Summertime Smoothies!

My kids are on a smoothie kick lately, we make them pretty much every day for breakfast or a snack. In fact, Evan had one with breakfast today AND with his dinner LOL. I can't say no when they are so healthy! To make them, I use:

1) Some kind of frozen fruit, either store bought (I love the mixed tropical fruit from ALDI) or frozen yourself. ~ To freeze fruits such as strawberries, blueberries, peaches or bananas, I slice them up if necessary, layer them on a cookie sheet and freeze them. Once they are solid, I seal them in Ziploc bags. This allows each piece to freeze individually instead of in one big clump. You can add fresh fruit as well, but having some frozen gives the smoothie the correct consistency. If you use all fresh fruit instead of frozen, no worries! Just add some crushed ice from the fridge dispenser.

2) Yogurt ~ I buy the big cartons of vanilla or in a pinch will grab a single serve flavor from the fridge such as strawberry or peach.

3) Milk or Orange Juice, or both, depending on the flavor I want.

First I add the yogurt to the blender, followed by the fruit and lastly the milk or OJ. Once I start blending I can see how much more liquid I need to add to achieve the right consistency. We like our smoothies pretty thick, barely thin enough to use a straw.

Here are a few favorite combos:

Peaches, strawberries, Vanilla Yogurt and OJ
Blueberries, Bananas, Vanilla Yogurt, and Milk
Tropical Mixed Fruit, Vanilla Yogurt, and OJ
And for a special treat:
Bananas, Vanilla Yogurt or ice cream :), Chocolate Syrup, and Peanut Butter