I make smoothies on a daily basis (I have the Vitamix blender, the same one that Jamba Juice and Applebees use and it is expensive -- $400 at Costco -- but the BEST. Baja Fresh also uses it daily to make their fresh salsas. I don't sell them or anything, I'm just obsessed with mine so I thought I'd throw that out there. I also make almond milk, nut butters, hummus, and soup in it). I get a ton of recipes from my Vitamix cookbook. Anyways, I always throw a handful of veggies in like spinach or kale, carrots, cooked sweet potato, butternut squash, and red cabbage are sweet and blend in very well, and then other healthy things like chia seed or flax seed, Greens Plus Powder, Omega oils, protein powder. I just found a great plant-based protein powder called Vega that several friends told me about that I bought at Sprouts. Their Vanilla Chai flavor is the tastiest and Vega has all the Omega 3 and daily vitamins you need, probiotics, plus a ton of fiber and protein and no unhealthy additives. You can use a chocolate protein powder (Vega makes one) to make tasty and healthy chocolate smoothies instead of using the syrup. Put chocolate protein powder, ice, milk, half a frozen banana, and some peanut butter and a handful of spinach or other veggies (my kids honestly can't tell it's there) and it's very tasty like the Peanut Butter Mood at Jamba Juice, but even healthier. I will also subsitute part of the chocolate protein powder with chocolate Carnation instant in it for flavor and to make it less fluffy (sometimes protein powders add a thick, poofy consistency -- hard to describe). I don't think Carnation is super healthy even though they claim to be, but it's probably better than chocolate syrup.
I don't overdo the supplements or veggies so that we still love it. I sweeten with 100% juice or frozen juice concentrate, raw local honey, real maple syrup, stevia (go easy with this because too much can cause an aftertaste -- Kal is a good brand), the least processed sugar I can buy -- turbinado or sucanet, etc -- or fruit or a combo of the above. Another favorite is vanilla almond milk, half a frozen banana, and frozen blueberries sweetened with either some frozen apple juice concentrate or frozen OJ concentrate and some maple syrup. Of course take advantage of the opportunity to throw in some healthy stuff like spinach (purple cabbage will camoflauge well with the blueberry color). If I throw if frozen fruit, then I only use a little bit of ice. But I usually do add some ice just because I prefer the consistency when it has some ice in it. I switch up using soy milk, almond milk, cow milk, and kefir, which is like liquid yogurt and full of probiotics for different smoothies. Tropical smoothies (pineapple, mango, strawberry, banana, orange, why not throw some real coconut in there) go well with kefir or yogurt since they are already tart in flavor. I throw a bag of cranberries in the freezer and throw a handful of those in when I think it will go well, like with oranges. When fruit is on sale I buy, peel, and slice a ton then freeze it for shakes and smoothies. I'd rather use that than canned fruit in my smoothies. I can't vouch for all blenders, but my Vitamix blends large chunks of frozen fruit very well. I put the center of the pineapple, apple core, strawberries with tops, cantaloupe with seeds, and everything in mine since it blends it all and they're full of nutrients and fiber. For oranges I use a peeler to peel of the bitter orange part, but keep the healthy white part of the peel on. I love making strawberry lemonade, watermelon lemonade, and plum lemonade. For the lemonades I use lemon juice, plus a few slices of lemon, yellow rind included, and sometimes I throw in a little vanilla to add a different flavor. Cherry limemade is great and tastes like a cherry jolly rancher if done right (I always add some purple cabbage and sweeten with frozen apple cherry juice concentrate -- I use Orchards). Cherry with milk, ice, and almond extract (I sometimes sweeten this treat with sugar or frozen apple cherry juice concentrate) tastes like sugar cookies and my kids LOVE it (I admit, I sometimes add cream to this one if it's a dessert we're going for. My dad uses silken tofu instead of cream). Another one I make when my kids ask for ice cream is 3 baby carrots, a handful of purple cabbage, a little cream (let's say 2 TBS to 1/4 C) half a can of frozen juice concentrate and ice (about 2 C) and blend. Whatever kind of juice I use, I try to throw some of that fruit in if I have it on hand, like some apple, kiwi, and strawberries for Apple-Kiwi-Strawberry juice. I don't think the thicker ice cream ones will work in anything but a high-powered blender. I make a green fruit juice like Naked Juice's Green Machine that Mayra mentioned below, but it uses whole fruits with seeds and only works in a Vitamix-level blender.
