Smoothies!

We all love those smoothie places, right? Why is it that at home we can’t match the flavors? I found 3 reasons.

1.              I don’t use ice cream in fruit smoothies

2.              I was using ice.

3.              My blender was crap and I have bit of floating ice and fruit.

The last problem I fixed a few summers ago when I was at the county fair and I learned about the Vitamix. I went home did a ton of research. That week I received the best commission paycheck I’d ever had, so I decided to splurge. My smoothies instantly got better but were still watery. As result of the Vitamix cookbook I started using a lot of frozen fruit instead of ice. Yum!

What I started recently was actually a result of ready “The Sneaky Chef.” The book suggests blending up fruits and vegetables ahead of time and adding them to recipes for added nutrition. What I soon found was that these purees made fabulous instant smoothies! A few fruit/veggies cubes and some juice and the perfect smoothie in seconds.

It’s really easy and takes very little time. Here’s what you do:

Gather a bunch of fruits and vegetables. You can use fresh or frozen. If you want to use fresh, this is the perfect thing to do when the produce starts getting a little soft and right before they go bad. I like mixing fruits and veggies in every puree.

 

I’m starting with kale and blueberries. I added about ½ a cup of pomegranate juice to a package of blueberries and a small bunch of kale in the blender. Puree until smooth. I then fill up 2 ice cube trays with the puree and freeze. After pop them out and save in a big ziplock bag.

The next puree I did today was 1 package of strawberries, one package of raspberries, five whole carrots, the juice of half a lemon, and ½ a cup pomegranate juice.

The last thing I do on smoothie prep day was chop up all my browning bananas and put them in another ziplock bag.

Other combinations I love:

Strawberries, fresh beets, and raspberries

Carrots, sweet potatoes, and bananas

Spinach, blackberries, and lemon

This makes smoothie making so easy in the morning. You can grab a few “cubes” and just add some juice or almond milk. If it’s thin enough to drink through a straw go for it, and if it is super thick it’s great with a little granola on top.

YUM!