We are still about five weeks away from peak strawberry season, but I bought a package at Safeway this past week that was pretty good. Otherwise, to get our strawberry fix, we rely on frozen organic strawberries, which is what I used to make this strawberry vanilla smoothie. We purchase the big bag at Costco unless we are fortunate to still have some Oregon strawberries in the freezer. When the season hits, check out this handy guide to freezing your local strawberry harvest.
This smoothie recipe is perfect any time of day. It makes a great start to your morning, with some protein from the Greek yogurt, as well as a delicious treat at the end of the day. You could throw in a scoop of your favorite protein powder to give it a boost. I use monk fruit sweetener for sweetness with no added sugar, and the vanilla extract makes it taste like a strawberry milkshake with a little tartness from the yogurt. We don’t feel bad at all about topping it with a little whipped cream if we have it for dessert.
Cheers!
Strawberry Vanilla Smoothie
(about 4 servings)
3 – 4 cups frozen strawberries
1 1/2 cups milk (any kind you drink, unsweetened almond is great too)
3/4 cup Greek yogurt
3 tablespoons monk fruit sweetener (or sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup ice
Gather ingredients.
Optional step: Frozen strawberries can be pretty hard to blend. I microwave mine on defrost for about a minute so they are still frozen, but will blend more easily.
Place all of the ingredients in a high speed blender. Blend until smooth.
Pour into four 16oz mason jars or glasses. Top with a little whipped cream if you like, you won’t be adding much sugar.
Looking forward to some dreamy summer days…
She was a curious girl, a wanderer, who spent her summers chasing fluttering pieces of prose and eating strawberries.
Michael Faudet