Fruit Shakes
Basic Recipe
Serves 1 adult or 2 kids
1 frozen banana
1 cup liquid
additional fruit or flavoring
optional sweetener- grapes, dates, honey or sugar
To make, break frozen banana into pieces and put in blender. Cover with liquid up to 1-cup line on blender. Add any additional fruits, flavorings, or sweeteners. Blend until consistency of milk shake (usually 30 seconds). Serve immediately (banana will start to brown if you don't). Enjoy!
NOTE: Clean out blender and cups immediately after drinking, since the fruit particles tend to get stuck to the dishes.
The ingredients:
This recipe is extremely versatile. You can vary them to comply with your diet or special needs. These shakes are great alternatives for those with diabetes, food allergies and intolerances, and vegetarians. Experiment and have fun! And please email me with your fun variations!
Here are descriptions and ideas for each ingredient:
Frozen bananas - I buy them when they are dirt cheap, peel and deep-freeze in ziploc-type bags. In a deep-freezer, they will keep up to a year without darkening, but in a regular refrigerator freezer, they start turning at 3 months. Frozen bananas give these shakes their creamy consistency, and you generally can't taste them. If you don't like bananas and don't want them in your drink, substitute crushed ice instead.
Liquid -You can use milk, water, soymilk, rice milk or juice. All work just fine. Milk will give you a creamier shake. If you use water, add a little at a time until you get to the consistency you like. Juice is a great way to sweeten these drinks, and it adds some fun.
Additional Fruit and Flavorings:
Any fruit of your choice, extracts, drink mixes, syrups, jams, or spices. You'll see lots of examples below. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination!
Sweeteners - if your shake turns out on the tart side, you can sweeten it naturally with honey, pitted or chopped dates, raisins, grapes or juice. You could also use the traditional method- add sugar. If serving for breakfast, try to keep it as healthy as possible.
Courtesy of Practical Kitchen.com http://www.practicalkitchen.com/Other Places to go:
Inspirational Country Cottage Cookbook
I can be reached at:
Connie allsosensual@excite.com