Tropical Tuesday Smoothie

Hello blogworld! Today is Tropical Tuesday at the Smoothie Shack.

I converted my Dad into a smoothie lover a few years ago. Now he makes them almost daily. His personal fave is a tropical blend. He is visiting me and I wanted to pull out all the stops and make him a fabuloso tropical smoothie. I went out and bought everything that he puts into his smoothies, plus a few extras he's never had, like fresh young coconut. Come to think of it, I have never had it either so it was to be an adventure for me as well!



Here is what went into his smoothie:

• Papaya Juice
• Liquid Egg Whites (pasteurized)
• Protein powder
  
• Mango
• Pineapple
• Raw young coconut meat
  
• Dehydrated coconut shreds
• Banana
• Coconut water (straight from the young tropical mammary gland itself)
  
• ice

• 

• 
• To Open: Make a square, cut all the way through- use that muscle that you build in the gym but for goodness sake, DO NOT slip and cut your finger off!
  

Here is my first Young Coconut Opening- woo hoo! It was fun! You pour out (and save!!) the coconut water and scrape the insides with a spoon to retrieve the "meat"

Here are the goods in the VitaMix.

Here is the finished product. He likes his smoothies much runnier than I do.

Dad loved it and couldn't finish it as it was so filling (The precise reason that I <3>!)

For mine, I did a lower calorie version (I know I know, you're shocked):

• Coconut water from the bountiful cocomammary gland
  
• Mango, couple of slices
  
• Pineapple, few chunks
  
• Stevia
• Sugarfree Mango Torani Syrup (I know, booo, nasty chemical, bad Deb!)
• XG, GG (Xanthan and Guar Gums)
  
• a little raw coconut meat

Then the toppings:

• Diced Pineapple
• Coconut shreds

It was really thick and creamy. I really, REALLY wanted to like it more than I did, but sadly, I did not (except the coconut and pineapple toppings). I needed more of the fruit as the taste was just a bit flat. The consistency was great though. Oh well, live and learn, right?

This is the consistency I LOVE in a smoothy- almost thick enough to eat with a fork!

I couldn't finish all of it (as often happens with these super-filling smoothies). Despite the fact that it had so much wonderful stuff inside, I made the executive decision that I didn't love it enough to save it for later. Lately, I'm really making it a point to only eat what I am truly LOVING... Not just what I think I should be eating. So sadly, all this gorgeous bounty went to the big smoothie heaven in the sky (Reachable via the sink).

What do you do when you make something healthy but it just isn't "doing it" for you? Do you "sink" things if they turn out badly, or do you just eat it anyway?