OSU Extension specialists have been taking a “smoothie bike” –a stationary bike with a blender powered by pedaling—to trainings and events around Ohio. Both kids and adults love creating recipe combinations and revving up the blender. Dozens of smoothie batches have been created, and each one was declared delicious!
The smoothie bike activity has great takeaways…
Smoothies are easy to customize and can be a naturally sweet treat(PDF).
BASIC SMOOTHIE RECIPE – Choose your favorite fruits and add them in these proportions:
- ½ -1 cup non-fat yogurt (look for zero fat, zero added sugar, and zero artificial sweeteners)
- 2 ripe bananas
- 3 cups frozen fruit (any combination of strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, peaches, mango or pineapple)
- 2 ½ cups orange juice
- ½ -1 cup spinach (optional)
- 1 cup ice
This recipe makes two quarts (64 oz.). That’s eight tall 8-ounce servings or more than twenty 3-ounce samples! Two batches per classroom works great, while a small family would only need about half a batch.
Lots of physical activity is necessary to burn off extra calories. Participants learn that even one minute on the smoothie bike can be tiring. Many are surprised to learn it would take over 1 hour of moderate biking to burn off the calories in a milkshake versus about 15 minutes of moderate biking to burn off the calories in an equal amount of smoothie made with the ingredients listed above. Milkshakes often contain ice cream and lots of added sugars. To compare how long it would take to burn off other foods or by doing other activities, try the 4-H Eat and Move-O-Matic . 
Smoothies can be a fun way for kids to consume more fruits and vegetables and calcium. One study showed that when smoothies were introduced as a school breakfast option at a middle school and high school, 45.1% of students ate a full cup of fruit during breakfast up from just 4.3 percent! Another study(PDF) showed that out of over 2700 student breakfast selections 37% of elementary students and 68% of high school students who chose yogurt did not choose milk, suggesting yogurt items like smoothies may offer non-milk drinkers a great calcium option.
You can advocate for smoothies in schools. The USDA recently changed how smoothies can be credited(PDF) for fruits/vegetables and for yogurt at meals or snacks offered through many meal programs. Learn more school meal guidelines(PDF) and encourage your school cafeteria to serve smoothies!
