I have always been a lover of a good smoothie. No doubt about it. I hesitate though when it comes to actually making them at home. Sure they’re tasty and nutritious, but if you’ve ever made one at home you know how messy it can get. Not to mention the amount of ingredients you have to put together to make it just right.

With much thanks to Yoplait I can now concoct smoothies for two (or more) in less than 2 minutes and using only the package they sell in the freezer aisle and a cup of milk. Each Yoplait smoothie contains a full serving of fruit and the frozen yogurt pieces already in the package contain your live and active cultures. Let’s not forget about the calcium and vitamin C each contains as well. The taste is incredibly creamy and fruity at the same time. My favorite flavor has been the Very Berry, but there are others to choose from as well.

Each member in our family loved these for different reasons. Personally, I am horrible about eating breakfast. This smoothie is a perfect solution for me opposed to the cup (or 3) of coffee I normally consume for breakfast. For the kids this has been a great solution for afternoon snack. Ryan is always starving when he gets home from school, but I never want to give him too much to eat because then he won’t eat his dinner. One package of Yoplait Smoothie after school makes enough for Olivia, Ryan and a little for myself as well. This gets them another serving of their fruit for the day and it fills them up enough until dinner, but not too much.

Again, they are easy to prepare. You can make these in any blender, however I’ve been making mine in a single serve blender that has just enough space to prepare one package of Yoplait smoothie.  This makes 2-3 glasses of smoothie for kid sized portions.  All you do is poor the ingredients from the package into the blender followed by your 1 cup of milk and blend for 1.5 minutes. It’s then ready to serve and any leftovers can be stored in  your refrigerator.

The Giveaway:

Yoplait and My Blog Spark are kindly providing a Yoplait Frozen Smoothie Gift Pack to one Through Hazel Eyes reader. Each gift pack includes a VIP coupon to redeem for a free package of Yoplait Frozen Smoothies as well as a Blender to mix your smoothies with.

To Enter:

Please answer this question as your initial entry: What is your favorite smoothie to make at home?

Additional Entries:

-Follow me via google friends connect

-Subscribe via reader or email

-Follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway (2 times per day)

Contest will end January 31st. I will draw a winner via random.org and announce here after.

Some or all of the material used in this post have been provided to me by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the sole purpose of product testing. In this case, Yoplait and My Blog Spark. Opinions stated are my own and are not influenced by monetary compensation.

This is one of my favorite appetizers to bring to gatherings for a dish to pass. I don’t think I’ve found one person who  does not like this.

What you need:

• 2 containers of crescent rolls, I use Original
• 1 Block, 8 oz., of Cream Cheese
• 1/3 cup of Sour Cream
• 1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch Dip mix
• 1/4 cup broccoli chopped
• 1/4 cup of tomato (I like cherry tomatoes for this) chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped green, yellow or red pepper
• 1/4 cup of Green Onion
• 3 tablespoons of Shredded Carrots
• 1/4 shredded sharp cheddar cheese

(Substitutions-You can substitue any of the vegetable above for any you prefer. These listed are my favorite together, however I have been to known to buy the ones on sale and use those as well.)

Start by creating your crust. You will lay out the crescent dough to make a flat surface on a cookie sheet, mimicking a rectangular pizza crust. Stick that in the oven at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.

While that is baking you can mix up your “sauce” and cut up your vegetables. The sauce consist of the Cream Cheese, Sour Cream and the Ranch pack. Mix altogether and chill while you’re waiting for your crust to finish baking.

Now you can start chopping your veggies. By the time you are done chopping your crust should be done. I let the crust cool for about 10 minutes and then you can spread your Cream Cheese mixture over the crust followed by the assorted veggies. I then top with the Shredded Cheddar Cheese.

Now it is complete! I like to let it chill for at least 1/2 hour before cutting and eating.