I’ve got another quickie for you tonight. It’s more of an idea than a recipe. I’m sure a lot of you Budget Byters already stock your freezers with these handy smoothie packs, but I wanted to share the tip for those who may be new to the kitchen. Not only does this make smoothies faster and easier to make, but they’re a fraction, a small fraction, of what you’ll pay at your local smoothie counter.
So, the formula is easy. Three one pound bags of frozen fruit of your choice, and four bananas. Divide the frozen fruit up into 8 bags, and place half of a peeled banana in each bag as well. Seal them up tight and toss them into the freezer. When you’re ready to make your delicious smoothie, place the frozen fruit in the blender, add milk (or soy or almond milk), and whatever else you want and press go! No more hauling ten ingredients out of the freezer every time you want to make one smoothie. Just grab one bag and add a liquid. Sure, I also add spinach, cinnamon, and ground flax seed, but it’s still way easier to have the fruit divided up. And it only takes about 5 minutes to make all 8 packs.
This is my favorite smoothie – peaches, strawberries, raspberries, banana, spinach, light vanilla soy milk, ground flax seed, and cinnamon. It works, trust me! If you like things sweet, add a touch of honey and it’ll blow you away.
Smoothie Packs
Ingredients
- 16 oz. frozen strawberries ($2.69)
- 16 oz. frozen raspberries ($4.15)
- 16 oz. frozen peaches ($2.69)
- 4 medium bananas ($0.86)
Instructions
- Divide the ingredients equally between 8 quart-sized freezer bags (1/2 banana per bag).
- Freeze the smoothie packs until ready to use or up to three months.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Nutrition
- 1 frozen smoothie pack $1.30
- 1 cup light vanilla soy milk $0.41
- 1 handful baby spinach $0.53
- 1 Tbsp ground flax seed $0.03
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon $0.03
- Empty one smoothie pack into a blender and add the soy milk, spinach, flax, and cinnamon.
- Blend until smooth, adding more liquid if needed.
Step By Step Photos
This is what goes into the frozen smoothie packs. I switch up the fruit a lot (I like blueberries too), but I always try to have at least three. Adding frozen bananas to a smoothie gives it a nice ice cream-like texture. If you’ve never used a frozen banana in your smoothie, then you haven’t lived. Okay, maybe that’s a bit extreme, but you’ve got to try it.
Divide the fruit between 8 freezer bags. One of my bananas turned out to be completely rotten inside so I could only make six this time around. I always tend to over estimate how much fruit is needed per smoothie and then I can’t fit it all in the blender. So, about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of each of the frozen fruits per bag. Then just pop them in the freezer until you’re ready to make a smoothie. They’ll stay good in the freezer for a couple of months. The bananas will slowly turn brown, but they’re still good eats for a while.
When you’re ready to make a smoothie, just put the frozen fruit in a blender with some liquid (and whatever else you want) and you’re ready to blend. I add spinach for the nutrients, not the flavor… you can’t taste it with all of the fruit. It blends easier if the spinach is at the bottom.
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE milk… but in my smoothies I like light vanilla soy milk. It just has more creaminess than milk and the vanilla goes great with the fruit. In the old days, before Silk was everywhere, I used milk and added vanilla extract. So, that’s an option too.
I like to add some flax for fiber and omega-3s, and cinnamon just because I like it :) If I’m craving something sweet, I’ll add a tablespoon of honey or so, but usually the fruit and silk are sweet enough for me.
Blend that sucker up ’till it’s nice and smooth! Sometimes I have to add a touch of water or more silk just to get it going. That’s what will happen if you have too much frozen fruit in your pack. It’ll be waaaaaay too thick to blend properly.
Oh yums. It’s good. And good for you. And spinach? What spinach?
I loved the suggestion to put avocados in smoothies (thanks, Brent!) and I can’t wait to experiment with that. So, for all of you smoothie lovers out there…
I’m not sure if I missed it somewhere, but how much milk do you add?
My favorite is spinach, pineapple (i use the small cans and throw the juice in as well/I tried it with fresh but did not like as well), mango, shredded coconut, coconut milk,frozen banana. Since I use all fresh fruit (don’t freeze ahead/except banana) I add a cup of ice to make it colder and a little thicker.
Thanks for the tip to put all ingredients together. I’ve been making smoothies for awhile now. I drag everything out, and then it takes forever to get it all ready and to put away. I do slice my bananas before I freeze them; it makes it easier on the blender to chop them up frozen.
Only suggestion I have, since I’m doing them right now, is let the frozen bags defrost a bit. My blender is pretty much brand new but it can’t chop/blend this frozen fruit! So, now I have to sit and wait til it defrosts…
All the combos are wonderful! Instead of attaching the blender pitcher, I use a quart mason jar. Fits perfect and you can drink right out of it! Super easy cleanup!
What is the calorie and carb count?
I just made mine.. Taste so good. My children also love it! Thank you.. You’re amazing..
Lynn – I’ve heard (although I don’t know if it’s true) that we can’t digest whole flax seed… so that’s the only reason I use ground :) I wonder if they would grind up a bit while blending anyway?
Grind the flax seeds in your coffee bean grinder.
I am just starting to use smoothies in the am and the possibilities are awesome. I use frozen fruit, flax seed or I prefer hemp seed, and sunflower or pumkin seeds with Silk almond milk.
I couldn’t think of the right way to spell- pestle.
Mortar and pestle
The mortar is a bowl, typically made of hard wood, ceramic or stone. The pestle is
a heavy club-shaped object, the end of which is used for crushing and grinding …
costs about 10.00 and can be found at places that sale coffee accessories.
I second the comment about the Food Ninja. I got one as a wedding present and love that thing. It blew my old blender out of the water.
Would it be bad if I used whole flaxseeds vs ground?
This is a wonderful post! Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us! I hope to read more of your post which is very informative and useful to all the readers.there are so many ideas about Packs & Bags.
Regards:
rothco
I add a tablespoon of two of wheat germ too.
WOW, your soy milk is so white!
I didn’t read through all the comments so sorry if this has already been added. We love to use keifer as our liquid but it also makes it thicker for those who don’t like bananas (like me). I also use chia seeds for my omega3 and lots of other nutrients!
Just made the smoothie packs and I’m having my first smoothie now. Tastes incredible, and satisfies my craving for something sweet while being healthy. Once again, you’re amazing!
No one has said how they feel or are you losing weight.had my first smoothie yesterday. Your ideas sound great..