First Picnic & Strawberry Banana Smoothie Recipe

This weekend I finally finished planting my shade garden, and it was cause for celebration—it was time for our first picnic under the shade of our Indian Cigar Tree!  While Nathan napped I prepared our picnic basket, blanket and snacks, and left the whirring of the blender for our strawberry banana smoothies for after he woke.

A blanket marked our spot by the woodland garden.  I’d hoped that marking our location would keep Nathan from wandering too far away, but I think the only thing that made him sit still (for a few mere minutes, anyway) was the promise of a yogurt smoothie, even though I doubt he knew what that was!

Clearly, the fun of seasonal recipes is using fresh, in-season fruit, but because we had picked more strawberries than we could eat—and because my oven was broken so I couldn’t make a second Strawberry Summer Cake while the berries were fresh—I had to freeze some strawberries a few weeks ago.  So that makes this recipe good for any time of year.  But if you want to use fresh strawberries instead of frozen, I’d try adding a cup of ice and reducing the amount of yogurt to ¾ cup or maybe even ½ cup. 

** Updated July 5, 2011 ** I used fresh (but store-bought, unfortunately) strawberries and altered the recipe to include 3/4 cup fresh strawberries, 1 cup ice, and 3/4 cup yogurt.

Here’s my recipe:

Strawberry Banana Smoothies

Makes four servings (although it can be eaten in two large servings, as we did!)

About 2 cups frozen strawberries

2 cups vanilla yogurt

1 ripe banana

½ tbsp honey

In a blender, combine frozen strawberries and yogurt.  Blend until smooth.  Then add the banana and honey and blend again. 

They’re the perfect consistency for drinking through a straw, especially if enjoyed outside in the summer heat.  And they're very good with cheese and crackers.  Enjoy!