Thanksgiving Cranberry Smoothie

This cranberry smoothie is a yummy Thanksgiving treat that you can enjoy without doing further damage to your waistline.

In fact, with so many fresh fruits and vegetables, it might even help undo some of that damage...and it tastes good too :)

Cranberry Smoothie Recipe

2 bananas

1 cup frozen strawberries

1 cup fresh cranberries

2 cups kale*

1 cup water

Instructions for Making This Smoothie

Add the ingredients to the blender in the order listed above.

It’s best that you add everything except the ice first, blend for a few seconds until you form a liquid, then add the ice.

That way it’s much easier on your blender, and faster too, since you’re adding ice to liquid instead of adding a bunch of solids at the same time.

*Don't know what kale is? Or don't have it available? You can substitute spinach, romaine lettuce or any other green for the same effect.

Or if you're not quite ready yet to try a green smoothie, leave out the vegetables altogether and add another filler such as yogurt or peanut butter.

You can also experiment with using different liquid bases instead of water.

The Power of Cranberries

What’s so special about cranberries? Why make a cranberry smoothie?

I picked up a bag of fresh cranberries while shopping at Trader Joe’s, the weekend before Thanksgiving. I also grabbed a container of fresh cranberry mango salsa, and thought about buying some cranberry sauce.

What’s the big deal? It’s just cranberries, after all, right?

Do You Take Cranberries For Granted?

For most of my life, I completely took cranberries for granted.

It was just something that we had always available: fresh cranberries, frozen cranberries, canned cranberry sauce, cranberry jelly, cranberry juice.

But then I found a new appreciation for cranberries. How?

Cranberries Don't Exist In Many Parts of The World

I spent a year living outside the United States, in Spain. It was only then that I realized just how distinctively American cranberries were.

They don’t even have a separate word in the Spanish language to distinguish cranberries from blueberries.

And good luck trying to find any form of cranberries in the grocery stores there.

I ran around from store to store, to every single major grocery stores in town including special super stores. No luck.

I was lucky to finally find dried cranberries in just one store.

I had to somehow find a way to use dried cranberries to make cranberry sauce for our Thanksgiving meal. I managed, but it got me thinking...

Thankful for Cranberries?

So now that I’m back in the United States, I’ve found a new thing to be thankful for: cranberries.

It’s almost too easy here: you just walk into the store and find them on special display, right in front of you. It’s easy to forget what a struggle it once was and take things for granted.

Maybe it’s silly to be thankful for cranberries. But it’s not just cranberries I’m thankful for.

For me, cranberries are a symbolic reminder for all that I’m thankful for...

Thankful for Abundance

I'm thankful for all that I have right in front of me that I take for granted on a daily basis.

For the great abundance we live with, including the incredible variety of food choices available to us, and to live in a place where we can buy just about everything.

If you don’t live in America, you may be upset that you can't make this particular smoothie recipe. 

Even so, I’m sure there are certain foods in your own country that are unique and special, so I hope you’ll understand.

Celebrate Special Foods With A Smoothie

If you DO live in a place where you can easily buy fresh cranberries, such as North America, I hope you enjoy this cranberry smoothie treat.

This cranberry smoothie is a delectable way to celebrate a special fruit, a special time of year, and all we have to be thankful for.

If nothing else, all the fresh fruit and vegetables deliver you an incredible amount of vitamins and minerals which will help you detox before and after the big meal.

Happy Thanksgiving! :)

Related Links

Why is this such a healthy smoothie treat? Because it has banana, one of the healthiest smoothie ingredients.

And if you liked the banana, you'll love this banana smoothie recipe.

What is kale doing in this smoothie? Isn't that gross? This is actually a green smoothie.

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