1. Mangoes interestingly gives fruit smoothie a very nice texture.

2. Papaya is very healthy.

3. I don't know his condition. If he would like to have something he can chew on. Make his smoothies with agar agar or gelatin. He can chew, then the gelatin melts into smoothie for swallowing.

dcarch

Avocado can help make the texture of smoothies creamier. Are you working with a nutritionist? I just downloaded some smoothie recipes to my Kindle. They were free on Amazon Prime. I have not tried them yet.

Here is a link that might be useful: Amazon Kindle smoothies

I came across this site, which may be helpful.

Here is a link that might be useful: Real Food for Real People

Might be a good idea to make a list of so called 'super foods'. Some nutritional sites have foods listed in columns and grouped. Pick three from column A, 2 from column B, etc.
It makes one sure to get a good balance, based on need.
Without knowing details, and even then i am far from qualified, i would still make a master list and run it by your team of specialists.
My blender items, the frozen ones, are in small zip-locks in their own pull out freezer drawer.
I have a list but often don't bother. Just rummage through that drawer that i take out and rest on the counter. It goes through a rotation.
Fruit, greens/veg, grain, herb, nut, spice, dairy, oil.
Some to consider...
blueberries, grapes, banana slices
kale, collards, beets, carrots, celery
sprouted quinoa, cooked lentils
parsley with the stems
pepitas, pistachios
cinnamon, fresh ginger, sea weed
non-fat Greek yogurt
coconut oil

My list is huge, but that is what i have the most of right now until i re-stock.
Get the best organic ingredients. Most of my blueberries are the small wild ones from
Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, but i think good ones can be found in the freezer section of most stores. Cooked pumpkin and squashes? Can be cooked and frozen into cubes. Can help digestion in small amounts.

I keep my lists taped up behind my upper cabinet doors.
Easy to reference when opened, at eye level.

I would suggest a copy of "The Blending Book" How to Blend Fruits and Vegetables for Better Health - by the pioneer in the field - Ann Wigmore and Lee Pattinson. Full of information and recipes.

Adding gelatin may be a great idea, and you can get Great Lakes Gelatin (in the green box) which does NOT gel but will dissolve in cold, warm, or hot liquids (see link below). Gelatin has many healing qualities.

Other beneficial add-ins may be homemade nut, seed and grain milk - almond, cashew, pecan, walnut, pumpkinseed, sesame seed, sunflower seed, oat and rice milk. Good nutrition as well as some healthy fat. Easily made in a high-speed blender.

Soaking/sprouting the seeds for 12-hours before making them into "milk" will increase the nutrients and reduce the anti-nutrients. You can make your own, which would be much healthier than using commercial brands with all their added ingredients (stabilizers and thickeners) and sweeteners in them.

Which brings me to juicing/blending sprouts or micro-greens - and once again - are things you can make/grow yourself. In truth, unless you pick-it-yourself, there isn't any so-called "FRESH" food available at the grocery store, whether it's organic or not. The food value is greatly diminished from the time it's picked, shipped, warehoused, and brought to the store shelf. Frozen fruit and vegetables would probably have more nutrition, and can be used to make liquefied drinks.

In the winter, our "fresh" food consists mostly of seeds grown into sprouts, micro-greens grown in a sunny south window, wheatgrass juice (or other seeds like wheat grown into grass and juiced), and herbs, high in nutrition, grown indoors (rosemary, parsley, basil, etc.).

Other add-ins with health benefits:
-coconut milk
-coconut water

You don't mention medications, but some foods can interfere with medication. For instance, you can't drink grapefruit juice with some medications. Avoid greens and foods high in vitamin K if on blood thinners, etc. So keep those things in mind.

-Gazpacho Juice- (juicer, not a blender)
4 plum tomatoes
1 lg. cucumber
2 celery stalks
1 red bell pepper
1/4 small red onion
2 c. packed parsley leaves & stems, roughly chopped
1 lime

Greens & Carrots - juicer
1/2 head Romaine leaves
4 stalks kale
5 stalks celery
1 cucumber
4 lg. carrots

Orange Delight (juicer)
12 oz. fresh coconut water (or packaged)
2 oranges, peeled and juiced
Mix together.
------------------------

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Great Lakes Gelatin Hydrolysate

Westelle, I'm not going to be much help as I don't like the texture of smoothies and shakes and so don't make them or drink them. Ashley did get a "recipe" from her track coach several years ago that included a banana, a cup of milk, a big spoonful of peanut butter and a squirt of Hershey's chocolate. She loved them and had them daily for longer than I care to remember. If taste isn't a factor the Hershey's would be easy to leave out.

I just came here to tell you that I hope your husband does well and recovers from whatever is causing his health problems.

Thank you all for info.

sleevendog: I like your idea about looking up the ratings of various foods and then combining them based on that. I have been just portioning out the various greens into one zip bag and then freezing that; then I use only the one bag with everything in it. Your list of foods is pretty much what i've been using.

Grainlady: I ordered the green box of gelatin right away; will look into getting the book you recommended; I'm in CA so can probably grow our own greens easily; I will break out the juicer as recommended. However, I'm not sure what you mean my 'making milk' from seeds and such. Please explain.

Annie: thank you for your kind words. Unfortunately DH will never get better from the neurologic disease he has; the best I can do is keep him as healthy as possible.

I would just say that I think it's really important you get professional advice - we mean well, but his needs are very specific.

Dairy-free "milk" is made by soaking (usually 12-24 hours - which makes them easier to digest and increases the nutrition because they also sprout), then blending, nuts/seeds/grains with water in a high-speed blender. Once blended, you separate the pulp from the liquid in a nut milk bag (or other finely woven food-grade cloth). You can order nut milk bags at Amazon.com. The remaining milk is good for 3-5 days, but has a much shorter refrigerator life than cow's milk or the commercial version of nut milk.

Look at the health benefits and nutrition profile of different foods used for making dairy-free "milk".

You will find lots of how-to videos on YouTube. They will vary in the amount of nuts to water ratio, and that's something you can decide for yourself. I make a concentrated form, and will add more water if I need a thinned-down version for cooking or drinking. Some add sweeteners, vanilla, dates, cinnamon, etc. I make and use it "straight", nuts and water.

The remaining pulp is also usable. I make cookies, crackers and a granola-like "cereal" with the raw pulp, which is high in fiber and protein. When the pulp is dried in a dehydrator, it works as a substitute flour. Almond pulp, once dried (I also give it a quick zap in a blender to make it a fine flour) is used in recipes calling for almond flour. Coconut milk is made with unsweetened coconut and water. The pulp is dried and finely ground to use for coconut flour. Both almond and coconut flour are popular flours in gluten-free and paleo recipes.

You can find many varieties of non-dairy milk available at stores, I just don't like the added ingredients, they are heat processed to make them shelf-stable at the store, which kills the all important enzymes and destroys the healthy fats and nutrients, and the added cost when you compare it to making your own.

Make your own nut milks, oat milk, rice milk, etc. Soy is another option, but I consider soy anything BUT healthy and a dangerous food and food additive. You can do your own research and make your own decision about soy, or the health benefits of any of these non-dairy "milks".

As with most good-for-you things, when they commercialize these products they add some not-so-good-for-you ingredients such as soy, vegetable oil, carrageenan, synthetic vitamins, flavorings, sweeteners, and they destroy much of the good things during processing. But we have many of the diseases we have because we've gotten away from eating real food.

Another real food product I would suggest is homemade kefir. More health benefits than yogurt. The curd is smaller than yogurt curds, so it's easier to digest. And once again, avoid the commercial kefir. It has little in common with kefir made with real kefir grains. Do a little research on milk kefir grains and water kefir grains and the health benefits.

And yes, consult a professional, but a professional who knows about real food, not just the accepted protocol using products that are full of chemical vitamins and inorganic minerals. What about the good fats, probiotics, enzymes? Calories don't feed us, nutrition does.

-Grainlady

I know that what you say about using the freshest, non- processed foods is absolutely true, but at this time in my life I just don't have the time to do so much myself and ready-made products will have to do.

Having said this, I'm prepared to do all this when there is more time in the future. I didn't know that there is non-dairy Kefir. Where would I find this?

Westelle, I am sorry to hear that about your husband. I'll be thinking strong thoughts for you, as you cope with everything in your life.

In the meantime, I just got these from "Yahoo Food":

Green Ginger-Peach Smoothie

2 handfuls baby spinach
1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
2 cups frozen sliced peaches
2 teaspoons honey
1 1/4 cups water

1. Toss into blender

Hearty Fruit and Oat Smoothie

1 cup quartered strawberries
1 sliced banana
1/4 cup raw almonds
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt
1 teaspoon maple syrup

1. Toss into blender.

Annie

This post was edited by annie1992 on Mon, Jan 20, 14 at 0:16

Thank you, Annie. These recipes sound good enough for me to drink! :-)

Westelle,

I will add you & your husband to my prayers.

My immune system has been in the gutter for a couple of years & I've spent days & days every year in the Dr's office from fall through spring with sinus infections, chest congestion, ear infections and on and on.

My niece started me on a powdered vitamin supplement that I add to a shake I make in my blender every day.

Other than a killer case of Shingles (caused by stress-working on that) that I've been dealing with for what seems like forever, I've not been to the Dr in a year. YEA!!

I make a full blender & drink a quart in the morning & put the rest in the fridge to have in the late evening. I find it helps me to keep putting one foot in front of the other when I'm feeling wiped out. I really love the spicy bite that the curly mustard gives it. My husband loves the taste, also. He says it is refreshing.

2 bananas (peeled), 2 oranges(peeled), 1 large apple, 2 stalks of celery with leaves, 1 large carrot, 1/2 lemon, 1/2 cucumber if I have any, 2 teaspoons of local honey, a scoop of the vitamin powder, as many leaves of curly mustard & kale that I can fit in & blended until smooth, using water as needed to blend.

I also will use fresh berries, a mango &/or some dates as I have them.

I hope this helps,
Betty