Milk shakes for breakfast? Treats do not have to be expensive or unhealthy to be good! These fruit shakes can be eaten for breakfast, snack or a refreshing dessert. They can be tailored to any dietary needs and take just minutes to make. Sound too good to be true? You be the judge!

Fruit Shakes
Serves one adult or two kids

1 frozen banana
1 cup liquid
Additional fruit or flavoring
Optional sweetener - grapes, dates, honey or sugar

To make, break frozen banana into pieces and put in blender. Cover with liquid up to 1-cup line on blender. Add any additional fruits, flavorings or sweeteners. Blend until consistency of milk shake (usually 30 seconds). Serve immediately (banana will start to brown if you don't). Enjoy!

NOTE: Clean out blender and cups immediately after drinking, since the fruit particles tend to get stuck to the dishes.

The Ingredients
This recipe is extremely versatile. You can vary them to comply with your diet or special needs. These shakes are great alternatives for those with diabetes, food allergies and intolerances and vegetarians. Experiment and have fun!

Here are descriptions and ideas for each ingredient:

Frozen bananas - I buy them when they are dirt cheap, peel and deep-freeze in Ziploc-type bags. In a deep-freezer, they will keep up to a year without darkening, but in a regular refrigerator freezer, they start turning at 3 months. Frozen bananas give these shakes their creamy consistency, and you generally can't taste them. If you don't like bananas and don't want them in your drink, substitute crushed ice instead.

Liquid - You can use milk, water, soy milk, rice milk or juice. All work just fine. Milk will give you a creamier shake. If you use water, add a little at a time until you get to the consistency you like. Juice is a great way to sweeten these drinks, and it adds some fun.

Sweeteners - Any fruit of your choice, extracts, drink mixes, syrups, jams or spices. You'll see lots of examples below. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination! If your shake turns out on the tart side, you can sweeten it naturally with honey, pitted or chopped dates, raisins, grapes or juice. You could also use the traditional method - add sugar. If serving for breakfast, try to keep it as healthy as possible.

Vanilla
1 frozen banana
1 cup milk/soy milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Blend together. Yummy!

Chocolate
1 frozen banana
1 cup milk/soy milk
A few squirts of chocolate syrup

Blend.

Strawberry Cream
1 frozen banana
1 cup milk/soy milk
1 handful of strawberries, washed and sliced
1 to 2 pitted dates to sweeten (optional)

Blend.

Blueberry Fool
1 frozen banana
1 cup milk/soy milk
A handful of blueberries (use as much as you want!)

Blend.

Purple Cow
1 frozen banana (or 1/4 cup crushed ice)
1/2 cup grape juice
1/2 cup milk

Blend.

Peanut Butter Dream
1 frozen banana
1 cup milk/soy milk
2 tsp of peanut butter, creamy or crunchy

Blend. (My oldest son loves this one - it tastes like peanut butter ice cream! Great with chocolate syrup too for a "Reese's" shake.)

Pina Colada
1 frozen banana
1 cup milk/soy milk
1 to 2 tsp. shredded coconut
1/4 cup chopped or crushed pineapple (fresh is best, but canned is pretty good too)
Blend. One of my personal favorites!

Apple Pie
1 frozen banana
1/2 peeled, chopped apple
1 cup apple juice
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg

Blend. Great substitute for applesauce! Control the consistency by adding more or less chopped apple.

Key Lime Pie
1 frozen banana
Juice of one lime, diluted with water or milk to make 1 cup of liquid