Healthy Snack: Mango Pomegranate Smoothie

One of our absolute favorite snacks around here are smoothies. Smoothies for breakfast, a mid-morning snack, an after school snack—it doesn’t matter the time of day, we love our smoothies. We’ve been known to listen to the blender demo people at Costco, watching them blend entire carrots at a time. I’ve been swooning over high power blending technology for quite some time, so imagine the thrill it was to get a first hand demo of Panasonic’s MX-ZX1800 high power blender. 

PanasonicMX-ZX1800

This blender has the capacity to chop, cream, blend, heat, grind, churn—pretty simplify things in the kitchen. 

For our first foray with this amazing appliance, we gave a tried and true smoothie recipe a whirl with a bit of a seasonal twist. The mango pomegranate smoothie is a tart but sweet snack and makes a great complement for breakfast. 

 

MangoPomegranateSmoothieIngredients

The citrus and Vitamin C provided by the mango and orange juice is ideal for prime cold and flu season. The pomegranate, which is in season, is such an excellent source of antioxidants, fiber and more Vitamin C. The seeds not only add a little color, but also a sweet juicy flavor. The kids love digging into this smoothie and crunching the seeds.

A few pointers for opening the pomegranate: slice one end, score the fruit from top to bottom 3-4 times around and then wiggle a knife on the end where it was sliced to pop open the fruit. Place the opened fruit in a bowl and scoop out seeds with a spoon.

 

Pomegranate

If I do say so, this tastes even better than my local smoothie shop! My favorite part of this recipe is the ease and minimal effort for such a creamy treat.

Ingredients:

1 cup plain non-fat yogurt
1 cup frozen mango cubes
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup of pomegranate seeds 

Combine yogurt, mango and pomegranate seeds in blender. I like putting the mango at the bottom to ensure it gets chopped just so.

 

IMG 1190

 

 

MangoPomegranateSmoothieYogurt

 

When opening the pomegranate, scoop out seeds above the blender so that juice can add to the mixture.

 

MangoPomegranateSmoothieMix

 

Add orange juice until it fills almost to the top of the fruit mixture. Blend using the smoothie function, adding more juice as necessary. Serve with a handful of pomegranate seeds and enjoy!

 

MangoPomegranateSmoothieNKT

 

 

Mango Pomegranate Smoothie

 

1 cup plain non-fat yogurt

1 cup frozen mango cubes

1/2 cup orange juice

1/4 cup of pomegranate seeds 

 

Combine yogurt, mango and pomegranate seeds in blender. When opening the pomegranate, scoop out seeds above the blender so that juice can add to the mixture. Add orange juice until it fills almost to the top of the fruit mixture. Blend using the smoothie function, adding more juice as necessary. Pour into glass and enjoy.

Jamba Juice-branded toys coming soon

jjIf I associate anything with summer, it would definitely be a Mango A Go Go Jamba Juice smoothie.  When I was pregnant, I craved these smoothies (ok, and ice cream too!) like it was nobody’s business!  So when I heard that Jamba Juice is coming out with a line of toys, I couldn’t be more excited!

Think Wow Toys will create a Jamba-branded blender for kids, EZ-2 Make! Jamba Juice Smoothie and Ice Pop Maker, giving kids a chance to make their own smoothies and ice pops at home.  Um, yum!
Beyond their delicious smoothies, it’s good to know that the company announced their eco-sustainability initiative earlier this year, too.  Go, Jamba Juice!

On a related note, I’m wondering if Paris Hilton will invest in these toys to avoid the paps?  Probably not.