Low fat luxury smoothie for us weightwatchers

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Yamin151
Posts: 2405
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2013 8:30 am

Low fat luxury smoothie for us weightwatchers

Post by Yamin151 »

Have you discovered xanthan gum yet? Can buy at health food stores or doves farm do it and can get a tesco. Half a teaspoon in a smoothie turns it from thin and watery (skimmed milk and all) to McDonald's thick! (If you like that kind of thing, which I do), especially if you don't want to overload on the banana. So, my breakfast favourite at the moment, 1 point on weightwatchers.

Half cup leftover filter coffee
1 heaped teaspoon of cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum
Half a chopped frozen banana
Sweetener to taste (I didn't need it)
Skimmed milk half a cup or so

Blend. Enjoy. Bit of a coffee boost with a bit of sweetness, and low enough in points to leave me room for toast/yogurt/granola etc

Can you tell I have a fancy new blender? Any other smoothie recommendations? Nothing too worthy, kale and carrot for example............ :lol:
Amber
Posts: 8058
Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:59 am

Re: Low fat luxury smoothie for us weightwatchers

Post by Amber »

Sounds interesting Yamin. The leftover filter coffee is a really delicious-sounding ingredient - that and the idea of xanthan gum (which my computer wants to correct to 'anthem') will have me dashing for the blender.

For those like me who had never heard of it, here you go:
Xanthan gum (/ˈzænθən/) is a polysaccharide secreted by the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris,[2] used as a food additive and rheology modifier,[3] commonly used as a food thickening agent (in salad dressings, for example) and a stabilizer (in cosmetic products, for example, to prevent ingredients from separating). It is composed of pentasaccharide repeat units, comprising glucose, mannose, and glucuronic acid in the molar ratio 2.0:2.0:1.0.[4] It is produced by the fermentation of glucose, sucrose, or lactose. After a fermentation period, the polysaccharide is precipitated from a growth medium with isopropyl alcohol, dried, and ground into a fine powder. Later, it is added to a liquid medium to form the gum.
That's the chemistry lesson over, courtesy Wikipedia. 'Rheology modifier?' - my rheology is just fine, unmodified, I think.

Yamin, you drink that and are calling kale and carrot worthy? At least they are recognisably food. :lol:

I have a child promising to do a 'juice detox' tomorrow. I feel like a failed parent.

Just kidding Yamin. Good luck x
Tinkers
Posts: 7240
Joined: Mon May 16, 2011 2:05 pm
Location: Reading

Re: Low fat luxury smoothie for us weightwatchers

Post by Tinkers »

Rheology.
now there's a word I haven't heard since uni. (Along with transport phenomena and such)


Xathan gum is often used as a gluten substitute in gluten free food.
sbarnes
Posts: 583
Joined: Thu Mar 14, 2013 7:30 pm

Re: Low fat luxury smoothie for us weightwatchers

Post by sbarnes »

We just bought a blendtec for the winter holiday break. Our favourite is 70 blueberries, 10 strawberries, 2apples, 1pear, 2bananas, 10 raspberries and I cup of crushed ice. Amazing brain food too.
scary mum
Posts: 8840
Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:45 pm

Re: Low fat luxury smoothie for us weightwatchers

Post by scary mum »

I think I prefer sbarnes', I'm afraid Yamin!
scary mum
quasimodo
Posts: 3854
Joined: Sun Sep 07, 2014 2:47 pm

Re: Low fat luxury smoothie for us weightwatchers

Post by quasimodo »

So do I.

But what about all that sugar and all those calories?
In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.

Abraham Lincoln
Yamin151
Posts: 2405
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2013 8:30 am

Re: Low fat luxury smoothie for us weightwatchers

Post by Yamin151 »

I stand corrected on the kale and carrot Amber :) you are quite right but sometimes I think if I see another post about power juices I will run screaming for the door of Gregg's!! I did add some sneaky kale to our curry sauce the other day (destined for a curry, not for our chips, though I do love that too, but that's another subject!), but doesn't belong in my smoothie! Do try the xanthan gum, I would think if you are in your 40s like me then by the time they discover it makes you give birth to babies with 4 heads it won't matter for us!! :lol:

Don't knock it til you try it Sbarnes and scary mum! This isn't about health, but about my rather sad need to feel I am having a naughty treat but without scuppering my weight.
The fruit smoothie sounds lovely too, but do I need to count all the blueberries individually??!? :lol:
Amber
Posts: 8058
Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:59 am

Re: Low fat luxury smoothie for us weightwatchers

Post by Amber »

Yamin151 wrote:IDo try the xanthan gum, I would think if you are in your 40s like me then by the time they discover it makes you give birth to babies with 4 heads it won't matter for us!! :lol:

Don't knock it til you try it Sbarnes and scary mum! This isn't about health, but about my rather sad need to feel I am having a naughty treat but without scuppering my weight.
The fruit smoothie sounds lovely too, but do I need to count all the blueberries individually??!? :lol:
Not giving away my age Yamin, but let's just say I ought to be past the age when giving birth to a baby with even just the one head is well out of the question anyway (touch wood!).

And I don't watch my weight or diet. The only time I did it made me really ill. I keep on top of things as much as I can with exercise and try not to worry about how I look, which I think is broadly within normal limits :? . Nothing is worth drinking semi-skimmed milk for to me, and if I want a treat, 'naughty' or not, I have it (unless it involves someone else's husband - that might be a bit too 'naughty' :twisted: ). I don't have a sweet tooth at all but love savoury things like cheesy biscuits and nuts. Not a massive fan of smoothies but to qualify I think they must contain a (whole, unfrozen) banana, a kiwi, some mango and some passion fruit. Actually, I quite fancy that now...
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