Oh boy oh boy it is hot. Hot, hot here- like 150° or so today. I have been playing with some make-ahead and freezable recipes to just avoid being in the kitchen as much as possible. We are also down to the last week of school so we are trying to iron out our summer routine and I suspect we will be away from home quite a bit in the next few months.
Anyway, this week I did some freezer meals and I decided to try making freezer smoothies as well. Let me tell you these turned out perfectly so I am really excited to tell you about this!
I did several batches of smoothies- some breakfast ones for me and some for the kiddos. The best part about smoothies is that you can really use any fruit you have on hand so this is a great way to take advantage of the amazing deals on fruit right now.
To get started you need your containers for the smoothies. I used these awesome new Ball freezer jars:
You can get them in 16oz or 8oz size in the canning section of the grocery store, Walmart or my Lowe’s actually has them too. Just look for the mason jars and other items for canning preserves or displays of Ball products. The price is about $3-4 per pack.
Another option would be Amazon where these range from $5.50-6.00 or so.
You might be able to use Mason jars or even Ziploc baggies instead but I have really had great luck with these Ball jars.
So I just picked three recipes to make and doubled all the ingredients. You can modify these to accommodate the fruit you have on hand:
- Chocolate Banana Smoothie with flax and espresso powder
- Mango-Pineapple Smoothie (I actually used peaches instead of mango and it turned out really well)
I also made a strawberry smoothie just to use up some extra berries we had in the fridge: 2 1/2 cups of strawberries, 1 pint of blueberries, 2 cups of spinach, 2 tbl of steel cut oats, 1 cup Greek yogurt, 1 cup pomegranate juice. I think orange juice might be even better but I was just using what was on hand.
I have started taking these with me when I hit the gym in the morning or take the kids to school. If I grab one around 8am it is defrosted enough to drink by 9.30-11.30 just depending on how hot it is outside.
I grabbed two of the 8oz smoothies for the kids at noon the other day and by the time we finished playing at the park around 2, they were also defrosted enough to drink.
If your weather is not quite as warm (it has been 90ish here in California) you might pull it out the night before to have ready for the morning.
Does anyone else have a yummy smoothie recipe we can try? I stuck with some healthier options but you can always substitute regular yogurt or frozen yogurt if you are looking for a sweeter smoothie.
My kids have gotten so sick of my smoothies they wont drink them anymore! lol Dont know whats up with that. I would always sneak in some spinach or kale and you cant really tell. I would also stick extras that we didnt use in ice cream molds and they made pretty decent ice cream too.
**oh milk or yogurt, a really ripe banana or 2, some cacao nibs, and coconut oil and peanut butter make the best…my kids WILL drink that!
If you are on pinterest at all, I have a board called Smoothies and Frozen Treats. I have quite a few yummy things pinned! I’m just under Robin Miller if you are interested. 🙂
I never thought to pre-make my smoothies! I mean I have pre-made them in the sense that I portion out all of the berries and such so they are ready to be blended, but never blended then froze. This is a fabulous idea, because it never fails I want a smoothie when one of my babies is sleeping and then I forget once they are awake and I am busy again … I am going to try this!
What a great tip! I’m going to try it this week.
So gonna try this! Thanks for introducing these nifty ideas to us.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE all these posts you are doing about pre made portions and organizing the house! Keep them coming 😀 I’m a new mommy and all of these tips are saving me so much time, not to mention my sanity when I am trying to get out of the house 😉
Thanks Jessica 🙂 I really appreciate the encouragement. I never know if people are thinking- oh cool! or boy she is a moron ;). The nice thing about those ball jars is that you can fold the straw inside and close the jar shut. That way you have no mess and sometimes if I have open containers- like cups of coffee in the car it stinks after a few hours. This is no stink and I can shove it in my bag :D. Super nice for a busy new mom.
Ball jars should pay you for promoting these jars. i have not been to walmart in over a yr but guess what i will be going this week : 0) because of you Im hooked to target ..lol
Annie,
I know :(. I should at least get a free pack :D. I saw them at Walmart ages ago and filed them away in my brain and then I went back a few weeks ago specifically for these smoothies. They had ONE pack on the shelf. ONE pack that was torn. I finally hunted an employee down and she said they had more but they couldn’t go get them… So anyhoo. If you have a Lowe’s I suggest paying an extra $.88 and going there :). My Lowe’s has a Ball display inside the doors right next to the outdoor garden area. That is where I got the packs.
Can I add flax seed to the smoothie and then freeze? Also why do so many recipes ask for frozen bananas? Can you use unfrozen bananas then freeze? New to smoothies and have so many questions. Also a new mom so looking for ways to lose weight but don’t have the time to make fresh smoothies everyday.
Yes Renu, I added flax seed and blended and it was fine.
Charlene, I searched hi and lo for these freezer jars at Walmart and found the last pack! Haha, I was looking for a Jamba juice size and was surprised that these were cute lil 8 oz jars (5 in a pack for $3.44). Can’t wait to try freezing smoothies!
Rie,
I use those for my girls. The fatties are the ones I use for myself :). They are 16oz size but sort of short and fat not tall and thin. They work better for storage purposes in the freezer anyway ;).
Are these ball freezer jars BPA free?
Yes Jose they are. Just click that link in the post for the jars and you can get more details about them.
Renu asked about frozen bananas and I think I have the answer! Frozen bananas are great when you’re going to drink your smoothie right after making it. The banana puffs up and you don’t have to use any ice cubes to thicken your smoothie. If you’re making them ahead, a plain old bana will do. Hope this helps someone! 🙂