Everyone knows how to make a fruit smoothie, right? But do you know how to make the perfect fruit smoothie?

Here’s are my 5 tips for perfect smoothies:

1. Add the liquids first. This will help blend all the ingredients evenly. Milk, soy milk, almond milk, coconut water, juice, tea and even kombucha or kefir are great base liquids.

2. Fat is your friend. As much as we want to save calories, using nonfat yogurt is NOT the way to go. It leaves the smoothie tasting like you’ve tried to pulverize sand and it’ll be grainy. Use low-fat yogurt instead.

3. Use frozen fruit. Frozen fruit thickens and adds flavor without diluting your smoothie. In the off-season, frozen fruit usually has more flavor than what you’ll find in the market. In season, put your fruit in the freezer for a few hours before popping it into the blender. Always pulse the blender a few times because the fruit can refreeze!

4. For a creamier (and healthier) smoothie, add ripe avocados or bananas. Those darker bananas will be sweeter so don’t worry about a few freckles! Honey, chia and flax seeds are also great thickeners.

5. Add the ice last. If you still want some icy-coldness, make this the last thing you put in the blender. Ice will thicken the smoothie without adding any additional calories.

Oh… and here’s one more important tip: always use the Hamilton Beach® Wave~Action Blender® for the creamiest smoothie!

My good friends at Hamilton Beach® sent me one of these good-looking babies to try out and, I’ve got to tell you, this blender is my go-to for smoothies. The Wave~Action blades continuously force the ingredients from the bottom to the top in a wave, so everything blends perfectly.

If you’ve got a big family, you’ll love the big 48-ounce glass jar (which is dishwasher-safe, by the way). The spout on the dispensing lid makes pouring super easy, with minimal drips. It also comes with a stir-spoon for thicker foods and mixtures.

Here’s the delicious Raspberries and Cream Smoothie I whipped up in the Wave~Action Blender!

       Print this recipe.    

I food poisoned myself… and the same thing could happen to you.

Quite simply… I didn’t wash my vegetables carefully enough. Self-inflicted food poisoning.

How many times have you bought fresh veggies, given them a quick wash and then added them to whatever you were preparing? Didn’t think twice about it, did you?

But how do you know if that cilantro wasn’t accidentally dropped on the supermarket floor, then returned to the shelf and nestled in with the other bunches? It looked okay… green and fresh and supermarket floor dirty.

And what about those apples? No bruises, right? Well maybe the person who was searching for the perfect apple just before you had something very contagious and touched the very same apples you’re carting home. Sure, you’ll wash them… but how well?

I could go on and on and get even more gross, but there’s no reason to… you get the drift.

For a while I was using Rebel Green Fruit and Veggie Clean…. but I ran out and didn’t replace it. Mistake. Rebel Green is made with all natural ingredients that lab tests have proven remove some of the most common strains of bacteria and pesticides on fresh produce… more effective than rinsing with water alone.

I’ve pulled together some more quick tips to keep your family safe and prevent foodborne illness in your home.

A salad spinner is a wonderful kitchen gadget, but most of them take up too much space (which most kitchens don’t have).

Problem solved: The Dexas Turbo Fan Collapsible Salad Spinner.

This 4½-quart salad spinner is different because it collapses to just 5-inches. When you’re ready to use it… pop it into place. Think about the salad spinner you use now… big and bulky, right? Takes up a lot of valuable kitchen real estate, right?

Not this one.

This durable plastic salad spinner does an amazing job of drying greens, vegetables and berries because it uses a multi-blade fan and centrifugal force to spin out the water. There’s a push-button brake on top to stop the spinning.

The non-skid base keeps it from dancing all over the counter… which is always my issue when using salad spinners. (It couldn’t be me, could it?)

And, of course, I really love it because the bowl and basket are top-rack dishwasher safe. The top can easily be taken apart and cleaned.

My friends at Dexas International asked me to give Turbo Fan Collapsible Salad Spinner a whirl. I used it when I made my Roasted Potato and Kale Salad… great recipe made even easier with a great salad spinner!

Here’s a video so you can see it in action!

I love it when the stars align and things fall into place just as you’d like.

Sometimes when I test a new product or recipe, I don’t get the results promised. So I re-test. And re-test. And re-test.

But sometimes things come together perfectly on the first try (of course, I still have to re-test and re-test and re-test).

I wanted to try Demarle’s new Silpat Silicone Baking Pan AND I needed to make a new recipe for gluten-free brownies. So… I made the brownies in the Silpat Baking Pan.

Perfection. The Silpat Baking Pan AND the Brownies!

I’ll talk about the Gluten Free Chile Brownies tomorrow, just ahead of Valentine’s Day. Right now, I’m going to sing the praises of my new favorite baking tool.

If you don’t know, Silpat is a great non-stick liner for cookie sheets that makes clean up extra easy. Now they’ve come up with this 10-by-13¾-inch reusable pan that’s also non-stick… you just wipe it clean.

I know some people are wary of using silicone in the oven, but Demarle makes sure all of their products are food safe, Kosher and NSF certified and approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

The Silpat Baking Pan needs to be used on a cookie sheet so it stays stable… and you can’t use knives or sharp utensils. I flipped the brownies onto a cutting board to cut them. Oh, and they advise against putting it in the dishwasher.

This is a great addition to my baking battery. Like I said, I love it when the stars align!