Easy Berry Banana Smoothie for 2

Happy belated New Year, and welcome to the new version of Jill Eats! My passion project to write about food, culinary travels, and all of my recipe endeavors is back in action with a brand new look: Recipes By Jill. I'm not here to be the fanciest, trendiest new food blogger of all the land, but simply eager to share what I like to cook, create, and inspire you to make something new + delicious in your own kitchen. I hope you're excited to find some of my signature recipes throughout the past 8 years of my recipe writing career, and I'll continue to make seasonal, approachable dishes that I am proud to make for my friends + family.

To start off the second week of the New Year, I present the easiest, most healthy way to start your day: a one bowl fruit smoothie that checks off all the boxes of "I always forget to eat these food groups" type meal. How easy is this? Well, I use the immersion blender, readily available ingredients, and to make sure this tastes delicious....frozen berries! Now, I am adamant on using seasonal ingredients and cooking dishes appropriate for winter/spring/summer/fall, but in a pinch and when local fruits aren't in season, find a frozen fruit brand, no added sugar, just pure flash frozen healthy goodness. Feel free to customize these quantities as you see fit, for example, use oat milk instead of almond milk, change up the frozen fruit (Mango Banana, whew so good), or use a different yogurt....variety will make it more exciting to have this be your breakfast 3-4 times a week. Okay, enough of me rambling, see how easy this is and have a healthy start to your day!

INGREDIENTS:

• One large banana, cut into quarters

• 2 cups frozen berries, here I used a mix of blueberries + strawberries from Wyman's

• 1/2 cup whole milk yogurt, preferably plain

• 3/4 cup almond milk, unsweetened

• 2 Tbsp almond butter, plain

• 1/4 cup cold water

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a medium size bowl or a traditional blender, add in all ingredients at once.

2. If the berries or frozen fruit are slightly larger, you can let this mixture sit out for 5-10 minutes to allow the fruit to soften for easy blending.

3. Take your immersion blender, and slowly pulse blend all ingredients together, blending until your mixture is a smooth puree and fully incorporated, about 2 minutes.

4. Taste for texture + consistency, if you like your smoothie a little thinner, then add in additional few tablespoons of cold water to lighten it up.

5. Pour into two glasses and serve immediately!