Banana Nutmeg Smoothies

Warning: This post is going to discuss bodily functions. Sorry, butt there’s no getting around it, and everybody does it. This has been a Foodie With Family P.S.A.

When you have little kids, life seems to develop a tendency to revolve around… Hmm. How to say this nicely and in a not-unappetizing way on a food blog? Let’s put it this way. When you have a room full of moms of young children or doting pet owners, what does the conversation turn to eventually? Unexpected Anterior and Posterior gastro-intenstinal functions*. Without fail. And I mean it. All you moms of human and animal babies out there are nodding your heads.

*Brilliant! Now I don’t actually have to say poop. Oh crap. I mean crud. Oh geez… I’m going back to bed now.

When my first baby (Help me. He’s a teenager now!) was young, his tiny gut had quite  the time adjusting. At two months old, he had stopped gaining weight and needed surgery to correct Pyloric Stenosis. I was a first time mother with a very overactive morbid imagination and a baby who was not growing courtesy of an unseen and heretofore unheard-of disorder. Cue hardcore panic. Thankfully, the hospital and neo-natal intensive care unit proved to be staffed entirely by saints and angels who were also preternaturally patient*.

*I know they were angels because they saved my baby (Mah Bay-bay!). While he was in recovery and before I could see him, my lips were (courtesy of crying and nervous lip-chewing) raw, red, cracked, chapped and ready to fall off of my face. The nurses tried rousing out every lubricant handy on the unit to help me. That’s saying something. Hospitals are well stocked in that department. Nothing helped until relief came in the form of my Dad arriving with his ever present tube of Chapstick. The moral of the story is never have a family health crisis without a tube of Chapstick.

In the grand tradition of my family, I have not yet gotten over this trauma and am still obsessed with maintaining the proper order of digestion (in one direction and out the other with no untoward activity. You understand me? I’m looking your way intestines…) Mercifully, our now former pediatrician* was also wonderfully patient and forbearing and put up with many a panicked conversation about the state of, er, internal affairs in my children.

*Former only because she retired from practice. Something about being almost seventy and blah, blah, blah. I’m about sick of people I count on retiring. First Uncle Wong, then the woman who grew my storage potatoes and now the pediatrician. Who’s next? My UPS guy? This is getting old.What?!? Is that selfish?

Early in the kids-eating-solids-portion of parenthood, Dr. Ang advised me and equipped me with the two best pieces of advise for restoring normal business when things were out of whack.

1. The B.R.A.T.T. Diet: If you have kids and you have encountered any of the numerous ways children have digestive distress you’ve heard of this. Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Tea and Toast. When things go wrong, eating a diet composed of these four items will restore balance in the Force, young padawans.
2. Sweetened Rice Water: Every so often, when the stomach bug struck, and the kids felt too ill to consume anything else, Dr. Ang’s go-to solution was a brew made from boiling plain long grain rice (she recommended Jasmine) in three to four times the normal amount of water until very soft. The rice was strained and set aside for later or fed to the chickens and the liquid was sweetened to taste and spoon fed to the kids. This was the easy-to-digest calorie boost the kids needed and fit into the aforementioned diet. With all due-respect to the rest of the field, this pediatrician was a find the likes of which I don’t expect to see again. Sigh.

There are all sorts of things other than the flu that can cause stomach upset or distress, not just for kids, but for adults, too. Antibiotics, medical treatments, other prescriptions, stress, and exhaustion are among the myriad nasty little devils that can play Old Harry with your insides. Honestly, it’s a wonder we don’t all walk around doubled over most of the time.

Made with only four ingredients (frozen bananas, yogurt, ice and nutmeg), Banana Nutmeg Smoothies are exactly the thing when you’re feeling out of sorts. Gently sweet, cool and smooth, they are a delicious way to sooth and satiate. When the inevitable happens this is the first thing I turn to for relief.

After all this talk of intestines and being green around the gills, I wouldn’t wonder if I’ve made a few of you queasy. I’m sorry. I am. Hey! At least you can fix it with a batch of Banana Nutmeg Smoothies. Do I know how to solve a problem or what?

Really, though, all talk of that other nasty stuff aside, this is a smoothie-second-to-none in its simplicity is its charm. It doesn’t scream banana, but the sweetness of the banana comes through. The slightly-tangy yogurt makes it as creamy as can be. The ice (and pre-frozen bananas) make it thick like a milkshake. The nutmeg? That’s the crowning glory here, so use freshly grated nutmeg if you can. The heady scent and delicate flavor of fresh nutmeg is unlike any pre-ground nutmeg you’ll ever find. It is worth whatever effort it takes to find. If you cannot find nutmeg, you can substitute ground cinnamon.

Honestly, they’re so good that I don’t wait until we’re feeling poorly to make these. They’re part of the regular rotation. But remember that they’re more than just a tasty and healthy snack, they’re a weapon in the arsenal of comfortable life. Who couldn’t use that?

Banana Nutmeg Smoothies

Scroll to the bottom for an easy-print version of this recipe!

Yield: 4 small or 2 large smoothies

Ingredients:

• 4 very ripe (but not over ripe) bananas, peeled and frozen
• 2 cups vanilla or plain yogurt (If using plain, add 1/2 teaspoon real vanilla extract and up to 2 tablespoons sugar or honey.)
• 1/4-1 cup ice (preferably crushed) depending on the thickness you prefer.
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• Optional: A splash or more of milk to help move things along in the blender

Add the yogurt to the carafe of a blender. Break the frozen bananas into chunks and add to the blender. Put the lid on the blender and process on “HIGH” or “LIQUIFY” until the mixture is smooth. If you need to, turn the power off, remove the lid and stir with a long handled wooden spoon to re-distribute. Add desired amount of ice and milk along with the grated nutmeg, replace the lid, and blend on HIGH just until smooth. Pour into serving glasses, garnish with a tiny scraping of freshly grated nutmeg and serve immediately.

Banana Nutmeg Smoothies

Rate Recipe

Rebecca Lindamood

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Made with only four ingredients (bananas, nutmeg, yogurt, ice) these smoothies are a gently sweet, cool, smooth way to soothe and satisfy.

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 4 very ripe bananas but not over ripe, peeled and frozen
• 2 cups vanilla or plain yogurt If using plain, add 1/2 teaspoon real vanilla extract and up to 2 tablespoons of honey or sugar.
• 1/4-1 cup ice depending on the thickness you prefer. preferably crushed
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• Optional: A splash or more of milk to help move things along in the blender

Instructions

 

• Add the yogurt to the carafe of a blender. Break the frozen bananas into chunks and add to the blender. Put the lid on the blender and process on "HIGH" or "LIQUIFY" until the mixture is smooth. If you need to, turn the power off, remove the lid and stir with a long handled wooden spoon to re-distribute. Add desired amount of ice and milk along with the grated nutmeg, replace the lid, and blend on HIGH just until smooth. Pour into serving glasses, garnish with a tiny scraping of freshly grated nutmeg and serve immediately.

Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.

did you make this recipe?

Make sure to tag @foodiewithfam on Instagram and #hashtag it #foodiewithfamily so I can check it out!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Share on Facebook