Licuadas aka smoothies

When I lived in Mexico in 1972 I loved to drink "licuadas" (from "licuadora" the word for blender) - wonderful blended drinks made of fresh tropical fruit sold for pennies at stands all over the country. It wasn't until a couple years later that "smoothies" became popular in the U.S. and I still called them licuadas, They were one of my favorite things to drink outdoors during summer, experimenting with different combinations of fruit, flavors of yogurt, etc. and I have to admit I quickly learned that adding rum added another dimension to the outdoor experience! A funny story was when in Mexico I tried to ordered a licuada with rum at a local bar. They weren't drunk with rum there. I got into a long complicated discussion of price that taxed my Spanish because they wanted to charge me for two drinks - a licuada and a rum drink!

Anyway after my D diagnosis I realized that my days of dumping a whole box of strawberries and a mango into a blender and adding milk, ice and yogurt (and sometimes rum!) were probably over. Then today as I was getting ready to prepare my lunch to take out to the deck I realized that I could take my usual 1/2 cup of berries I ate with lunch and make a modified version of a licuada. I added ice to crush, plus water instead of milk or yogurt and some lime (yep, skipping the rum too!), whipped it up and it was nearly as good as the old days! Actually it was more refreshing for a hot day made with water and ice instead of milk and yogurt! So nice to revive an old favorite that's still D friendly! Since I couldn't whip up a batch for all of you I just thought I'd share the idea!

Almond milk would be nice in your licuadas, Zoe.

Does that have less carbs than dairy milk?

The almond milk have here has 6.0 carbs per 250 ml and 2.4g carbs per 100 ml. Check this out against your usual milk to see the comparison. It is ok on cereal but curdles when I put it into coffee. I think the slight almond flavour would be nice with smoothies.

That's about half as much. Yes, I do think it would be a nice flavor addition (though more carbs and calories). I like almond flavor; I recently discovered sparkling wine with a small almond flavor which I love. I'll have to see if they have it in my store.

I'm not the best to talk about food and D ( meaning my control is not good yet) but I fail to see how a licuada o batido (i'm from originally from spain) is a bad thing? I Always thought of them as healthy and "natural" moreover if coupled with fiber and much better than the mojitos I used to down! mmmmmmmm good old mojitos at the beach

Berries are the best because they have less sugar, I add splenda, chia seeds, low fat plain yogurt and crushed ice to it. Of course I am not following any low carb, low sugar diet, and I will sometimes pair it with a bocadillo if I want a full meal ;)

I shall try it with the almond milk.

Oh I think it is healthy, just not for diabetics. I'm a vegetarian and when I was diagnosed I said "I eat healthy already". And I did - no sugar, all fresh fruit and vegies and little processed food. But I ate a lot of carbs. I am not "low carb" but I do try and keep my carbs under about 100 a day in order to better control my blood sugar. If I made the licuada the way I used to with a blenderful of fruit (even if I stuck to berries), and yogurt, my rough guess is it would be 40-50 grams of carbs which is a lot for me. That's why I was glad I figured out how to make it with less carbs (no more than I normally eat as part of my lunch). But we're all different in how we eat of course.

It's nice to know someone else calls them licuadas!

Really? that many carbs? wow, i always thought they would be like 20-30 :/
Adding ice is a good solution but then is a "granizada" or slushie, still tastes awesome!

What I miss the most is the "jugos": blended fruit, nothing but the fresh juice, you could make any combo you liked such as passionfruit-mango-rasberry-kiwi and they would serve it with extra loads of sugar and even sugar in the rim...

Sucks being a diabetic and a sugar addict :( I'm gettin better tho, no more churros for breakfast ;)

oh yeah and thinking about mojitos made me do a search and I found this recipe YUM! http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sugar-free-mojito-punch/

Well you figure about 2 1/2 cups of strawberries is 30 carbs, then a cup of yogurt would be 16. Blackberries that I ate today would be about 45 carbs. But I just had 1/2 cup of blackberries for 12 carbs, and the rest ice and water and lime juice.

Yeah, I'm a sugar addict as well...which is why I haven't eaten sugar for 17 years. I'm a lot better at staying totally away than eating "just a little". I lived in Guatemala for two years recently and Guatemaltecos love their sugar! I didn't know the word granizada. I just looked it up and it said "hailstorm" - I like that!

I love your pic btw!

Unsweetened almond milk is 2 carbs per 8 oz. Very low. Available in supermarkets & comes in plain, vanilla & chocolate. Coconut milk is now available in supermarkets, too. Also very low carb. I don't care for it & like almond milk better.

Your licuada sounds delicious & refreshing.

Yes, that is nice and low! I'm putting it on my shopping list now! I use coconut milk in some asian recipes, but wouldn't like it just to drink either.

Coconut milk comes in cartons, like regular milk, & is in the refigerated section. It's thinner than canned coconut milk for cooking. Didn't have any body to me & not much flavor. Almond milk is thicker. Not sure I'd drink a glass of almond milk, but it's a great alternative to milk for shakes, smoothies & baking.

Oh, yes, I was thinking of the canned kind. Does the almond milk come in the refrigerator section to? I generally don't like substitute foods, but I would like to try that.

That's why I don't make them that way, Brian. I just made mine with 1/2 cup of berries, ice, water and lime juice - 12 carbs.

Only thing it's missing is the booze!

Since I don't eat sugar, I had my drink I found in Guatemala. I don't know what it's called but it's rum, sparkling water, lime and salt.

The almond milk I get comes in shelf-stable cartons. I prefer the plain, so I can add whatever flavor I want. Can't wait to try it with some berries and ice!

Cool, jrtpup, glad I gae you a good summer idea (or half of an idea anyway!)

I have found that you can make a low carb milk substitute with half cream/half water and it is pretty darn low carb and in something like a smoothie works great. I also make homemade greek style yogurt which is also almost carb free. And lately, I've discovered Chia seeds, which when added to water act like tapioca. Add 1/4 chia seeds (24g carb/20g fiber) to your liquid in the blender and let it sit for 10-15 minutes and the result will be very thick. I like the little crunchiness, it is like the seeds in rasberries.

Oy! We're drinking our chia pets now :-)