The ingredient in this frosty Squashberry Smoothie pull together to do what a good cleansing smoothie should do—aid in the elimination of toxins and waste from the body.
Squash in a smoothie? Say what? Promise. You will be pleasantly surprised by this mixture of spaghetti squash, carrot and strawberries. And as the old adage goes, it not only tastes great but is good for you. Here’s why:
Spaghetti squash, a low sugar winter squash, is an excellent source of dietary fiber. This fiber acts as an “intestinal broom,” moving toxins through and out of the body.
Strawberries are loaded with potent anti-oxidants and vitamin C. Essential to any detoxification program, vitamin C is needed by the body to make an important substance called glutathione. Glutathione helps the liver flush toxins.
Apple cider vinegar (and I use Bragg’s) is rich in natural minerals, vitamins and enzymes. The cleansing properties of apple cider vinegar have been recognized for centuries. It is said to stimulate circulation, break up mucus in the body and aid in detoxifying the liver.
Carrots add an extra dose of dietary fiber, antioxidants and minerals to this smoothie.
These ingredients pull together to do what a good cleansing smoothie should do—aid in the elimination of toxins and waste from the body. Detoxification is one of the basic functions of the human body. During this process, the body eliminates its toxic load through the kidneys, colon, liver, lungs, lymph and skin.
Today our bodies bear a pretty heavy toxic load resulting from pollutants in our water, food and air. If these ingested toxins are not flushed out, the body will manufacture additional fat cells to surround and encapsulate them. This fat accumulates, compromises our health and leads to disease.
By nature, the body was designed to cleanse itself, but give it every advantage. Eating pure, wholesome food is the best place to start. And a smoothie a day can make a difference. The five o’clock cocktail was so 1950’s. After a hard days work how about greeting your husband or wife with tall, green smoothie. Their body will thank you for it!
Squashberry Smoothie
Gluten-Free | Casein-Free | Citrus-Free | Corn-Free | Dairy-Free | Egg-Free | Fish-Free | Nightshade-Free | Peanut-Free | Potato-Free | Rice-Free | Shellfish-Free | Soy-Free | Tree Nut-Free | Wheat-Free | Grain-Free | Sesame-Free | Sweetener-Free | Yeast-free | GFCF | Vegetarian | Vegan
Serves: 2
Prep Time: 3 minutes
Ingredients:
1 cup filtered WATER
1 organic CARROT, scrubbed
1/2 cup cooked SPAGHETTI SQUASH
1/2 cup STRAWBERRIES or RASPBERRIES
10-15 drops LIQUID STEVIA (we like Vanilla Creme)
1 packet EMERGEN-C (flavor of choice)
1-2 teaspoons BRAGG’S APPLE CIDER VINEGAR (optional)
6 large ICE CUBES
Directions:
1. Add all ingredients except ice to a high-powered blender. Blend on high until smooth.
2. Add ice cubes and blend until smooth.
Notes:
1. The blender: One of the best investment you can make for the kitchen and your health is the purchase of a high-powered blender such as a Blentec® (my personal favorite) or a Vita-mix®. While the average blender leaves chunks of kale in a smoothie and between your teeth, a high-powered blender completely pulverizes it!
2. Additions: Be adventurous! Add 1/2 peeled cucumber, 1/2 peeled lemon or 1/4 cup cooked or raw beet.
25 comments
Love the squashberry name! Gorgeous photo as well. I wonder what this would taste like without the stevia- sometimes I don't like the aftertaste it has. Sounds great, though and I'm intrigued by the combination!
-Sea
Hi Sea, Thanks for sharing : )
The stevia is optional, of course. Any sweetener can be used, but I try to steer away from overly sweet fruit and added sweeteners for a "cleansing" smoothie. For some just starting the smoothie thing, it can take a little weaning from sweet to no sweet. Hence the stevia. I think it's easy to use too much and be left with that aftertaste. Used sparingly, and just right it works quite nicely. I especially like the SweetLeaf brand of stevia liquid concentrates — vanilla creme and apricot nectar. 3 drops per cup of beverage does the trick for me : )
Oh this looks fantastic Lexie! I hadn't even thought of adding squash to a smoothie…and I LOVE the color wheel concept, I need to try that because I've been making a lot of mud colored smoothies as of late, LOL!
xoxo,
Heidi
Mmmmmm………Lexie! This looks sooooooo good! Yum! I just purchased a Blend-tec (hooray!) and it should be here any day! I can't wait so I can actually start to make and enjoy "green" or PINK smoothies! Everytime I've tried them with a regular blender, I get little pieces of greens and so forth in my mouth and it's just not pleasent to drink. Can't wait to try this one! One question: I have some Emergen-C packets to try but I'm always nervous to try them because I heard they tasted nasty…but maybe that was just one person's opinion? And maybe different flavors are better? What's are your favorites?
Heidi – Thanks!
Ari – I'm jumping for joy! You got a Blendtec. You are going to love love love it! It makes all the difference (it or a Vita-Mix). All I can say is try Emergen-C for yourself. It's like drinking an Airborne fizzy drink but a little better, that's what comes to mind for me anyway. The packets differ in taste and the vitamins they offer. I go for the berry flavors or the strawberry banana. I keep the Kiz Mulitvitamin Electrolyte packs, the Vitamin C and the the Calcium/D packs on hand. It's just a little extra. It's best to get vitamins through food, but feel some extra can't hurt.
Hugs,
Lexie
Squash, in a smoothie? Brilliant Alexa! I love the idea of adding an Emergen-C too!
The 5 o'clock smoothie. Perfect! Am a bit late on the uptake with spaghetti squash – only just realized what a fabulous alternative it really is to spaghetti. In a smoothie? Love it. Will definitely try this. We should compile an e-book of all of these smoothies? So fantastic. Thank you!
Nicola,
That e-book sounds like a GREAT idea! What good cause could we donate part of the proceeds too? : )
I got it! It came today! 🙂 YEAH! Here's my post about it! 🙂 http://thefrugallyrichlife.wordpress.com/2011/01/24/blend-tec/
Oh, and I know a great cause we can donate part of the proceeds to! I've actually been looking for a way to help and was thinking about doing something like this. I have a friend that her daughter is 12 years old and has severe diabetes, enough that she gets seizures often and other serious health problems that doctors can't seem to help her very much. Their last hope is to get a dog that will smell when her insulin levels are going down. But the problem is that it costs 5,000 to 6,000 dollars. If we could help raise a little of that money for her (and her family—who can't afford it) that would be so great! I would be so willing to help out as much as possible! Let me know if you think this cause would be a good one!
Lex, I LOVE the name, I LOVE the photo, and I LOVE the ingredients in this! I never ever thought about squash in our smoothies. And I also really never thought of the Bragg's ACV. Great great idea! I always add my special Vitamin C powder to our smoothies as well. I should have been drinking some these last few days. Maybe then I would not have ended up so sick. Bleck.
What a beautiful post, my friend. This is a wonderful addition to this series.
Kim … so sorry to hear you have the crud. I know what you mean. We rarely get sick anymore, but sometimes a big bad virus hits us that we have no power over. Here's to a speedy recovery my friend! The ACV idea was inspired by Bragg's new line of ACV beverages. Have you tried one. Not too bad. Hugs to you! Will be blogging from Hawaii starting Wednesday. I am sooooo ready for warmth and humidity (thought my hair isn't looking forward to it!).
xoLexie
I find the whole smoothie thing fascinating with everyone's personal touches. I've been doing smoothies for ages and pretty much stick to a routine, so it's nice to see the creative juices flowing in the blogging world. I think I've used just about every vegetable around, but never squash. I also never use ice or any sweetener. So odd, but I'm not an ice person at all. I just don't like it and rarely ever touch an ice cube. No reason, I just don't like ice. =) I love the name of your smoothie and agree with others — your photo is really good. Smoothies are hard to shoot as they tend to reflect the light and look funky. This one looks gorgeous. But then again, you are the artsy, creative one! Interesting touch with the E-mergency C as well.
Melissa
xo
Oh, Lexie, this has to be the prettiest smoothie ever! Coral is one of my colors, so why not drink it as well as wear it? 😉 Now I want to make this squashberrry smoothie (and who can resist that name?) … badly. Love the color wheel idea for smoothies. Despite some yucky colors, I've still not had a bad one … yet. LOL Thanks for this one, Lexie, as well as all your tips!
Safe and wonderful trip to you, too!
Shirley
Congrats on the Finding Vegan entry too http://www.findingvegan.com/tagged/am – this smoothie is absolutely gorgeous.
Once again, a new idea I must "borrow"! I love the thought of adding spaghetti squash to this — and what a beautiful color it creates. Thanks so much for the inspiration. I'm off to my kitchen to whip one up…
Oh, wow! You just opened up a whole new world of yumminess to my taste buds! Now I'm dying to read all of your other smoothie recipes! I've been doing fruit smoothies like crazy, but had never considered the option of putting vegetables in a smoothie with delicious results. Have you published other smoothie recipes? I can't wait to try this one!
Thanks!!!
I'll email all contributors at the end of the month. Creating an e-book for a cause is just perfect. Suggest we all agree on what that cause is, but Ari your story is heartbreaking and is something we should definitely consider!
Lexie – this has to be one of the most beautiful smoothies I've ever seen. Usually I associate smoothies with words like refreshing and delicious and healthy, but this one definitely needs to be described with the word "beautiful"! And I'm just totally fascinated by your choice of spaghetti squash. Not in a million years would I have thought of putting spaghetti squash in a smoothie, but it makes perfect sense. Not to mention Braggs and Emergen-C powder which I always keep in the house. But why not use it prophylactically (spelling??!!!)? Thank you for inspiring me to get creative with my smoothies!
Oh Lexie.. Can I just tell you that I was anxiously waiting to see what you posted when I saw you were also participating in this event..
And Im Impressed. As usual you have thought of something totally out of the box! (If you cant tell I have become a big fan of yours 🙂
Thanks for this wonderful post!
xo, Brittany
yes. today we are having this for snack!
wow.. I would never of thought to put squash into my smoothie. I just so happen to have cooked spaghetti squash left over from dinner last night. I don't have liquid Stevia, but have two plants wintering over in my kitchen, I will try to add a couple leaves, as they are pretty potent. Thank you. I am looking forward to trying this today. 🙂
Dee, pick a leaf off and taste it … this will help you gauge sweetness. You can chew on them : ) Use any other sweetener you have on hand if the stevia leaf doesn't do it for you.
xoLexie
This was excellent Lexie!! I had searched a recipe for a smoothie with spaghetti squash….I overcooked one for dinner, so I needed a way to use mushy squash. I used a bit of EcoDrink powder instead of EmergenC. Really yummy…and hid all the vitamins and supplements well too! Know one would ever guess there is squash lurking within! thank you!
Oh YAY! You are a brave soul for trying this. I wish more people would. Thank you for sharing your success. xoLexie