If you’re not a big fan of vegetables and fruit but you are trying to stick to a weight loss plan, you’ll be glad to know that there are plenty of easy ways to “sneak” in your daily requirement of produce. One of these is by whipping up some liquid smoothies.

A “smoothie” is simply a blended mix of liquid, fruit, and vegetables that you can drink. That may not sound very exciting, but there are so many creative possibilities that once you start experimenting you’ll never look at fruit and vegetables the same way again!

Most nutrition experts agree that the average person should be consuming 2-3 servings of fruit per day, and 4-5 servings of vegetables per day. A “serving” of fruit would be about a half cup of chopped or sliced fruit, or a whole small apple, peach, banana, or orange. One cup of raw chopped or leafy green vegetables would constitute a serving, and more like a half cup for cooked vegetables like broccoli or cauliflower.

To make a smoothie, you need:

- A blender that can blend both solids and liquids
- Fruit (1-2 servings)
- Vegetables (1-2 servings)
- Liquid

Fruit:

Start with one or two servings of the fruit you would like to use to make a smoothie. Good choices would be bananas, apples, peaches, melons, and berries. Remove peels, pits, seeds, cores and skin – you just want the “meat” of the fruit for easy blending (berries can be added whole). Fibrous fruits like oranges, grapefruit and pineapple can also be used if you don’t mind a bit of pulp in your smoothie.

Vegetables:

Now for the vegetables – one or two servings. If you don’t enjoy the taste of vegetables, you’ll want to choose some that have a fairly mild flavor and won’t clash with the sweetness of your smoothie. Good choices would be cauliflower, pumpkin, squash, carrots, or sweet potatoes. Cooked vegetables will blend more easily, but raw vegetables can be used if you prefer.

Cut fruit and vegetables into small chunks before adding them to the blender.

Liquid:

About two cups of liquid will be required for one smoothie; add more for additional servings of fruit and vegetables. Common liquids used in smoothies are milk, water, and fruit juice. Fruit juice and milk would add more calories and/or fat to your smoothie, so keep that in mind. If you’d like to use water but think it’s too bland, try sparkling water for a little added zing.

Now put all of the ingredients into the blender, blend for a minute or two, and enjoy!