Mmm mmm good

I found another healthy snack - smoothies. Here's the recipe I like best (serves 2):

1 cup of strawberries
1 cup mix of blueberries, raspberries and a few blackberries (blackberries will give it a little bit of a tart flavor)
1 1 /4 cup of coconut water
1 teaspoon honey
2 vanilla yogurts, 6 oz. each
1/2 teaspoon flaxseed (this adds a nutty flavor, omega 3's and fiber)

I have to admit, it took me a few tries to get it right. I started with frozen fruit from the grocery store with a big label that said "perfect for smoothies." Haley, our lab, will eat anything that looks remotely edible. When she spit out a piece of the frozen fruit that I had given her, I should have stopped there. I went along making the smoothie.

I sat down with my big smoothie in an over-sized wine glass as a treat, took a sip and "bllaaaahhh," it was bad. Really, really bad. I went back to each ingredient for a taste test, and yup, it was the fruit.

On the second try (can you believe I tried again? I really wanted it to work!), I cleaned and cut up fresh fruit, put it in bread pans and froze it overnight. My freezer is way too small to lay it flat on cookie sheets as it should have been frozen (hint, hint). It worked out ok, although I had to work harder to separate the fruit. :)

This time the smoothie was really good! I could taste the fruit as if it were fresh from the fridge, especially the strawberries. The blackberries added a slight tart too, which gave it some depth. I couldn't be more pleased to find a new treat!

The coconut water is from Whole Foods. HERE'S more information about coconut water. It is a natural electrolyte, that has less sugar than fruit juice and more potassium than a banana. This would be a great drink after a workout!

This is the frozen fruit cut and ready to go!

I simply put all of the ingredients into the blender and blended until it looked smooth.

And here's what the finished smoothie looked like.

Off to try some entrees!


**Update: I made a smoothie for Jay this morning. He asked for seconds AND thirds. (I gave him a smaller juice glass just in case he didn't like it). That's the true test! It must be good! :)