Got Smoothie?

One of the best snacks in our house is a smoothie.  Simple fruit and yogurt puree, it's nutritious and virtually fool-proof.  Plus the little kiddos find the blender fun as well as the fun curly straws we use to drink the smoothie snack.

Smoothies are sssooooo easy to make.  Using my blender (set speed at "puree" "blend" or "whip"... pretty much any setting will do!) combine any 1 CUP combo of fresh or frozen FRUIT, 1/2 CUP plain or vanilla YOGURT (we use greek yogurt!  flavored yogurt works too, like strawberry banana creamy style by yoplait) and 1/4 CUP juice.

Now, we have been getting pretty creative and adventurous around here.  I like to stick to frozen blueberries (or mixed berries, inclusive of raspberries, strawberries, and/or blackberries.  The above picture shows fresh picked strawberries that I froze and a banana I froze because it was about to go bad... and I can't waste any produce!!  So I freeze for later use...) and a fresh banana, sliced.  Grape juice.  And yogurt.  However, I was trying to clean out the freezer and only had some frozen cantaloupe, mango, peaches.  Mason chose orange juice to mix it with.  And the smoothies turned out very tropical, though I tasted cantaloupe the rest of the day (do not necessarily recommend.)

If you'd prefer to follow a precise smoothie recipe, I recommend the following, which I found in Parenting Magazine.  I can't wait to try the GREEN MACHINE smoothies... sneak in something tricky like kale or spinach... and tell Mason it's the HULK smoothies, since he's verryyy much into the green monster :)

**if using fresh fruit, recipes suggest adding 3 ice cubes...

1. THE MORE THE BERRIER

1 c. blueberries, raspberries, strawberries

1/2 c. cran-raspberry juice

1/4 c. yogurt

2. THE GREEN MACHINE (no yogurt in this one!)

1 c. chopped kale or spinach

1/2 banana, peeled and sliced

1/2 apple, peeled and diced

3/4 c. apple or orange juice

3. SWEET APPEAL

strawberries

1/2 banana, peeled and sliced

1/2 cup orange juice

1/4 cup yogurt

I have also frozen leftover smoothie... in small tupperware.  Remove from freezer 30 minutes before serving or microwave slightly.  You want it to be like frozen yogurt consistency, edible with a spoon instead of a straw.  Mason calls it fruit ice cream!!!