3 Healthy and Delicious Smoothie Recipes

I love to make smoothies for myself and for my kids. They're a fantastic way to make sure everyone's getting enough fruits and veggies in their diet and they're ideal for an on-the-go breakfast or a treat. You can make these delicious smoothies at any time — all these ingredients can be found in the supermarket year-round and frozen fruit is perfectly fine to use. (It's actually better in some cases.) Here are three of my favorite smoothie recipes that everyone in the family enjoys.

I used to wonder why my smoothies didn't have the same taste and texture as the kind I'd get from the juice bar. It turns out that the blender makes a huge difference. A high-powered blender will blend your ingredients thoroughly in the way that a less expensive department store blender just can't.

A few years ago I invested in a Blendtec Classic Series blender and it's changed my smoothie-making life for the better and become one of my favorite kitchen tools. You can get one starting at $325 at Amazon and other retailers. We considered a Vitamix blender, too, but liked the sleek look and compact size of the Blendtec unit better.

My kids love to use the Blendtec to create their own smoothies with produce from the farmer's market, too. They just fill it up and hit the "smoothie" button and that's it. I also love that the Blendtec blade is dull (no more cutting your fingers when you try to clean the blender jar!) and it relies on the power of the motor to do the work.

For all these recipes, just place all the ingredients in your blender jar and hit the "smoothie" preset and that's it! Each recipe makes approximately two eight-ounce smoothies.

Pineapple Coconut Banana Smoothie

This tropical smoothie is one of our kids' favorites. You can use fresh pineapple but frozen is easier and really makes for a better smoothie overall since you don't have to add any ice to make it nice and cold. You can cut up and freeze bananas, too, for this and the other smoothies in this article.

• 2 cups frozen pineapple chunks
• 3/4 cup low-fat coconut milk (canned is fine)
• 1 ripe banana, cut up

Sunrise Kale Smoothie

This one is my favorite. I love the bright green color and the sweetness imparted by the pineapple and mango which offset the bitterness of the kale. I use whatever kind of kale I happen to pick up at the farm or farmer's market; dinosaur kale or curly kale work perfectly fine.

• 1 cup kale, cut or torn into pieces
• 1 cup frozen mango chunks
• 1/2 cup frozen pineapple chunks
• 1 ripe banana, cut up
• 3/4 cup coconut water

Strawberry, Banana & Vanilla Smoothie

This smoothie features Greek yogurt for a smooth texture and some protein. You can use sweetened vanilla Greek yogurt (omit the vanilla extract) if you find the plain yogurt too sour.

• 1 cup frozen or fresh strawberries
• 1/2 cup plain or vanilla Greek yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 banana, cut up
• 1/2 cup of ice (omit if using frozen strawberries)
• 1/2 cup coconut water

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