pumpkin smoothie

You do know that everything made between October 1st and 31st has to be pumpkin flavored, right?

Good, now that we've cleared that up...

I've been loving smoothies lately. They fill me up, kill my sweet tooth, and I can sneak in things like flax or spinach without my taste buds even noticing.

Well, the other day my taste buds actually *did* detect the ground flax seed in my fruit smoothie, but it almost tasted like graham crackers... which reminded me of graham cracker crusts... which reminded me of pies... which made me think of pumpkin pie. You following? Anyway, the ground flax really adds a pie element to the smoothie, so I wouldn't suggest skipping it.

My local grocery store was out of that wonderful $1/can generic pumpkin puree, so the cost of this smoothie reflects pumpkin prices that are more like what the rest of you are seeing ($1.69 per 15 oz. can). You can get about four smoothies out of each can. Just transfer the left over puree to a resealable container and it will stay good in your fridge all week and be ready when you need it for more smoothies!

Oh yeah, one more thing. The banana has to be frozen. Frozen bananas are what give smoothies their wonderful ice cream/milk shake like texture. I usually peel and freeze 3 or 4 bananas at a time (each broken in half). Then, I use 1/2 to a whole banana per smoothie. The bananas will brown slowly in the freezer, so try to use them within a week or two.

Recipe makes a larger serving than what is pictured here.


Total Recipe cost: $1.27
Servings Per Recipe: 1
Prep time: 5 min. Cook time: 0 min. Total: 5 min.

INGREDIENTS		COST
1/3 cup	pumpkin puree	$0.42
1 medium	banana (frozen)	$0.22
1 Tbsp	ground flaxseed	$0.03
1 Tbsp	honey	$0.12
1/4 tsp	pumpkin pie spice	$0.05
1/4 tsp	cinnamon	$0.02
1 cup	vanilla soy milk	$0.41
TOTAL		$1.27

STEP 1: Add everything to a blender.

STEP 2: Blend until smooth. You may need to stop to stir once or twice. If the smoothie is too thick, add a touch more soy milk or even a little water.

Step By Step Photos

Put all of the ingredients in the blender. That's pumpkin puree, a frozen banana, honey, ground flax seed, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and soy milk. I like to pour in the soy milk last, it just makes everything easier.


Save the rest of the pumpkin puree in a resealable container. It will stay good in the fridge for about a week... and trust me, you *will* want to make another one.


Pour the soy milk in last. I used vanilla flavored soy milk. If you have plain, you'll want to add a little vanilla extract.


Now it's ready to blend. I bought this little single serve blender a few years ago and it's been working nicely for me ever since. For about $15 (mine was $13), it's worth not having to haul out the huge blender every time I want to make one serving. Plus, the blender part doubles as a cup.


Blend it up good until it's completely smooth. Then drink it immediately!


It's thick, delicious, and so pumpkiny! October is the best month of the year. Hands down.