It is finally starting to get warm this spring and it is time to think of lighter meals and refreshing snacks and drinks. Smoothies and shakes are a favorite at our house during this time of the year. They can serve as a healthy snack, a nutritious breakfast, or an indulgent dessert. And there are so many different kinds of smoothies or shakes you can make!

This month's 5 Star Makeover Challenge is to create a SMOOTHIE OR a SHAKE with a twist. There are many different names for such blended chilled drinks, and they can include frappes, malts, floats, lassi, batidas, and others. You can make any kind of blended chilled drink in this category, including alcoholic or coffee drinks. You can incorporate many different kinds of ingredients in various combinations to create interesting flavors, sweet or savory, inspired by any number of cuisines of the world.

The Guilt-Free Chocolate Milkshake and the Strawberry Oat Basil Smoothie with a Duo of Foams that I have previously posted about are good examples of potential entries for this 5 Star Makeover. I am also going to be posting about our new favorite smoothie a little later this month.

For this makeover, I will select a winner and the winner will receive a special prize - HealthMaster blender!

The Living Well with Montel HealthMaster™ performs the functions of more than 20 supplementary kitchen appliances. It processes both wet and dry ingredients, blending recipes for energy drinks and smoothies, ice cream, homemade soups and natural nut butters—even chewy granola bars. The HealthMaster’s design enables effortless food preparation without compromising efficiencies. The machine can perform numerous processing functions while working with one large batch. It features a 1100-watt, dual horsepower motor with a 100-year warranty and commercial-grade culinary angled stainless steel blades that emulsify at over 3000 RPM. Such blending reduces graininess and results in mixtures that don't chunk or separate for extended periods of time.