by Cynthia Burton

Created on: October 26, 2009

I used to think of smoothies as an indulgent snack, but it doesn't have to be that way. You can have a smoothie with just fruit. That's right! There's no need to add milk, ice cream, yogurt, Splenda, or anything else to it. Just add fruit and blend.

I like to make smoothies in the following combinations:

1 cup honeydew, 1-2 medium bananas, & 1-2 peaches

Or

1 cup honeydew, 1-2 medium bananas, & 1 cup of pineapple

Or

2 medium bananas, 1-2 cups strawberries, & 1 cup blueberries

Or

2 medium bananas, 1-2 cups strawberries, & 1 cup cherries

All you need to do is put the ingredients in the blender together. Put the lid on the blender. Start the blender on the lowest setting and gradually work your way to the blend setting. Let the blender do its magic until it appears all of the big bits have been blended away.

Sometimes, the smoothie ends up being a little too thick. When this happens, just add a little bit of orange juice or V8 Splash and continue blending. This will thin things out so that the fruit can continue moving around inside of the blender.

Sometimes, it's nice to add ice to the smoothie. It makes the smoothie more like a slushy, like a dessert! Yummy!

I recommend buying fresh bananas and honeydew, but frozen everything else. This way, you won't have to rush to use everything before it goes bad. Bananas and honeydew also freeze well. If your fresh bananas start to go off, just peel them, cut them up, and place them on a flat surface that can be put into the freezer. Leave overnight, remove from the freezer, and place the pieces in a baggy back in the freezer until you're ready to use them. For the honeydew, just cut it up and place it into small plastic bowls. Place the bowls in the freezer until you're ready for them.

There were several fruits that I didn't particularly care for in smoothies. Those were cantaloupe, grapes, raspberries & blackberries, and apples. Cantaloupe's flavor was too strong in a smoothie. Grapes were too watery, raspberries & blackberries had too many seeds, and apples were too grainy for me.

As someone who doesn't really like to eat fruit, smoothies have been a great way for me to get my daily fruit servings without overdosing on processed sugars. I hope that you'll enjoy these simple smoothies as a part of your healthy diet too.

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