Strawberry Cheesecake Smoothies

It's strawberry season and it's warm outside, so Mike and I are enjoying many delicious smoothies.  Sometimes smoothies are our after-dinner snack, other times they're my breakfast or lunch, and sometimes we even have smoothies for dinner.  Mike and I both love smoothies, and I'm more than happy to whip up a fresh and healthy snack when we're in the mood. 

I rarely follow a recipe for smoothies.  Instead, I pour a mixture of yogurt, milk, and fruit juice into the blender.  Then I add in a few handfuls of whatever fruits we happen to have on hand.  Sometimes I'll even add in a handful of spinach or kale.  When Tina announced that this month's Crazy Cooking Challenge was smoothies, I was a little surprised--I honestly didn't realize that most people follow a recipe for smoothies.  I decided this would be a good chance to find out how other people make their smoothies, compared to my smoothies made with whatever I have on hand.

My first attempt was a failure.  Neither Mike or I liked it at all!  When I told Mike on Sunday night that we were going to try another smoothie recipe, he was not impressed.  He requested that I "make smoothies like you normally do".  He likes my smoothies :)  But, I had to complete this challenge and I had found another recipe that sounded fabulous--a Strawberry Cheesecake Smoothie.  How could you go wrong with a name like that?

I found this recipe at Susan's blog, The Royal Cook.  She said it was a hit with her family, and I'm happy to say it was a hit with ours as well.  Mike said he wasn't too hungry when I made these, but he ended up drinking almost half of my smoothie.  I'd say he liked it!

ETA:  Thank you to everyone who voted for me.  My smoothie recipe was voted as the Ultimate Fruit Smoothie recipe for June's Crazy Cooking Challenge!

Strawberry Cheesecake Smoothies
Makes 2 large smoothies

You will need:
1 cup vanilla yogurt (I used Greek)
1 cup milk
2 ounces cream cheese (I used Neufchatel)
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1 banana, frozen
2 cups strawberries, frozen
Combine all the ingredients in your blender and blend until smooth.

Top with graham cracker pieces before serving, if desired.
Source: The Royal Cook

What is your favorite smoothie flavor?
Also, don't forget the ultimate recipe each month is the one that receives the most clicks.  Please click on the thumbnail picture for my recipe to vote for me!