Friday, August 19, 2011

FROZEN/COOKED/FROZEN FRUIT SMOOTHIES

I am a real morning person. Even if I go to bed late the night before, it is unlikely that I will sleep past 8 am. This may be because of certain circadian rhythms at work within, or light glaring through the windows, or maybe, just maybe, it is because a small girl and a small boy live in my house. :) The point is, I have never minded getting up in the mornings, however, I don't always feel like eating a whole lot right away. I know, in an earlier post I wrote that I lie awake in bed dreaming of my morning oatmeal, which is true some of the time, but that does seem more a winter breakfast than one for July and August.

I used to make smoothies for breakfast all the time. I remember the last one I made before my OAS diagnosis...it was beautiful. Fresh berries and orange juice, what could be nicer than that? Ugh! I coughed for an hour and had a terrible earache. Not to mention the burning down my throat and the stomachache.

So I didn't have a smoothie for about two years. Then while having a discussion with a friend about this (she happens to be a food genius), the following recipe emerged. This recipe is only good if you can tolerate orange juice. For some reason, I can usually only tolerate Tropicana Tangerine/Orange, and some of the V8 Fusion concoctions.

FROZEN/COOKED/FROZEN FRUIT SMOOTHIES

1/2 bag of frozen mixed berries (Costco has big bags, so I am suggesting half of one of these huge bags)
1/2 - 1 cup of water
1 cup of orange juice

Here's what I have done: take the frozen berries and put them in a large pot. Turn the heat on high. Add water. Boil the blazes out of the berries. For me, this meant letting them boil for at least 20 minutes. Let them cool for a bit.  Then take a ladle and place all the boiled berries and associated liquid into an ice cube tray. You will need several trays. Freeze them.

The next morning, you will be all bright-eyed and excited about trying to make a smoothie. Take the ice cube trays out of the freezer and let them sit for a few minutes - the frozen berry cubes are difficult to get out of the trays without waiting a bit. You will still probably need a knife to pry them out of there. When they are ready, take five berry cubes out and place them in the blender. Add one cup of orange juice, hit puree, and find something else to do while the noise drives you crazy. Make sure all the berry cubes are mixed, and voila! You have a beautiful fruit smoothie!

A few words of caution: the boiled berry mixture and the berry cubes stain terribly, so make sure you wear an apron while doing the boiling, and wash your hands after handling the cubes. Wipe up any spills immediately, because they will stain your countertop.

I also tried this using water and adding vanilla whey powder, hoping to get a little protein out of this experiment. It was disgusting. Don't do it.

Enjoy. :)

14 comments:

  1. I'm finally just getting around to researching this annoying fruit and vegetable reaction and it's so comforting to know that I don't have to cut those foods out completely. There may not be the biggest market for these specific recipes, but for those of us who haven't had anything resembling fresh fruit in years, this is the best possible blog I could have stumbled upon! Thank you so much for getting these recipes out there! You have no idea what a huge help this is!

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  2. As a fellow OAS sufferer, I can't do any type of orange juice or nuts for that matter. But, I tried your recipe with apple juice and it worked quite well.

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  3. My son has OAS and I am trying to figure out how to get more fruits and veggies in him. Thanks for the smoothie recipe. It is hard to be feeding him healthy when he reacts to so many things.

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  4. I am going crazy trying to figure the best way to make my smoothies because even the frozen berries are starting to irritate me. I never thought to cook them and refreeze. Brilliant!!

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  5. Is there a reason for freezing them after or can you just wait for them to cool?

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    1. You could wait for them to cool and drink it like a juice or add ice but freezing The Boiled fruit makes it seemed more like a nice icy fresh fruit smoothie

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  6. THIS IS BRILLIANT! I'm going to try this ASAP. Also, I wish you still updated this blog :(

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  7. This is a great idea. So thankful. There are some days when I just CRAVE a salad or fruit. I cooked the fruit and steamed some kale for the veggie fiber. I threw it all in the food processor and froze it in small containers so that I can make a smoothie quickly every AM before work.

    In addition to this, I enjoy strawberry shortage with my family during berry season, by slightly cooking my strawberries and chilling them. I have found that it doesnt take a great deal of cooking, with berries to break down the protein we can't tolerate. Of course, I enjoy all kinds of cooked, grilled and steamed veggies. Just have to cook veggies very well done. No tree nuts cooked or otherwise.

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  8. Just wanted to say thank you. I have had so much anxiety over having an allergic reaction so I have stayed away from fruit and vegetables for years. But after buying premixed fruit, strawberries, bananas, carrots, and then boiliing and freezing them I can finally feel healthy! After I freeze them I blend about 7 ice cube sized portions of the fruit, add a full thing of yogurt, and some apple juice, i have a tasty smoothie! This also made me more courageous by trying applies again. Even though my throat used to basicly close every time I ate an apple, i heat it up in the microwave for 30 seconds and am able to eat it with no reaction! Thanks so much for your recipe! :)

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  9. Combine everything in a blender and process until very smooth, Red Smoothie Detox

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  10. Before finding this article I had tried blending fresh mango slices and then boiling the puree and then freezing it and blending it the next day with some extra ice and milk for my fiance who has extreme OAS and it is the closest thing to fresh fruit she's had in awhile! It tasted great too. Next I'll try this berry recipe, looks awesome! (I have also tried the same with watermelon with the flavor turned out to be disgusting, kind of like watermelon clam juice)

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  11. I just found your blog because I have OAS and really miss smoothies. Thanks for the info!

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  12. THANK YOU THANK YOU !
    can't wait to try this!!

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  13. You are a God send. Thank you!!!

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