says
This looks absolutely perfect for putting some energy back into my boys when they get in from school and are ravenous and clamouring for biscuits! Great recipe!
Alexandra Hughes says
Totally Obsessed with the milk bottles and straws
Candace says
I don’t think my kids would like this as none of us are fans of coconut in any form. A simple swap to fed milk would be nice and I’ve never tried protein powder.
nicol says
ooo i do like the sound of this! never thought of adding carrots. definitely trying this
Ickle Pickle says
This looks great – even my children love smoothies! Great to get fruit and veg inside a fussy little one, thank you. Kaz x
Jolene Cox says
wow your photos are amazing.. this smoothie looks so tasty.. i will be giving it a wizz for my daughter and myself
Mookie Moo says
This smoothie sounds absolutely heavenly. 🙂 And the colours is super pretty. I’ve never thought about putting protein powder in things. As a vegetarian who doesn’t like soya protein/meat subs much it might be a good way to get my protein levels up. 🙂
Mookieslife
Rebecca Smith says
Yum this looks delicious! I love a smoothie
Stella says
This looks and sounds yummy. Going to try it over the weekend.
William Gould says
This does look really good! I MUST get myself a nutribullet or something similar! It would be great for using all the frozen fruit from our garden that’s in the freezer!
WhatLauraLoves says
This looks so summery, really sums up this time of the year. I love making smoothies, they’re a great way to pack extra nutrients in xxx
Liz Mays says
Yum. Those fruit flavors would be really good right about now. It’s nice that this can be a good source of protein if you blend it with protein powder.
Ana De- Jesus says
I need a bit of sunshine smoothie in my life! I love a good smoothie and this looks like it could give me the boost I need!
Melanie Edjourian says
This smoothie looks great, I have been experimenting with smoothies recently, love them.
The London Mum says
We have a good blender, but not one powerful enough to whip up a great smoothie so easily. I love the sound of the one you created!
Laura @ dearbearandbeany says
Love the look of these and I love the cute glass and straw. My eldest daughter would love this x
StressedMum says
We love smoothies and my Daughter is always asking me to make them for her, and we love trying out new combinations as well as the old favourites x
Sarah Bailey says
Oh my goodness this sounds absolutely delicious – home made smoothies are the best.
Dean of Little Steps says
I love that it has mango and peach in it. This is something I would so love to try once we move! 😉
Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy says
This really does look like sunshine in a glass!
I love adding mango to smoothies, it adds so much flavour. Now we just need some sunshine.
Cathy @ Planet Veggie says
Ah, I’ve never thought about adding a carrot to my smoothies – good idea!
Kate | The Veg Space says
What a beautiful smoothie – I wouldn’t have thought of it as a way of getting nutrients to care home residents, but what a fab idea. Love the combo of carrot, mango, peach & apricot – yum!
Grace Hall says
This looks fab, I love the idea of adding carrot to a smoothie, I bet it’s delicious!
Rhian Westbury says
I’m rarely able to find smoothies I like but this sounds lovely. My blender doesn’t mind using carrots either x
Ceri Jones says
Oh this does look like sunshine in a glass. Helpful for when the sun is not shining for us outside! Hope to make this soon, as the ingredients all sound like ones I love!