Here’s another smoothie we have with breakfast quite often. I’ve found that pears and pineapple are nature’s sugar. If I use them in my smoothies, there is no need for sugar. Plus I got a little overwhelmed last fall when the boxes of pears were ripening faster than I could bottle them. After a couple of days I changed from bottling sliced pears to making pear sauce and bottling it. Pear sauce has a grainy texture so it isn’t good straight out of the bottle like applesauce. However, the blender makes it nice and smooth. If you don’t have bottled pear sauce you can use a can or two of pears–juice and all. I did that before I canned all this lovely pear sauce.

Strawberry-Pear Smoothie

1 quart pear sauce (or a couple cans of pears or some fresh)

1 quart fresh or frozen strawberries or peaches

If I have a banana, sometimes I throw that in, too.

Pour half of the pear sauce into the blender with half of the slightly thawed strawberries or peaches. (Put them in your fridge the night before.) Blend until smooth. Pour into a 2 quart pitcher. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Stir and add water to thin if needed. You can blend ice cubes with the fruit to “chill” the mixture if using fresh fruit. Serve and enjoy.

You can make popsicles with any leftover smoothie for a refreshing summer treat. This is a Tupperware set, but you can use small paper cups and popsicle sticks or even ice cube trays for mini frozen treats. The ice cube version are good with Sprite poured over them.

My children love these popsicles.

My sister in-law gave me a recipe for a Pineapple-Spinach Drink. Since I like to make smoothies for breakfast  with a fruit base, I changed the ingredients from juice to real fruit. It’s easy, delicious and that spinach is oh so good for you; so go ahead and try it.

Two cans of chunk pineapple (you can use crushed) and some fresh spinach. I pulled mine out of one of the five large bowls of the stuff in my fridge. Don’t worry–there’s more in the garden. I won’t run out any time soon. Put one can of pineapple in the blender with the spinach and blend until the spinach is only tiny green flecks. Add the second can of pineapple and blend until the green flecks are gone. Pour into a pitcher. You can add water to thin it if you want. I had some orange juice so I stirred that in, too. It’s perfectly all right not to add any other liquid.

I found these straws at our local grocery store. They are perfect for little cowboys and cowgirls.

Pineapple Spinach Smoothie

2 cans chunk pineapple (or crushed)
Some spinach
Orange juice or water if desired

Blend pineapple and spinach until green flecks are gone. Stir in chilled orange juice. When I’m thinking ahead, I put the cans of pineapple in the fridge the night before so the smoothie is cold in the morning. When I’m not  thinking ahead, I throw some ice cubes in the blender to “chill” the smoothie. Enjoy!