The Ice Cream Imitation Smoothie | The Whole Foods Way

I've dreamt of introducing this new series -- entitled “The Whole Foods Way” -- for a while now, but knew I didn't have the equipment for food photography till I received my beautiful 50mm f/1.8 lens from my far more beautiful sister Hallie. I shared this photo on Facebook recently --

-- and those who commented said it looked “way better than the green ones” (insert expression of displeasure) and “looked like it came off a food blog.” Paraphrasing here of course. So without further ado I will give you the recipe for this gorgeous drink which is oooooh so good.

The Ice Cream Imitation Smoothie

1c. almond milk

1 frozen banana (BONUS TIP: Wait till your bananas have at least a few if not many brown spots before freezing them. That's when they're sweetest and best for you; I hear the green ones promote constipation. BONUS TIP NUMBER TWO: Allow your bananas to freeze at least 24 hours before use; I've found overnight bananas don't freeze hard enough, and I like mine rock. hard. before they go in that blender. Also, freezing fruit condenses the carbohydrates inside, making it sweeter, and (talking bananas here) reduces the traditional banana-y taste.)

1c. frozen berries (BONUS TIP NUMBER THREE: Don't mix berries for this recipe. For this particular photoshoot I used strawberries, though I used blueberries in the above photo. You could use any kind -- raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, marionberry, blackberry . . . pretty sure most all of them would be delish, but some will have more of a “tang” than others.)

2T peanut butter

1T raw honey (BONUS TIP NUMBER FOUR: If you can't find raw honey near you then try stevia. Some people don't like the weird aftertaste of stevia, and I haven't tried it in any smoothie of mine, but it's the only other sweetener I can recommend knowing that it fits in the “whole foods” department. Raw agave might be acceptable but research tells me that it's no better on the waistline the white sugar. I doubt honey is either, but the Proverbs say that honey is good (though don't eat too much!) and at least in its raw form there are healthy enzymes that haven't been killed by pasteurization.)

For this recipe I used my Certified Reconditioned Vitamix 5200 blender, which I purchased in December for around $300 (including shipping and tax). Hands-down the best investment of my eighteen-year life. I understand that some people are unwilling to shell out hundreds of dollars for a high-class blender, but if you're dubious about the pricetag consider other “necessities” which cost more -- a DSLR camera when you're not really a photographer, for example; a $200 Smartphone; or even a $300 designer coat. Out of all three things, the Vitamix will almost certainly last you the longest.

And here's the finished product! It's drinkable with a straw, or you could use a spoon, since it's kinda soft-serve fro-yo-y and looks ah-mazing. Can I just say that? Hopefully I can say that, cuz with minor changes here and there this has been my favorite smoothie of the past two and a half years. Yes seriously.

Hope you enjoy! If you try it, let me know how it turned out :)