Maintaining a healthy diet during the summer can, sometimes, be a real task. It might be easy enough to eat a good dinner, but more often than not we tend to skip over a nutritious breakfast. Smoothies are a great way for you to get some fruit into your busy schedule and, with a little bit of experimentation, you can easily develop a smoothie recipe that’s uniquely your own.

This week I’ve concocted three different variations for you all to try at home. Feel free to add or replace ingredients to suite your tastes or dietary needs. One thing is certain thought, however you decide to make your smoothie, the nourishment will stay with you all day. Cheers!

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Summer Strawberry Smoothie

2 cups ripe strawberries with cores removed

1 tablespoon honey (or to taste)

1 cup non-fat plain yogurt

¼ cup apple juice

5 ice cubes

Combine all ingredients in a blender and pulse until everything comes together. Once everything is combined blend for about 30 seconds or until smooth. Serve immediately.

Honeydew Smoothie

½ honeydew melon; peeled, seeded, and cubed

¼ cup non-fat plain yogurt

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lime juice

4-5 ice cubes

Combine all ingredients in a blender. Pulse to bring together, then blend until smooth.

Banana Nut Smoothie

2 bananas peeled and broken up

¼ cup all natural chunky peanut butter

1 tablespoon honey

2 tablespoons Nutella (optional)

1 ½ cup almond milk (soy milk or cow milk works too)

¼ cup non-fat plain yogurt

4-5 ice cubes

Combine all ingredients in the blender and pulse to bring together, then blend until smooth.

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Good smoothies are pretty dependent on high quality, fresh ingredients and we’ve featured a few food events below that also place an emphasis and high quality, fresh ingredients. Check these out:

Saturday, June 8 I Cypress Farm to Table Wine Dinner feat. Gard Vintners & Benefitting Sno-Valley Tilth – Bellevue, Washington   Aryn Morell’s winemaking style lends itself to complex but clean wines that are ideal for pairing with summer fare. The Cypress Wine Bar is super excited to feature them during their Gard Vintners Farm-to-Table wine dinner this Saturday benefiting Sno-Valley Tilth! These wines bring out the fresh, earthy flavors inherent in the Sno-Valley Tilth organic farmers early produce, and brought to life by the Westin Bellevue’s mind-blowing team of Executive Chef Ivo Sandrea and Executive Sous Chef Chris Rolewicz.

Saturday, June 8 I Midnight Sun Farm Tour and Picnic – Grayslake, Illinois   Midnight Sun Farm is just an hour away from Oak Park and is excited to host The Sugar Beet Co-op and friends for a farm tour and catered picnic lunch. Guests will start the day by exploring the 5-acre organic vegetable farm that is also home to chickens, turkeys, pigs and goats. After a guided hayride tour by farmer Nick Choate-Batchelder, there will be a delicious farm picnic catered by Crème Crafted Parties & Events. After lunch, guests are welcome to walk the fields, participate in a farm chore or visit one of the other area farms that are part of the Prairie Crossing Conservation Community.

Friday, June 14 I Farm Table Dinner with Visiting Chefs Rob & Allie Levitt – Weston, Missouri    Green Dirt Farm is delighted to welcome visiting chefs Rob and Allie Levitt of The Butcher & Larder in Chicago for a very special Farm Table Dinner on Friday, June 14. The Butcher & Larder is Chicago’s first sustainable, whole-animal butcher shop. In their eight years as members of Chicago’s food scene, the husband and wife team have been  champions of locally raised, sustainable products and have formed close relationships with small Midwestern farmers. Farm Table Dinners at Green Dirt Farm are culinary celebrations of the all-important links between landscape, food and community. In collaboration with Kansas City’s finest chefs, producers and growers, the barn at Green Dirt Farm is the setting for this series of dinners. These chef-driven events provide a truly unique dining experience. Chefs create each one-night-only menu using Green Dirt Farm’s 100% grass-fed lamb and award-winning sheep’s milk cheeses, as well as farmer-grown, locally harvested, produced and foraged ingredients at the peak of flavor and freshness. Your dinner will include at least four courses prepared by the chefs. Each course will be paired with a carefully selected wine, beer or cocktail.