You can add chilled milk/soymilk/rice milk/yogurt/buttermilk/water/juices instead of ice to chill it! Infact I personally prefer cold but not chilled drinks so I never add ice.
Add fresh/frozen fruits/fruit extracts or even essences or concentrates. My fav one is:
Tangy Mango smoothie:
1/2 cup fresh/frozen mango pieces peeled and cut
1 cup chilled yogurt (fat free ofcourse)
1/2 tsp splenda
1-2 scoops fat free and sugar free vanilla bean icecream
1tbsp low fat milk powder or unsweetened fat free condensed milk
Just blend everything well and cool for 30 minutes. Add a few peices of fresh mango on top and enjoy this rich thick smoothie with a jumbo straw!
You can actually add ay fruit you have like strawberries, rasberries, banana, apple, melon etc... Also you can add 1-2 tsps of high protein soy or whey powder before blending.
You can also add toppings like granola, fruit pieces etc...
Vanilla yogurt makes it much sweeter, but I don't mind the tang. I usually put just a tad of water in so that it doesn't become too thick. Approximately 300 calories
Thanks for the ideas. I am not a big banana fan, mostly because of the texture. But they are so good for you, so I might try putting one in a smoothie and see if I like it. Maybe with some chocolate protein powder, peanut butter, yogurt and milk. That might be pretty good. I'm glad to hear that I don't have to use ice. I just cannot stand icy stuff either. I'm such a weirdo!
You know what I do, I make this smoothie it may sound gross, but actually not that bad.. I get all that I need... It has, fat free yoghurt (any flavour), fat free cottage cheese, handful of frozen fruit, and about 1/4 cup of any flavor crystal light (already mixed of course)... Blend it well to get all the cottage cheese broken up, and it is pretty good... Get my protein, carbs, and quick and easy to make..... no protein powder necessary....
Cottage cheese and tofu are definately good options for raising protein in smoothies as well. I use cottage cheese along with my protein powder sometimes (instead of yogurt) when I want even more protein.
I don't care for the smoothies that are icey. So I freeze OJ and put the cube is a plastic bag. Then I smash the cubes with a rolling pin or meat mallet and then add to the blender. Its wonderful!
I usually use frozen berries rather than ice, but when I do use ice, I use shaved ice, not ice cubes. I have an electric ice shaver I bought at Target one year to make snow cones. The shaved ice gives the smoothie a smooth texture instead of the crunchy texture whole ice cubes do.
I'll definitely have to start adding cottage cheese to my smoothies, it sounds so good - perfect for the cheesecake craving I've been having.