Berry Patch Smoothie

One thing that I miss about living California (and Florida) is the fresh fruit. It seems like no matter what time of year it is, there's always something delicious in season! Here in Utah we grow lots of vegetables, especially during the summer and early fall, which is wonderful, but it's often difficult to find fresh berries! So when I'm scooting past the fruit in the grocery store and I see decent looking strawberries, raspberries or blueberries, I always grab them! I love eating them straight out of the container, using them in muffins or tossing them into smoothies. Yesterday morning I chose the later.

After putting the baby down for his morning nap I rummaged through the fridge and pantry for something to eat. We were out of both milk and bread and the only banana we had was spotted and far to ripe to eat on its own. That left me with one option: break out the blender and mix up a smoothie. I started out by putting low-fat vanilla yogurt in, then added the banana, berries and small scoop of ice. I'm not gonna lie, I was a little nervous about pushing the start button. Baby's room is adjacent to the kitchen and the last thing I wanted to do was wake him up. I crossed my fingers, gave it a whirl, and a few seconds later I had breakfast in a glass.

Can you believe that baby didn't even budge! Whew. Now I know that when I'm in a pinch for a healthy breakfast I can always blend up a quick smoothie. If you've got fresh or frozen fruit on hand but don't have yogurt, you can always use milk and extra ice. Just a little tip, when I buy yogurt I like to freeze some in ice cube trays, pop them out and store them in a ziplock bag, that way I always have it for smoothies :) I hope you'll experiment with other fruit! I know I can't wait until peaches are back in season, I think they'd taste amazing in one of these!

Berry Patch Smoothie

Ingredients
½ c. strawberries
½ c. raspberries
½ c. blueberries
1 ripe banana

2 tsp. honey (optional)
1c. low-fat vanilla or fruit yogurt
⅓ c. ice 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place all ingredients in the blender, heavier ones on top. Blend until desired consistency.

Life Made Simple Original Recipe | Makes 1 (16 oz) serving or 2 (8 oz) servings