The dinner project - Strawberry milkshake

I know I call this "The Dinner Project" but what is dinner with out a little desert every now and then?

It is summer and we have a huge amount of strawberries showing up in our farmer's markets. We are eating about a 1/2 flat (that is 6 pints) a week. Well, I say "week" but what I really mean is "between Saturday (market day) and, at the latest, Tuesday." None of the berries last past that anyway. So how do we pack away that many berries? Aside from just stuffing our mouths with them we make shakes! This is one of those, "surprised I'm still losing weight" kind of thinks. I've found it is all about the right choices though. I will make some ice cream suggestions. We use Breyer's Fat Free Vanilla Ice Cream or Umpqua Nonfat Frozen Vanilla Yogurt. (I think Umpqua is a NW thing.) Reddi Whip has a very nice Fat Free whipped cream for a little extra on top. The most important thing is very ripe strawberries. If you can find Hood strawberries, an Oregon specialty, then you are in for a real treat. They are usually a June thing but, because of our late start to summer this year, we are getting them in abundance in July.

The basic recipe for the strawberry milkshake shown in the picture below is 1 cup of ice cream/frozen yogurt and 1 & 1/2 cup of Hood strawberries. The strawberries were so juicy that I didn't need to thin the shake down with a tablespoon of milk like I sometimes do. The trick to a thick and tasty milkshake is speed. Have everything ready before you combine and do short, fast bursts of blending. Don't take too long trying to get it perfectly smooth. You'll just end up with a soupy mess. (I knew managing that ice cream shop in college would pay off in the end!)

My amazing summer treat that I can still eat and be healthy!