fyi…I wrote this post 3 years ago…I am NOT currently pregnant, to avoid any confusion:)
I haven’t posted anything in awhile, 3 months to be exact, and for good reason. I’ve been pregnant…and feeling very first trimester/terrible. So all things get set aside, and just making it through a day with any sort of dinner on the table is all I try to accomplish. I’m in month 4 now and feeling a lot better, so hopefully I can get back to regularly cooking and writing. Now I have extra reason to eat healthy so I’ll start with our morning burst of nutrition.
I didn’t realize that everyone wasn’t doing this until I had an actual conversation with a friend and fellow mom of a toddler about my smoothie bucket. She looked at me with a small amount of amazement over this simple general idea…you have a “bucket” (also known as tupperware) in your freezer and add fruit to it whenever you have random extras….like when your two year old only eats half of that banana, or you bought too many grapes and they are going to go bad before you can finish them, or when you buy a cantaloupe or pineapple and its just too much to eat fresh, or when you cut some fruit up for breakfast and a few pieces are left over, or your toddler decides that after a week of kiwi being the best food on earth he will no longer eat it now that you bought the big pack….you get the idea. Without a smoothie bucket, I would waste a lot of food.
So that’s how you stock up on your ingredients…here is how I make it…
In your blender: add frozen fruit (I always have some berries for flavor), I add a splash of hot water from my tea kettle (I just do this as a precaution to not break my blender), add half orange juice and half soy/almond milk to cover the fruit and blend. I sometimes add a half spoonful of chia or flax seeds, and even – heaven forbid – a few leaves of spinach or kale and a couple baby carrots…
(ease your family into this a leaf at a time to avoid “did you put kale in this??” or “what’s this green stuff??”). I’ll sneak kale into their dinner. You can add fruit that is not frozen too if you have something in the fridge you want to use up, I often start with a banana from my counter because I always have a bunch of them. My toddler loves them, and I feel good about all of us (including the unborn family member) getting a good dose of fruit, a little greens, vitamins, calcium, and all that other good stuff to start our day. I try to make a smoothie everyday, whether we are having bacon and eggs, pancakes, or just oatmeal or toast…it goes with everything.
I’ve included a basic recipe just as a guideline, but now you know you don’t need a recipe, you need a smoothie bucket. Any and all fruits work, berries are always a flavor favorite, adjust the amounts for your family, put in what you have, blend it up quick, rinse your blender out and you’re done. Smoothies are so great for making sure you eat enough fruit and stay healthy!
*And a bonus tip for moms…don’t throw out your college shot glasses, they are perfect toddler smoothie cups!
Ingredients
- 1 fresh or frozen banana (because they are cheap, healthy, and are good for consistency)
- 2 c frozen fruit from your smoothie bucket, definitely include berries (you can buy a bag of frozen berries to add in)
- ½ c hot water from a tea kettle or faucet
- 1 c orange juice
- ½ c almond milk or coconut milk or a scoop of plain yogurt
- 1 scoop of ice
- Optional add ins: a few leaves of kale or spinach, a couple baby carrots, a spoonful of chia or flax seeds
Instructions
- In your blender, add banana, frozen fruit, a splash of hot water (I just do this as a precaution to not break my blender), ice, any add ins, orange juice and milk to cover the fruit (the amounts here are not super important) and blend.
- You can add fruit that is not frozen too if you have something in the fridge you want to use up. You eventually won’t even need a recipe, adjust the amounts for your family, blend it up, rinse your blender out and you’re done.