Smoothie Operator

Now that Cocktail Week is officially over, this blog needs some detox!  To be totally honest with y'all, while I wanted to try each and every delicious cocktail that was posted by all my girls last week, I knew that if I were to do so, I'd probably just be waking up in a ditch with my pants on backwards somewhere.
And that's just really not how I roll.  So they have been bookmarked, jotted down, and even pinned for future reference, and I can return my focus back to consuming better, more healthful Things.
And that's why I'm so excited for July (when one lives in Arizona, there are few things about July over which to get excited).  This month, Charissa over at Colourful Palate is challenging readers to drink a smoothie a day - it's the Colourful Smoothie Challenge!

I love smoothies.  I mean, who doesn't?  They're basically a milkshake you don't feel badly about inhaling through the largest straw in the house, since, when done properly, they are made with all sorts of good things for the body.  What makes smoothies far superior to juice, in my opinion, is that since everything is blended together, none of the nutrients in the fruits and veggies are lost like they are in the juicing process.
Oh, and can I mention how easy it is to make them?  Basically, any smoothie recipe probably started out like this:

*person looks in fruit bowl and veggie bins*
"Hmmmm.... what can I make myself that will be fast and easy and use the foods I have?  I KNOW!  I'll take this, this, and this, and I'll whip those bad boys up in my blender!"

BAM!
Smoothie recipe.

This is a great opportunity, too, for the newest addition to the kitchen staff to show off what he can do.  Cato is our new KitchenAid blender, and I love what he's done so far.  I'll be putting him to work quite a bit this summer, and especially through this month of the Colourful Smoothie Challenge.

My biggest concern is that we are spending this coming weekend in San Diego, so I'll have to seek out juice and smoothie bars in the area of our hotel in order to keep the trend going.  Hopefully I won't be stuck with large, national chains that make their "smoothies" out of juice, sugar, and ice cubes (not naming names, but it rhymes with Bamba Puce).

Now, this is a challenge, and there are possible prizes involved, but I really want to participate in this because I think that it will be a good way for me to challenge myself to try different smoothie combos instead of getting stuck on the same, albeit delicious, ones for weeks on end.  Charissa has some great-sounding smoothie recipes on her blog, and I've found quite a few others on other favorite sites that I'm looking forward to mixing up, too.
The goal this week is to clean out the fruit bowl and the veggie bins before we head out of town.  I've got peaches, berries, cherries, honeydew, limes, a carrot, and plenty of kale to work with, so I'm confident that each day this week before we're gone will be a new and exciting menu item.
What's up first?  In the spirit of the Challenge, I thought I'd try a take on Charissa's strawberry and vanilla milkshake (yes, she calls it a milkshake, but it's actually a smoothie that just tastes like it should be bad for you) that she posted over at the Fitfluential blog (where I first learned of the challenge).  What's more - all the ingredients are in my house.  Winning.
Bottoms up!

What is your favorite smoothie recipe?
Are you a fan of the green smoothies?