Summer and Smoothies

I love smoothies all year round, but especially in the summer. Fresh fruit is everywhere in great variety all summer long and it makes it easy to come up with yummy flavors. I often freeze my fruit if I can't use it all, so I have frozen bananas, mango and strawberries in my freezer and I am about to add some raspberries as well. I especially love when I wake up in the morning and don't feel like a heavy breakfast, to make a smoothie for breakfast. I cools me down in the summer and in the winter, it just makes me cold! It tastes much more indulgent than it really is. In fact the one that I made this morning tasted like a sugared down version of a strawberry drink that Olive Garden was sampling out the last time we were there. I'm sure theirs had cream and other things carrying many more calories than this one did. My kids loved theirs and drank it all up. In fact they might get more excited for me to make smoothies than they do when I am making pancakes or waffles and smoothies are much easier. Sometimes when I have it and feel like being a little crazy I spray some whipped cream on top. That somehow tells my brain that what I am eating is very decadent, even though in reality it is quite healthy. Here's the recipe. I don't measure and what I do changes each time, so I'll just tell you what I did today. Here's one more picture-- of Alex enjoying his and its almost gone. I should have taken a picture of our finished product, the picture above is a stock photo that looked very similar. I wasn't thinking about it and I was too eager to drink it up (was hungry just off the treadmill) and my kids had many needs surrounding the smoothies, because its serious business in our house!

Tropical Strawberry Smoothie

2 cups frozen strawberries (unsweetened)

1 cup frozen mango

1 tub pina colada flavored yogurt(the personal size- not the honken ones. Mine was store brand western family-nothing fancy. I don't like that kind of yogurt to eat so much but it is great in smoothies.)

1-2 cups milk - I just pour the milk in until it not quite covers the fruit and yogurt.

Then I give it a good long whirl in my blender and it pours out oh so good.

Calories wise, you can see with nonfat milk like I used and the fruit the only reletively unhealthy thing is the yogurt. Most people don't think of yogurt as unhealthy, but I checked -the pina coloda yogurt I put in had 250 calories for the little container! That is a lot my friends. However it was really the only sweetner that I added and it also makes it creamy and adds flavor. So splitting a 250 calorie yogurt with a lot of healthy things between me and my 3 kids, works out pretty well. My kids love fruit, but it has never been easier to get them to eat it than in a smoothie. Also I am very proud to be saving what is it now $4 or $5 at Jama Juice for a better more nutritious alternative at home. And I highly recommend a little whip cream on top, it really is a happy thing.

I promised a post and this I am sure is not what you have been waiting for (all 3 of you!) I have been gone so long I really should update on what in the world I have been up to. I promise I will and I thought I would have time today, but it is going to have to wait until tonight or at least later this afternoon. Right now there are some kids being neglected and letting me know about it too. Actually they are doing okay right now and that is because I got them settled in so that I could finish this entry. I have a lot of fun stuff to share and I'll be back. Right now I am off to get a shower and then help my daughter mod podge a magnet board to give her friend tomorrow at her birthday party. Hopefully I can remember to get a picture of that and show you the results. She is suppose to wear pajamas as it is a pajama party and so I need to make sure she actually has something decent to wear to it! I might pull out the ol' sewing machine and see if I can whip her something together, you know like the mice in cinderella! Or maybe she can wear that crazy, huge, bright colored tie die shirt her dad got free at a Microsoft conference. He gave it to her and she sometimes wears it to bed. Ahh bad idea... and I AM just kidding. I think she would rather not go at all than go in that!