Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans! Unfortunately for those of us on the East Coast, our day of outdoor cookouts and night of fireworks was rained out thanks to Hurricane Arthur barreling up the coast. We had a tremendous thunderstorm last night, and it’s been pouring out for most of today- limiting most of the festivities to the indoors.

While I will be braving the rain to attend a friend’s birthday party later on tonight, I’ve been settled in for most of this morning and afternoon- re-living the glory of past episodes of “The Walking Dead” during AMC’s “Dead, White & Blue” marathon (which spans seasons 1-4 and leads up to a Sunday night preview of the upcoming fifth season- for anyone who needs to catch up!)

I’ve also been whipping up some quick, healthy, delicious- and patriotic colored snacks, too- namely simple fruit and whipped cream bowls using fresh strawberries and blueberries:

Using the extra strawberries and blueberries I didn’t put in the fruit bowls, I made smoothies by adding a sliced banana (for more flavor,) a couple scoops of non-fat vanilla yogurt, and a cup of milk into my Magic Bullet. Not to sound like an infomercial, but if you’re looking for a convenient, easy to use- AND easy to clean blending/shredding/chopping/slicing/dicing/mashing/whipping/etc. appliance, you have GOT to invest in one of these. The device does pretty much everything in a matter of seconds with no mess and no hassle, and it’s small for easy storage without taking up a ton of counter or cabinet space. The smoothies, after everything was added into the glass container- took all of 20 seconds to chop the fruit, whip up the yogurt and milk, and blend it all together for a delicious drink.

The fruit bowls and the smoothies were so refreshing (despite the rain, it’s still stifling hot and humid,) were low in fat, and were healthy- which makes them even better. I’m hoping to share more detailed smoothie recipes shortly (I make a mean chocolate-banana one!) since I’ve been having such a blast playing around with the Magic Bullet.

I hope everyone has a great rest of the Fourth!