Orange Mango Ginger Smoothie

I like smoothies. They tide me over as a snack when I’m not feeling hungry enough for lunch, but my blood sugar is tanking, and they’re a nice way to get a bunch of fruit in my diet. Unfortunately, when you have as many allergies as I do, the actual making of said treat can be a little work.

For instance, I can’t have a lot of commercially made juices, whether it’s because of their added vitamins and minerals, or however they process the juice to begin with. So, I’m often stuck making my own, which…arm exercises aside, can be a pain. So, if you’re wondering, the answer is yes, to make one smoothie, I juiced 7 tiny oranges in order to use them up before they went bad. It came out to be about 1 1/3 cup of orange juice and while it was, admittedly, delicious, if you can drink orange juice from a jar? Absolutely go for it! There is no shame in allergy eating, there’s only what you can eat, and what you can’t.

You’ll need (make 1 smoothie):

7 tiny mandarin oranges slowly gaining sentience on your counter

1 handful of mango

1 tsp ground flax seed

1 tsp leftover coconut pulp (optional)

2 Tbsp. cashew yogurt

Ground or minced ginger, to taste

1/2 tsp. honey

1 handful of ice

First off, juice your oranges. I used an ancient tupperware attachment that formerlu belonged to a pitcher (now lost to time) and a bowl, cut the oranges in half, and then just wrung them dry in the cereal bowl. I also then counted it as my exercise for the day, but remember there’s no judging! Anyway, I poured that into a liquid measuring cup every time the bowl got unwieldy. I had some chopped up mango leftover, and tossed that in the blender, before adding in the flax seed, ginger, yogurt, honey, coconut, and ice.

Then, using the orange juice instead of my usual water, I blitzed the entire thing in a blender, and poured it out into a cup. It tasted like summer in a glass, tart and not too heavy, with an underlying sweetness that I didn’t find too cloying. I always like to include ice in my drinks because…well, it may be raining like the dickens for three weeks straight here, but I still love cold drinks. I’m very basic, I know.

This made my grey day a little more bright, and I hope it does for your grey days as well!