June brought lots of strawberries to our freezer from our berry picking day. I froze a lot on a baking sheet and then bagged them, and we've enjoyed them as a sweetener/cooler for oatmeal, but mostly they go into smoothies. I also picked up blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries when they were on a good sale. Our freezer is holding at least one over ripe banana, too.
On Simon's third birthday, we brought out the blender. I threw in some plain yogurt, berries, a banana, fresh pineapple I had in the fridge, and a dab of strawberry jam. I would have used honey if it would have come out of the container. I might have added a bit of milk to make it less thick. You don't need to add ice cubes since the berries are frozen. It's so easy to throw in whatever you have. A few things that make it easier to whip up smoothies for breakfast are:
1. Keep your blender in an easy place to reach, not the top shelf of the hall closet.
2. Our new dishwasher makes the mess much easier to clean up.
3. When the blender is empty, pour in a little water and blend that for a second to wash out the blade before it gets sticky.
For kids who are not great at drinking out of a "real" cup yet, smoothies are great practice! Here is Simon on his birthday morning:
With the leftovers in the blender (always make more than you need so you have leftovers!), pour into a popsicle mold (or yogurt cups or ice cube trays) and put them in the freezer. A few days later, we pulled out our smoothie-sicles and enjoyed yet another tasty treat. And it's one that I can feel good about giving them for a morning snack!
