Lisa Prince, a marketing specialist and one half of the Got to Be Good Cookin’ weekly recipe segment, will join us on the blog each month with bonus recipes, cooking tips and a behind-the-scenes look at marketing N.C. agricultural products…everything and the kitchen sink.
Fresh North Carolina strawberries are right around the corner and blueberries aren’t far behind them, so if you have any frozen fruit left in your freezer, now is the time to use it up. With this warm weather, I have been making lots of smoothies for my family as an after school snack and dessert.
Lisa Prince
The great thing about smoothies is you can use any combination of fruit, juice, yogurt or milk as the base. Sometimes we leave out the milk and add orange juice. Vanilla yogurt works great too!
Also, I usually buy bananas every week when I go to the grocery store. Some weeks we eat them all, but some weeks we just aren’t in the mood so they get too ripe. Instead of throwing them away or making banana bread (another great use for overripe bananas), peel your banana and cut it in half and put it in a freezer bag. After a while you will have a bag full, and they make a great addition to any smoothie recipe.
Here’s an easy recipe I like to use.
N.C. Fruit Smoothie
½ cup frozen North Carolina blueberries
3 frozen North Carolina strawberries
1 frozen banana
1 packet of Splenda
2 tablespoons plain non-fat yogurt
1 cup 1 percent milk
Put it all in a blender and mix it up until your frozen fruit is blended and all the ingredients are combined and smooth.
Tip: If you don’t have frozen fruit, just add some ice when you blend your ingredients.