Smoothies make Summer Sensational

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.

• 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 strawberries

Mix 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.

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