As a young child, I loved my desserts. But once I reached the age of eleven, the fruit and yogurt my dad gave us after dinner were no longer satisfying enough. They were the sort of things I’d get in my school lunches, and what I wanted was proper desserts. So I took matters into my own hands. My dad’s smoothies, which he claimed were milkshakes, had always been something my younger brother and I adored. Even though he rarely made them. He made us his regular smoothies every morning, a very different recipe to his ‘milkshakes’. His morning smoothies consisted of 75% spinach, juice and frozen fruit. They always came out green. He also liked experimenting with them, sometimes adding in kale and once he added in carrot. It was painful, reluctantly having to drink them. In comparison to our morning smoothies, these rare, fluffy ‘milkshakes’ with milk and fruit and no spinach were quite special. My dad told me that if I made them myself, I could have them every night after dinner. At that age, my brother and I didn’t realize what real milkshakes were. I thought I was incredibly lucky he was offering me this deal, considering he’s always talking about how sugary fruit is and that he genuinely tried to convince me before that milk was a dessert.
I have never been a fan of baking and cooking—I don't like the precision and how easy it is to mess up—but milkshakes are incredibly quick and simple. So, as the sugar-starved eleven year old I felt I was, I jumped at this opportunity. I didn’t make them often then, but over the years I’ve been making them more and more. Now, I usually make them a few times a week. My brother claims he has never had a milkshake better than mine, which is touching. Though this is likely the result of him really rarely having tasted REAL milkshake, instead of my recipe being thatamazing. Despite how average they are, they represent home to us in a way. When we’re away on long trips, they're one of the foods we miss the most. They’re satisfying at any time of the day, after getting back from school, returning from sports or whenever your dad doesn’t have a satisfying enough dessert for after dinner.
My dad's spinach smoothies ⇨ ⇨ ⇨ ⇨ ⇨ ⇨
This recipe makes ~ 2 tall glasses of milkshake.
You will need:
- A blender - Milk - A banana - Frozen fruit - Sprinkles (optional)
Step 1: Put one banana into the blender.
Step 2: Put in one and a half cup of the frozen fruit of your choice (I usually use strawberries or blueberries).
Step 3: Pour in one cup of milk (it depends how thick you want your milkshake, sometimes I’ll pour in a bit less to have it thicker).