Strawberry Banana Smoothies

We make smoothies for breakfast almost every other day in our house. They’re quick, nutritious, and easy to whip up in under five minutes. Although I “experiment” sometimes, my favorite “base” for smoothies (by far) is strawberries. If you start with strawberries and then add in blueberries, peaches, raspberries, pineapple, or other fruits, you’re bound to end up with a delicious and refreshing concoction.

On most days, I make Strawberry Banana Smoothies because I like the simplicity of the recipe.

You’ll only need a few basic ingredients (Yes, that really is our blender. No laughing! I actually really like our 70’s blender…):

• 8-12 strawberries, frozen or fresh
• 1/2 to 1 banana, frozen or fresh
• 1/2 cup to 1 cup of plain or vanilla yogurt
• a little bit of water

First, drop in the strawberries. No need to slice them up. Just put them in whole. I usually use frozen strawberries, but you can use fresh ones if you like. This is the task that I usually give to my 21-month-old daughter (which she loves).

Second, slice up the banana and put it in the blender. I almost always slice up bananas ahead of time and keep them in a ziploc in the freezer so that I always have them on-hand. I usually put about 1/2 to 3/4 of a banana in, but you can adjust that depending on how banana-y you want your smoothie to taste.

Third, add 1/2 cup to 1 cup of plain or vanilla yogurt. Plain will make the smoothies less “sweet,” but I think it’s still pretty tasty. I usually put about 1/2 to 3/4 cup.

Finally, add in a little bit of water to make the smoothie blendable.

Blend. Pour into glasses. Garnish with whipped cream and sliced strawberries, if desired. Serves 2.

And here’s some good news for me (and for you if you use strawberries as much as I do)! Mom Central just clued me in to the fact that “California provides 88% of the nation’s strawberries, and the region is experiencing an incredibly bountiful harvest this year. With over 35,000 acres of fields across California, the growers will be picking nearly6 million crates of delicious, ripe strawberries this week to deliver to grocery stores nationwide.”

That’s A LOT of strawberries (which, hopefully, means that they’re going to be affordably priced and easy-to-find in grocery stores). For more information, stop in at the California Strawberry Commission website, where you can find recipes and online strawberry-themed games for elementary age kids.

From:
http://metropolitanmama.net/2008/06/stephs-strawberry-banana-smoothies/
Strawberry Banana Smoothies