Classic Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Happy March Everyone!! I thought I would start the month off with one of my favorite smoothies; strawberry banana. Smoothies are a great way to pull together tons of fruits, vegetables, protein supplements as well as extra fiber. There are TONS of smoothie options out there and not all are considered 'healthy'. Some smoothies can be upwards of 700 calories, and not the sustainable and good calories we want, but the sugars, bad fats and salts. I was just recently at Safeway and found that their strawberries were marked down to $1.88/lb., so I immediately stocked up!

Ingredients:

• 1 medium to large banana

• 1 cup plain low-fat Greek yogurt (I used one I purchased from Trader Joe's)

• 1/2 cup strawberries (This depends on the size of the strawberries, I used about 5-6)

• 1/2 cup milk (for this I used Almond Breeze's unsweetened almond milk)

• 3-4 ice cubes (depending on how thick you like your smoothie to be)

You can also add some sweetener if the natural sweetness of the fruit isn't enough for you in the form of 1-2 tbs honey OR 1-3 packets of stevia.

Step 1: Rinse and cut off tops of strawberries. Then add all your ingredients to the blender and mix until it reaches a consistency you like. (Remember: if you like your smoothie a little thicker add more ice cubes)

As you can tell, there isn't much to putting together a delicious and nutritious smoothie. Some smoothie basics I like to follow are choose a liquid base (milk, fruit juice, coconut water), then fruits (any kinds you like), and you can even be adventurous and add greens to the mix (kale, spinach, carrots, etc). Smoothies are also a great way for parents to slip more vegetables and fruits into their children's diets because they taste so sweet and delicious they don't even realize they're getting a solid helping of fruit. 

Try it out and I will be sure to post more adventurous smoothies throughout the month! 

ENJOY!!