Are your mornings often so stressed and hurried, that you have no time whatsoever to make yourself a nice smoothie? And if you ever get to it, you end up blending the same ingredients over and over again?
Do you fill your fridge with fresh produce every week, full of good intentions to prepare meals, only to then throw half of it out because you didn’t use it?
Then you are just like me – but the following tricks helped me save time and money while bringing more variety into my everyday smoothies, and I hope they will work for you too.
HOW TO PREP 1 WEEK OF SMOOTHIES IN 10 MINUTES
Ingredients:
5 handful (cups) of fresh leafy greens
5 cups fruit
5 TBSP extras
5 tsp spices
5 (Eco-) Freezer Bags
How to prepare it all:
Get the freezer bags ready to be filled.
Evenly divide the leafy greens between the bags. Ideally one type of green for each bag.
Add fruit to each bag – make sure to always add one creamy ingredient. Only berries will make your smoothie watery. If you want to keep (fruit) sugars low, use avocado or chia as the thickener for your smoothie.
Add spices and extras.
Close the bags and place them in the freezer.
All there’s now left to do in the morning is to throw the contents of one bag into your blender container, add some water, coconut water or nut milk, and blend it up!
DETAILS ON THE SMOOTHIE INGREDIENTS
Leafy Greens: fresh baby spinach, parsley, dill, cilantro, lettuce, nettle, green of carrots, beetroot tops, kale, bok choi, ..
Fruit + Veg: apples, pears, bananas, mango, papaya, passion fruit, pineapple, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, dates, avocado, cucumber
Extras: nuts or nut butter (can replace nut milk), hemp, vegan protein powder, oats, chia
Spices + Superfoods: raw cacao, cinnamon, maca, mesquite, lucuma, cardamom, green powder (spirulina, moringa, chlorella, .. )
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EXTRA HINTS FOR QUICK SMOOTHIES
Get your groceries once a week instead of every other day. A true time saver. Focus on ingredients that are in season and / or on special to also save money.
Wash and prep everything as soon as you are back home. Portion things or fill them into smoothie packs and refrigerate or freeze them. If you want to freeze individual ingredients so you can use them for other recipes, peel and chop them before freezing. This will help your blender later and reduce blending time.
Ziplock bags are most convenient as they take up the least space in your freezer. Once emptied, simply wash and let them dry to be reused. You can also get silicon bags or eco friendly freezer bags made from compostable materials.
Got ingredients and equipment that you use all. the. time? Make sure to have such things nearby and not stored away in the back of your shelves. Otherwise you won’t use anything.
If you like being creative with superfoods and spices, mix your favourite (dry) ingredients together in a jar from which you can then grab a few spoonfuls pre-made mix when blending up a smoothie. Having just one jar instead of half a dozen bags on your kitchen counter will also reduce clutter and make cleaning up easier. Like that, your total “work time” shouldn’t even be 5 minutes. Too easy!
Notes:
C = cup, 240 ml
1/2 C = half a cup, 120 ml or / TBSP
1/4 C = quarter of a cup, 60 ml or 4 TBSP
TBSP = table spoon, 15 ml or 3 tsp
tsp = tea spoon, 5 ml
“soft dates” = medjool are usually best. If necessary, soak briefly and drain. The soaking water is super sweet by the way!