DIY smoothie packs

http://laceyinloveblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/diy-smoothie-packs.html

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The inspiration for this came via pinterest, my newest obsession. I somehow managed to hold off on joining for quite some time and then finally caved a few weeks ago. I'm HOOKED now!
{follow me here!}

I love smoothies, but with them going for $5+ a pop, it's not something I will allow myself to buy often. Insert this quick smoothie recipe and I can have a smoothie anytime I like in a matter of minutes!

Here are my ingredients ready for prep.
I bought pre-frozen strawberries and blueberries because it was a better deal than buying fresh and freezing myself. Also, the strawberries were already sliced so it saves me a little time!
I chose weight watchers vanilla yogurt because, again, it was the best deal. [Also chose to use a magic bullet instead of a big blender b/c a) they are awesome and b)less to clean!]
First I measured 1tbsp scoops of yogurt into a mini muffin tin. I didn't level it off, considering some of the yogurt was going to stick in the measuring cup. Once they were filled, I froze them. [the recipe I found on pinterest used ice trays, but I didn't have any of those on hand so I improvised.]
Next I got to chopping my fresh fruit!
And then arranged them on a silpat mat and popped it in my freezer![You could use a baking sheet if you don't have a silpat! I just chose something that would fit in my freezer & the fact that i could just roll all of the frozen fruit off when I was finished was a plus!] You want your fruit to be pre frozen before you combine them so that they don' freeze together in the packs.
A few hours later when everything was frozen, I layed everything out to prepare to bag my individual "smoothie mixes". If you use muffin tins like I did, let them sit out for a few minutes so they loosen up a bit, then use a spoon and they will pop out like ice cubes. [DON'T dip the bottom of the pan in warm water to loosen them up. I tried that(before i even bothered using a spoon) and they got melty really quick and i had to refreeze them!]
I used just short of a cup and half of fruit for each bag and 3 yogurt cubes.

After they are all bagged up, pop them in the freezer! Next time you want a smoothie, you're ready to go! Just add a little juice or milk and voila! I may try to add a little oatmeal or wheat grass next time to pump it up even more since I'm treating the smoothies as breakfast.

I was able to make 8 smoothies with the amount of fruit I had.
1 bag of strawberries, 1 bag of blueberries, 3 bananas and 2 kiwis. My total cost was $11 including yogurt, which brings my total for each smoothie to a whopping $1.37 & averaging around 200ish calories.
Lacey-1 Smoothie King-0

[all photos via me]


DISCLAIMER: I am not a nutritionist or health professional, I'm simply a girl who likes a quick smoothie! So, unfortunately, I don't know the answer to all of your great questions. I know... bummer. I can only suggest that you google it! That's what i would do! If there is something you think I may know the answer to, I'm happy to try! If you have a question that is health/nutrition related- I can refer you to a great Wellness Coach who I am sure would be happy to help you with your questions!


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