You don’t need a Smoothie Recipe, you need a Smoothie Bucket! Keep a container in your freezer to add fruit extras whenever you have them and never waste fruit. Make fast and easy healthy smoothies from your smoothie bucket, everyday without a recipe! Kid-friendly, it’s a must-have for mom’s!
Healthy Mornings
I haven’t posted anything in awhile, 3 months to be exact, and for good reason. I’ve been pregnant…and feeling terrible (update..I wrote this years ago…I am NOT currently pregnant, to avoid any confusion:). 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. Whether dragging through a pregnancy or totally on your feet, a morning smoothie has always been a great way to start the day. Now I have extra reason to eat healthy, so a daily burst of nutrition is always welcome!
The Smoothie Bucket – Without a Recipe!
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.
It’s all about NEVER wasting! 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. Cantaloupe or pineapple can be too much to eat fresh, or when you cut some fruit up for breakfast and a few pieces are left over. Maybe 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 super-pack….you get the idea. Without a smoothie bucket, we would waste a lot of food!
Instructions
So that’s how you stock up on your ingredients, here’s how I make it…
- In your blender: Add frozen fruit (I always use some berries for flavor, so if the smoothie bucket doesn’t have a lot of berries, I always have a back up bag of frozen). I add a splash of hot water from my tea kettle (as a precaution to not break my blender), add half orange juice and half soy/almond/coconut milk to cover the fruit and blend well. I sometimes add a spoonful of chia or flax seeds for protein. And even, heaven forbid, a few leaves of spinach or kale and a couple baby carrots, they won’t even know!
Kid-Friendly, Family-Friendly
Ease your family into the kale or spinach a leaf at a time to avoid “Did you put kale in this??” or “What’s this green stuff??” But if you really let your blender run on high for awhile, it’s pretty undetectable! 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. Frozen bananas are great too, good for consistency and an inexpensive add-in.
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, protein, 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 fruit works, but some berries are a must. Adjust the amounts for your family, put in what you have, blend it really well, 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!
More Healthy Breakfast Favorites
The Smoothie Bucket
Ingredients
- 1 fresh or frozen banana because they are cheap, healthy, and are good for consistency
- 1 to 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, coconut milk or a scoop of plain yogurt
- 1 scoop of ice (optional)
- 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 including berries, 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 well.
- 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!
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