DRINKS ALL AROUND!

We don't drink alcohol at our house, but that doesn't mean you can't whip up a cool non-alcohol drink for fun once in a while. The past few days I've been experimenting with new drinks for this yucky time of year. Here are a few we tried:

First up:
Hailey's Smoothie  - not my favorite but I think with the changes I mention, it would be worth trying.

Ingredients:
3 kiwis, peeled and chopped
2 frozen bananas, peeled and chopped
1 cup blueberries
1 cup plain yogurt (I would use vanilla)
1 1/2 cups crushed ice
3 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (I would omit or use vanilla instead)

Directions:

In a blender, combine the kiwis, frozen bananas, blueberries, yogurt, crushed ice, honey and almond extract. Blend until smooth.

 picture:

Next up:
Shirley Temple II - We liked this one OK. It was pretty cool looking and tasted good.

Ingredients :
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup lemon-lime flavored carbonated beverage
1 tablespoon grenadine syrup
1 maraschino cherry

Directions
In a tall glass, combine orange juice and lemon-lime soda. Pour grenadine in and let it sink to the bottom. Garnish with a maraschino cherry and a straw for stirring.

pic:

 

Next up:
Cherry Banana Smoothie (adapted from this recipe)~ Overall we like this one, not a Jamba Juice by any means but good.

Ingredients:
1 cup frozen, pitted cherries
1 banana, cut in chunks
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
water to thin to desired consistency

Directions:
Place the cherries, banana, lemon juice, yogurt, and vanilla extract into a blender. Cover, and puree, adding little bits of water until smooth. Pour into glasses to serve.

pic:

Last but not least:

Ogre Drink ~(we renamed this one- get original name here) This one tasted most like (what I would imagine) a cocktail to drink. Sweet and sour. Kids LOVED this one and I thought it was pretty good too.

Ingredients:
1 (6 ounce) can frozen limeade concentrate
1 cup diet cola flavored carbonated beverage (we used caffeine-free Coke)
1 cup orange juice
1 cup water
10 cubes ice

Directions
Combine the limeade concentrate, carbonated beverage, orange juice, water and ice in the container of a blender. Cover, and blend until slushy. If you want to add liquor, add it last, and just blend for a few seconds more.

Sorry no pic. The reason we renamed it (besides it's original name was inappropriate for children) was because it looked brown and not very appetizing. BUT it was yummy!

Chilling Jack-o’-Lantern Smoothies

I got so many cute Halloween ideas from a recipe group I attended. One of my favorites was this Chilling Jack-o'-Lantern Smoothie. The original recipe was from Bettycrocker.com but we tweaked it a little to make it more simple. Here's the original recipe:

Chilling Jack-o'-Lantern Smoothies
1 tablespoon semisweet chocolate chips
4 plastic cups (8 to 9 oz each)
3 containers (6 oz each) Yoplait® Original 99% Fat Free orange crème or harvest peach yogurt
1/4 cup frozen (thawed) orange juice concentrate
1 can (11 oz) mandarin orange segments, chilled, drained
1 banana, sliced

Directions:
1. In small microwavable bowl, melt chocolate chips on High for 1 minute or until melted. With tip of knife, spread chocolate on inside of each plastic cup to resemble eyes, nose and mouth of jack-o’-lantern. Repeat with 3 more cups. Refrigerate 5 minutes or until chocolate is set.
2. Meanwhile, in blender container, place all remaining ingredients; cover and blend until smooth. Pour into chocolate painted cups.

HERE'S WHAT I DID:
1 Tbs Nutella
1/2 bag frozen peaches
1 C. sugar
milk to desired consistency

Directions:
1.With tip of knife, spread Nutella on inside of each plastic cup to resemble eyes, nose and mouth of jack-o’-lantern.

2.Meanwhile, in blender container, place all remaining ingredients; cover and blend until smooth. Pour into chocolate painted cups.

Here are the results:


ADORABLE AND TASTY!

Orange Julius

Growing up, we mostly had this wonderful drink on a summer Sunday afternoon.

Orange Julius
1/2 (12oz) can frozen orange juice
1 C. water
1 C. Milk
1 tray ice cubes
1/3 C. sugar
1tsp vanilla

Blend until Smooth

My picture isn't the best but here are the results:

Banana Ice Cream Shake

I love it when I can find a recipe for things I have on hand and I don't have to rush out to the store. I had some bananas I had to use and decided a shake sounded good. I've tried to make a lot of Banana flavored shakes but they never turn out just right. THIS recipe, however, was just perfect. (I put my changes in bold)

Banana Ice Cream Shake
Ingredients:

1 banana, peeled and chopped (I used 2)

2 scoops vanilla ice cream

1 cup milk

2 egg white (I omitted)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
In a blender, combine banana, ice cream, milk, egg white and vanilla extract. Blend until smooth. Pour into glasses and serve.

Here are the results:

B and L's Strawberry Smoothie

I'm really sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been cooking though and I have some good recipes. I think smoothie season is officially over but I just love smoothies. Here's a good one I found online:

B and L's Strawberry Smoothie:

Ingredients:

• 8 strawberries, hulled
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 6 cubes ice, crushed

Directions:
In a blender combine strawberries, milk, yogurt, sugar and vanilla. Toss in the ice. Blend until smooth and creamy. Pour into glasses and serve.

Here are the results:


MY REVIEW: I forgot the sugar, but it still tasted good. It's good basic recipe to start with for anybody who is afraid of making smoothies (but really, you can't go wrong)

Blackberry Peach Smoothie

My husband decided to buy some blackberries from a farmer's market the other day. Great. What do I do with blackberries? When in doubt- throw them into a smoothie! Since we're not fond of the seeds, I pressed them into a wire colander thingy and juiced them. It was VERY tasty!Here's my approximate recipe:

1 C blackberry juice
2 peaches sliced
1/2 cup drinkable strawberry yogurt
1 C ice

Blend together and enjoy!

Here are the results:

Irresistible Peach Smoothie

I had all this fruit from this cool Co-op (I'll write about this later) and I had to use it all up! I received some delicious peaches in my basket and decided I needed to make a smoothie. I didn't have any ice cream so I just used ice instead. It tasted good, but not Jamba Juice good. It did hit the spot on a hot summers day and I have not doubt it would have been better with vanilla ice cream instead of plain ice!

Irresistible Peach Smoothie

Ingredients:

2 cup(s)	(peeled, pitted and diced ) peaches, about 3 medium
1/2 cup(s)	(low-fat) Milk
1 cup(s)	vanilla ice cream
1 tablespoon(s)	(fresh) lemon juice
	peach slices, for garnish, optional

Directions:
Combine diced peaches, milk, ice cream and lemon juice in a blender; puree until nearly smooth. Pour into glasses and serve immediately garnished with peach slices, if you like.

Here are the results: