Cantaloupe Smoothie

   This past weekend I bought a cantaloupe to eat, but once I got home and cut into I realized that I wasn't as ripe as I needed/wanted it to be. Since I had already cut and chopped half of the melon, I decided to leave the other half whole to see if it would ripen a little more.



   I had already planned on juicing some pineapples and apples to do a mini-detox; so I thought that I could juice the melon too. Then I started to think about making a smoothie with the melon-instead of juicing it since the melon that I had cut up and stored in the fridge was starting to soften and become sweeter. I thought about what recipe I could make and I kinda remember seeing a smoothie recipe that Giada made on one of her shows with cantaloupe. I opted not to go online to find that recipe since I usually get distracted when I am on the computer and usually spend more time on it than I originally planned on.

  I already had a smoothie recipe that I was going to post, but I decided to post this recipe first. Since cantaloupes are typically best around early summer to October ; you can use frozen cantaloupe instead of fresh. I figured that this recipe would be great not only to drink during the summer, but also freeze and make popsicles!

  This recipe is very easy to change to your taste preference. You can use less orange juice, no strawberries, other berries or fruit, and you could even try this with a honeydew melon (I hate the way they taste, but think the honeydew candles smell good..weird?)

Cantaloupe Smoothie
Created by Rayna of Curious Country Cook

serves: 1

3/4 orange juice
3/4-1 cup cantaloupe, peeled, seeded, & chopped
1/2 cup ice
honey*
4-6 strawberries

1. Place the chunks of cantaloupe, juice, strawberries, and honey into the blender.
2. Blend to combine. Add in the ice and blend until smooth.
Serve

Notes:
* Depending on how sweet your fruit is and how sweet you like your drinks depends on the amount of honey you'll use. I used about 1-1 1/2 tsp because my cantaloupe wasn't as ripe as it could have been.
-You can pour this into Popsicle molds or paper cups (with a popsicle stick) and freeze to make a cold treat for hot summer days.