In our family, summer equals the best in sensational smoothies.
Since I love taking advantage of seasonal fruits, marked down produce, and a produce warehouse where you must purchase in bulk, I often have large amounts of fruit that are all ripe at the same time.
I can only make so much banana bread in bulk, so I have to come up with other creative alternatives. Smoothies are the number one choice.
I freeze my favorite fruits in zip lock bags so that I will have access to the more expensive fruits when they are out of season. I was thrilled that our peaches lasted all the way through the winter. I can’t wait for them to come back in season. I have never mastered canning, so I just peel, and stick in the freezer. It works for me, and the smoothies do not care one bit.
Smoothies are a wonderful way to introduce “cooking to kids.” All of my children love to whip up smoothies and it teaches them creativity by learning to mix a variety of fruits, consistencies and flavors. They begin to view cooking as an creative “art” and smoothies allow them to master their art with a very small failure rate. 🙂
Our staple smoothies nearly always consist of bananas, vanilla yogurt and what ever fruit we have gotten marked down. This winter we had frozen strawberries and peaches (from the spring and summer crop) that graced our blender quite often.
Strawberries are my smoothie fruit of choice. They add color, and mix well with all other fruits. So stock up while they are in season.
I love our Cuisinart blender. It crushes ice like nobody’s business, but I am quite certain that a man designed this square shape. I bought this on clearance at Sam’s Club and the following week, they re-designed the model. I can see why. Have you ever tried pouring out of a square? UGH! It’s so frustrating and since we use our blender almost daily, I may need to invest in something different.
A necessity for smoothies in our home? Fancy glassware. Remember to pick up some miscellaneous pieces while you’re out thrifting or at yard sales. It just tastes that much better when it’s sipped in a special glass.
Remember, it’s the little things that create the memory, and for us, smoothies in wine glasses will be remembered (just don’t tell my kids what they’re drinking out of. 🙂
Since I don’t ever measure our smoothies, I’m not quite sure of ratios. We always base it on a taste test, but here is a guess with some of my favorites.
Easy Fruit Smoothie Recipes
1 cup of strawberries 1 cup of raspberries 1/2 cup OJ juice 1 cup of low-fat natural yogurt 5 ice cubes or frozen berries A fancier one – great for company:
1 – 12 ounce can frozen lemonade concentrate
2 – 25 ounce bottles sparkling water
6-8 fresh strawberriesMix lemonade according to directions replacing water with the sparkling water. Put the strawberries in a blender and puree until very smooth. Mix the strawberry puree into the lemonade. Garnish with lemon slices (if desired). Makes 6 servings.
I posted my Orange Julius Recipe here: http://www.womenlivingwell-courtney.blogspot.com
Courtney
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Smoothies are a favorite around here. I do much the same as you, but if I have nothing other than bananas (I almost always have frozen bananas on hand… I buy them marked down just for smoothies) we like peanut butter/banana smoothies OR for a special treat… peanut butter/chocolate/banana smoothies. Yum!
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Sounds yummy!
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I haven’t made a smoothie in so long…I’m thinkin I have bananas, yogurt, berries…in a few hours when I get up I’m making me one for breakfast…right after that pot of coffee!
Robin
All Things Heart and Home
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hmmm, I’ve never made a successful smoothie that we actually like the taste of so I am gonna have a go at this, even thought it’s winter here lol!
Sarah
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I do the same thing! I actually had a smoothie post I decided to veto but I was going to post it her! How funny! I like to throw stuff together as well and it always comes out different…but it’s all about using the leftovers so you never know what you are going to get! 🙂
Ashley
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Always, always, always peel your bananas before putting them in the freezer. Then they are ready for smoothies and if you happen to be making banana bread, you don’t have to touch the slimy peel when they defrost.
My kids like thier smoothies in the Magic Bullet cups and always call dibs on the color ring of their choice.
I’m with you on the strawberries, too.
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We love smoothies at our house too and you are so right, kids love to make their own and feel quite the accomplished “cooks.”
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We love smoothies too. It sounds like you have nice ripe fruit available. Wish we did too! The lemonade smoothie sounds great. I think we’ll try it tomorrow, maybe with blueberries:)
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We love smoothies! I have never tried to make any at home though. We usually go to The Juice Shop. We’ll have to try to make our own this summer.
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Oh, I LOVE smoothies but I have never tried to make them. I am putting that on my summer list to do!!
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We like smoothies, too, but don’t make them very often.
No sign of Mr. Linky right now. 🙁 My post (easy chocolate mousse) is here:
http://frugalcreativity.blogspot.com/2009/06/easy-creamy-chocolate-mousse-recipe.html
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Oh I love the idea of the “fancy” one! That sounds so good!!!
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We love having smoothies. I love to do milk, yogurt w/banana and sometimes pinapple and then a little bit of coconut extract. 😀
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Yum, we love smoothies at our house too. We make them every day, although sometimes twice a day! Love the fancy glass!
Toni
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YUM!! Why do I always forget about smoothies???? LOL I did a post on Orange Julius’s a while back, they’re good too!!
~TidyMom
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Smoothies??? Oh, that looks too good to be true! 🙂 Will have to try this one. 🙂
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Love your smoothie ideas. I think we’ll try that for breakfasts once summer starts. Have a great day, Jen…
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We love smoothies too! I made them last week for dinner with Breakfast Tacos, yum!
Thanks for hosting!
~Liz
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I replaced my jug blender with a stick blender and then realised it’s probably not going to be much good at frozen fruit. Haven’t tried it yet, but I doubt it will do it.
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I got a Magic Bullet for my birthday this year, Jen. It’s great for smoothies! I just put up a recipe on my blog today, for one of my favorite morning smoothies. I linked it above. I’ll be posting more Magic Bullet recipes on my blog, so keep an eye out! I actually posted the blog before reading your blog this am (Wed), so I’ll have to go back and edit and link to your blog now!
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We love smoothies and have a Green Smoothies almost every day. They’re a great way to get a little more spinach into our diets and they taste delicious.
We also love Peanut Butter Banana Smoothies.
This is how we Freeze Banana Slices.
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I don’t think I have ever seen a square blender! I want a smoothie now too, those look so good!
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I love smoothies too. They’re so refreshing!
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I love smoothies. Matter of fact, I had one this morning. This was today’s recipe:
-banana
-strawberries
-plain yogurt
-tiny bit of milk
-flaxseed oil
-ground flax seeds
Served in a wine goblet with sprinkles of pecans and Fiber One cereal. Yummy!
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I love smoothies, Jen! Those look great.
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Smoothies are amazing! Have you tried adding spinach to them?? It might sound crazy, but it’s yummy! I did a post about it sometime ago: http://alison.blogsome.com/2009/05/06/spinach/
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Love the idea of Tasty Tuesday, but I can't find the code on Mr Linky to add to my blog. Suggestions??? Yvonne
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I adore smoothies. I used up leftover fruit salad this way!
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we LOVE smoothies and I'm big on presentation too! Life is too short not to use the "fancy" dishes. sorry for double posting up there…my first time with mr. linky! : )
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I'm joining your party for the first time. I haven't had a smoothy in a very long time. They will be tasty for the summertime!
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