Blackberry Lavender Smoothie

I had a handful of interesting summer jobs during my college years. I babysat, I worked as a room attendant at the Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone National Park, tended the gift shop and washed buckets at a berry farm, and served as a camp counselor.
These jobs each carry memories of struggles and joy in their own aspect, when I think of them the sights, smells, and sounds of hard work in the summer come back to me. One scent I especially attach to my summer job memories is lavender.

The berry farm I worked at was known for it's milkshakes. While working at the gift shop I became a pretty bomb milkshake mixer. Our shakes were made with fresh berries and vanilla ice cream, mmm.



I was surprised when I first started working and noticed the menu said you could add fresh lavender to any shake. I loved the smell of lavender, but I was skeptical it would taste soapy and strange. Once I tried it though, I was a believer!

Today I'm sharing a recipe for a smoothie inspired by those milkshakes from my berry farm summer.

I love having fresh herbs around and I've discovered a great way to keep them around longer is freezing them. It's really easy too, and a great way to keep enjoying the flavors of summer even when the season is long past.

All you have to do is snip small sections of herbs and place them in an ice cube tray, then fill the tray with water, and place it in the freezer for a few hours. Soon you'll have preserved cubes of fresh herbs, just label a ziplock bag and pop them in the freezer. Now you have fresh herbs (or lavender!) to add to smoothies, iced teas, and use for cooking.

Blackberry Lavender Smoothie
1 cup frozen blackberries 
1 banana, frozen or fresh 
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp honey 
Several snips of fresh lavender, or one frozen lavender cube 

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender.
2. Blend until smooth, adding more liquid if mixture gets too thick.
3. Serve and enjoy! 

This recipe would also be great with blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, or a mixture of berries! If you are not a fan of bananas, you can omit the banana and replace with additional berries. You could also use any non-dairy milk substitute of your choosing.

Do you have any unusual ingredients you like to put in smoothies? How about any interesting past summer jobs? Let me know in the comments below!
Thanks so much for stopping by. If you enjoyed this post, you might enjoy my post-workout snack ideas or healthier chocolate peanut butter treats.

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