Summer Smoothies

After days upon days and weeks upon weeks of rain and storms (and lots of flooding and power outages) it is FINALLY summer!  And to me summer means fresh, sweet, cold smoothies - among other things.  I love a good jamba juice now and then but nothing beats a homemade concoction.  For pennies to the dollar you can make a venti (sorry for the starbucks reference) size smoothie and totally customize it they way you want and it is WAY healthier.  It is so easy and very deliciouso.  

Now I don't have an exact recipe but here are some of the ingredients I love to mix and match (like jcrew bathing suits - don't you just love summer?  Now I want to lay on a beach in a jcrew bsuit with my smoothie):

Fruit

(either fresh or frozen - 

I like to mix both but I find that always having some frozen helps the consistency)

     Raspberries

     Peaches

     Strawberries

     Blueberries

     Pineapple

     Boysenberries

     Bananas

    Juice

     Pom

     Orange

     Odwalla varieties

     Naked varieties

     Lime (straight up - so use VERY sparingly)

     Limeade

     Lemonade

Protein/Vitamins

I use this when it is my meal or after working out.  These come in flavors so either get a berry flavor or vanilla can also be good.  Living Fuel vitamin/protein mixes are amazing.  My sister had major jaw surgery and this is what the doctors recommended to keep her in shape and healthy while she was on a liquid diet so I started using it and it was great.

Tart Frozen Yogurt

Oh my goodness...it makes a smoothie so delectable and rich.  Yummm!  It is also quite amazing on its own or with fresh fruit.  And because I like to always justify my indulgences - it has live & active cultures in it.  So it classifies more in the yogurt category than ice cream.  I could go on and on so perhaps I will have a Tart post later.  

sorry can you hold on one moment?  i have to go grab a bowl of tart peach.

ok. thanks.  i'm back.

Yogurt

if you don't like the tanginess of the tart frozen yogurt

Coconut Juice/Puree

You can get this in the cocktail aisle.  So tropical!

So with a mixture of these ingredients you can make a totally killer smoothie.  Just make sure you always have fruit and some juice.  The rest are just for fun!

So pull out the blender, the fruits, a fun glass and straw and sit back and relax.