Since I don’t yet have any canning skills, I need an alternative use for squishy fruit. I’ve started buying the big yogurt container instead of the little four-packs, because it ends up being cheaper and produces less waste. A week ago, when I was spooning out some yogurt into a little plastic container for my lunch, I spotted a smoothie recipe printed on the foil lid of the yogurt. It was pretty generic, along the lines of:

Pick a fruit juice.
Pick a fruit.

1 cup Dannon Light & Fit Vanilla Yogurt
1/2 cup whatever juice
1/2 cup whatever fruit (fresh or canned)
1/2 cup ice cubes

Pulverize it in a blender and enjoy a smoothie!

I did so for dessert later that night, using strawberries the first time because we managed to get almost all the way through the Costco package before they got squishy and unappetizing, and I really didn’t want to waste them. My juice was a cranberry-raspberry blend. It turned out great!

Next time I tried blueberries and peaches, with plain yogurt instead of vanilla, and the same juice. I should have stuck to vanilla yogurt, or at least added honey, because it was too tart. Also, the blueberry skins stayed very visible and stringy, and I didn’t like that. Next time I use blueberries I’ll try blending them first, before adding the rest.

I’ve been serving up the smoothies in coffee mugs for sipping, because I don’t have straws around. It would be neat and fancy if I had big milkshake glasses for these, but they taste just as delicious in a mug, trust me.

My latest concoction was banana and cherry, and at this point I’m not bothering with a recipe any more. I dumped in a few ice cubes, a banana, a dozen or so pitted cherries, a teaspoon of honey, a big dollop of plain yogurt, a drop of vanilla extract, and a splash of milk at the end to thin it out a little. Yummy.

I’m told that if you use frozen fruit, you can skip the ice cubes, so I’ll be experimenting with that soon. I have a bag of blueberries in the freezer that were too soft to snack on – I was going to dump them into muffins, but I’m sure they would be happy in a smoothie too. I’ll also buy some frozen orange juice so I can add it to my smoothies by the spoonful when I want a citrus kick.

I’m a smoothie addict now!