Kid Pleasers

Slightly frozen, dairy and milk- What's not to love? It's mid-summer and one thing I have noticed this season is the Smoothie Rage. McDonald's restaurants have them to go along with there new coffee drink line, the 7-Eleven gas chains have more choices than ever with frozen smoothie-like drinks, The Fresh Beat Band; (the preschool sitcom from Nick) seems to write the tasty smoothie drinks into their creative shows whenever possible, also when I went to Walmart to buy more frozen fruit; they sell a smoothie- frozen in a bag, and lastly, the King Arthur Blog had a post about homemade yogurt and making smoothies this week! They are everywhere this season!!!

My girls love the idea of homemade smoothies. We have these little juice glasses that remind me of the "cup" part of a cupcake. In fact, the first batch I whipped up with Oldest in the kitchen must have looked like cupcake batter. Since she said, "Mommy, is it my birthday?"

I answered, " Well it's Youngest's and yours 'Un-Birthday'. Do you know what that means? It's just a special day- a day to have Smoothies!!"

If made right, they are better for them than ice cream, and to tell you the truth- they are a whole lot less messy!

Strawberry-Banana Yogurt Smoothie

Here is the recipe:

• 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh strawberries
• 1 ripe banana
• 1 cup yogurt
• 3 T sugar
• splash of milk

-Combine in blender, food processor, or small chopper/mixer. Put in freezer for 30 min. Stir and enjoy!

I have been using this basic recipe with all the other fruit we have in the house this time of year. They all come out so delicious! Give them a try and you will be hooked!