Orange Julius

I have been making this drink for years. I don't exactly remember when I started making them, but I have always loved them. These aren't for the milk orange lover. This drink is tangy and has a very strong orange flavor. Now of course if you wanted less flavor you could always use more milk or ice, but I like it just the way it is!

Orange Julius
Prep Time: 5 min
Servings: 4

Ingredients
1 - 12 oz can frozen orange juice concentrate
2 cups milk
1/2 cup ice
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 orange peeled and in segments *

Directions
Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth.  Serve immediately.

*Note: I threw in the orange just to add a little extra real fruit flavor/vitamins, and just to feel like its a little healthier. The orange does add a slight pulpiness to it. If you are against pulp then just leave out the orange.

Green Smoothies

I'm sure most of you have heard about green smoothies. As far as I can tell they are kind of the craze right now, and why wouldn't they be? What better way to eat a bunch of fruits and veggies than to blend them all together and drink them? Not to mention that there is no better way to start you morning off right. My husband and I heard about these a few months back and decided to try them. I will admit my husband was quite skeptical at first. He told me he didn't want to actually know what was in it. He was shocked that it wasn't actually green. I have definitely experimented a lot with different fruits and some turn out much better than others. I usually use whatever fruits and veggies I have on hand. Here is the smoothie I made today.

Green Smoothie

1/2 cup milk
3-4 hand fulls of spinach ( will often fill the whole blender with spinach)
2 cups fresh strawberries
1 banana
1/2 cup blueberries
2 tbs honey
1/4 cup strawberry lemonade

Combine the milk and spinach in a blender and blend until smooth. Add strawberries, banana, blueberries, honey and lemonade blend until smooth. Enjoy!

Like I said this is the one that I made this morning and it was really good. Here are 2 other fruits combinations I have used in the past in my smoothies and really enjoyed.

Spinach, pineapple, orange juice, banana (this one is actually a lovely color of green)

Spinach, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, yogurt, honey

I have even added whole carrots to the process and enjoyed that. These smoothies are not an exact science so please feel free to play around with the fruits and veggies. Spinach is typically my staple in these, but I have also used other types of green leafy vegetables.