Recipe: Smoothies - Tropical Cooler, Grape-Cherry Cooler

Hope you'll try Emilee's suggestion for a search - you will find a lot I'm sure. I cut out Jean Carper's column from a USA Weekend Sunday magazine a couple of weeks ago. Sorry but I have not tried either recipe. One does call for strawberries but you could substitute a fruit of your choice. I wanted to post it since it used both the orange juice and pineapple you asked for.

Tropical Cooler

2 cups orange juice (from carton or frozen reconstituted)
1 cup sliced fresh strawberries
1 8-oz. can crushed pineapple in juice (or 1 cup fresh pineapple chunks)

Process all in blender until smooth. If too thick, add carbonated water to taste. Pour over crushed ice. Garnish with mint sprigs.

Serves 4
Per serving: 101 calories, 1g protein, 0.3g fat, 25g carbohydrates, 1.6g fiber, 2mg sodium.

Grape-Cherry Cooler

2 cups 100% grape juice from Concord grapes (bottled or frozen reconstituted)
2 TBSP lemon juice
1 cup frozen dark sweet pitted cherries
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Optional: 1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt

Process all in blender until smooth. Pour over crushed ice.

(Note: Lemon juice and yogurt help lower the "glycemic index" of the grape juice, reducing its ability to spike blood sugar. Cinnamon boosts insulin activity to help process the sugar.)

Serves: 4
Per serving: 108 calories, 0.5g protein, 0.4g fat, 27g carbohydrates, 0.6g fiber, 2mg sodium.

Jean Carper as you probably guessed is an "Eat Smart" author who knows her nutrition.