Fast and Easy Smoothies and Fruit Sauce

Need a fast, easy and fairly healthy snack? A smoothie fits the bill here. And they are pretty portable too if you have little ones to nourish.  Most people do enjoy smoothies, but don't like the hassle of dragging out the blender.  Today, I have a great recipe that fits the bill. A simple smoothie that doesn't use a blender! (One of these days I will do a better job of photographing things to share :) really, I will!)

If you do prefer to use ice in your smoothies, I highly recommend the Single Serve blender from Hamilton Beach.

It is small, easy to clean and does a good job of crushing the frozen stuff. We put whole frozen strawberries in ours and it crushes them really well.

I make a large batch of fruit sauce and store it in the fridge. You can make any flavor that you would like. I usually make a blueberry and strawberry flavor for Ethan since he likes it.  For the vanilla yogurt, I buy the Dannon All-Natural Vanilla to make things simple. It does contain sugar, but it does not contain any other crazy things. I also use plain greek yogurt (that contains only milk and cultures) in the recipe to cut the sugar. You can use any combination of the two that is palatable to you.

Fast and Easy Smoothies

This recipe makes one kid sized smoothie. It would probably also make a decent size for an adult as a snack.

• 2 Tbsp natural, unsweetened applesauce
• 1/8 to 1/4 cup fruit sauce (recipe below)
• 2 Tbsp plain greek yogurt
• 2 Tbsp vanilla yogurt
• milk or water to thin if needed

Mix all in a cup and enjoy.

Blueberry-Strawberry Fruit Sauce

Store in the fridge. Mine usually doesn't last for two whole weeks, so I cannot say how long it will stay good. You can use any combination of frozen fruits to make a custom blend. This is also good in plain yogurt to make your own flavored yogurt!

• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
• 2 cups frozen strawberries, unsweetened
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup water
• 1 to 2 Tbsp sugar (or other sweetener of your choice), optional

Put all ingredients into a small pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook for 10 to 15 minutes until all the fruit is really soft. Add more water if needed to keep liquid in the pan.  Remove from heat and let cool a bit.  Puree in a blender until smooth. Refrigerate.