Our family loves to make smoothies any chance we can get. I am like any other mom and I try to make sure there are healthy options around for my kids to snack on. When Williams-Sonoma asked me to participate in Smoothie Week, I knew I would not have a problem coming up with a recipe to share.
I will not lie when I say my kids would much rather grab something that is "not so healthy" to snack on. I try to offset the bad with the good when I can. My husband and kids are big fans of blueberries so I know when I use them they are more likely to at least give it a try. When blueberries are not in season I like to buy the frozen bagged berries. These are usually picked in season and froze at their peak. This makes it super easy to whip up a smoothie anytime. The frozen berries also keep the smoothie nice and chilled without the use of any ice, which we never seem to have. Does anyone else have that problem, or is it just me?
I like to throw all kinds of things into my smoothies. If I have a banana, it goes in. If there is orange juice in the house, that goes in too. The more fruits I have the better and the more likely my kids will drink it up. To give this smoothie just a little extra nutrients, I added some oatmeal to the mix. I ground them up in the blender before adding any other ingredient to get the oatmeal really fine. It adds a little texture but my kids did not seem to mind at all.
I am a firm believer in using what you have available. Most of the time the items I use in the smoothies are already staple ingredients I like to keep around. During the winter months I try to make sure we have more orange juice around to help with the intake of Vitamin C to ward of any of those nasty bugs. Milk is always in the fridge and I buy yogurt on a regular basis. We love fruit and berries so I try to have a variety to choose from in the freezer. A great addition would also be to add a little spinach or kale to the mix. The kids would never know they were in there. I know that would make plenty of moms happy, including this one.
Blueberry Oatmeal Smoothies
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 small container of plain, vanilla, or blueberry yogurt. (Greek Yogurt works well too)
1/2 cup of almond milk (1%, 2%, or whole milk works too)
2 Tablespoons of honey (may need to add more depending on sweetness of berries)
1/4 cup of old fashioned oats
Ground oatmeal in the blender until fine. Combine the remaining ingredients and blend. Serve immediately.
Check out Williams-Sonoma's website for many great recipes. My mixer is one I bought on clearance at a big box store but I am really eyeing this immersion blender. My Mom has an immersion blender and I love using it. I could find all kinds of uses for it. Hint to the hubby.....my birthday is next month!
Check out all the blenders Williams-Sonoma has to offer here---> Blenders
(photo credit-Williams-Sonoma)
Are you in charge of dessert for the annual 4th of July cook-out? Don't fret, I have a very simple trifle recipe that will get all the oohs and ahhs and it will look like you put in a lot of effort to make it. But it really couldn't be any easier. I made this with a homemade pound cake that my son help me make. However, you can keep it even simpler by making this with a store bought pound cake out of the freezer section of your local grocery store or from your grocers bakery department.
It is the perfect recipe to celebrate all things red, white, and blue. I also love to make individual mason jar trifles. Because I just love mason jars AND dessert!
Patriotic Trifle
I Pound Cake
1 Pint of Strawberries
1 Pint of Blueberries
1 Large Package of Jello Instant Vanilla Pudding
1 8 oz Container of Whipped Topping
Prepare your favorite pound cake and allow to cool. Make the pudding according to directions on the package. Wash and slice your strawberries and wash the blueberries. Slice your pound cake and take a star cookie cutter and cut out star shapes out of your cake and set aside. Assemble the trifle by placing some cubed pound cake at the bottom, top with a layer of vanilla pudding, top that layer with strawberries and blueberries and then whipped topping. The next layer place the star shaped pound cake on the outer edge of the trifle dish, fill in the middle of those with cubes of pound cake, layer with pudding, berries and whipped topping. Place the berries on top of the whipped topping. Enjoy!
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