Beverage
This super simple smoothies post is sponsored by Silk.
Did I tell you what supremely dumb thing I let happen when we were packing up our house and moving out at whirlwind speed? I stopped supervising for approximately 30 seconds and let the box with my beloved Blendtec get packed into our POD instead of the easy access storage unit I could get to at any time. OOPS. That may not sound significant, but for someone who uses a blender 3,495 times per day, that was a huge mistake.
Never fear, my mother-in-law’s well-stocked kitchen included a blender, though I will be oh so happy to be reunited with my own personal powerhouse of a blender when the time comes.
Anyways, today we’re talking smoothies. I don’t know who likes smoothies more, me or the three year old blur that rules these parts. Needless to say they happen a lot around here.
Smoothies are one of those things that sound like a good idea but also sound like a lot of work and a lot of mess, but when it actually comes to making them instead of just thinking about it, they’re a breeze. Over the course of several thousand smoothie-making sessions, I’ve come up with a few strategies that make things super simple. Easy prep, easy to make, and easy clean up.
Here we go:
1. Smoothie cubes. Probably my most favorite smoothie shortcut of all time. I make a giant batch of smoothie “base”, then freeze it into ice cube trays. Once they’re frozen, I pop them out on put them in baggies. Then when you want a smoothie, you can just pull a bag out, dump it in the blender, and you’re done. You can either leave the smoothie as is, in “base” form, or add whatever other ingredients you’re feeling at the time. I typically do a spinach base, then add whatever we have on hand that I’m in the mood for. I’m always in the mood for spinach though.
2. Smoothie bags. Similar to the above, but even less prep: just dump all your favorite smoothie ingredients into individual freezer bags. Label them and store them, then just dump and go. Frozen fruit makes for a great textured smoothie!
3. Up the protein. I don’t always want extra protein in my smoothie, but when I do, there are a ton of fun ways to make it happen that go beyond your basic protein powder. {Although a good vanilla or chocolate protein powder can add great flavor.} Next time you’re looking to kick the protein factor up a notch, try one of these great add ins:
- hemp seeds
- quinoa
- pumpkin seeds
- nut butter
- cashews
4. Make it creamy. There’s nothing wrong with an icy-smoothie, but I prefer creamier bases. This is super easy to do by adding in some plant-based milk. My favorite go-to’s are canned full-fat coconut milk and Silk Cashewmilk. {Have you tried the cashew version yet? It is so super creamy and blends really well. And makes delicious hot chocolate in the winter, which is when I discovered it this year.But it’s too hot for that now; I’ll stick to smoothies this summer.} My son’s favorite is Silk’s dairy-free yogurt, but he usually eats it before I can get it to the blender.
5. Easy clean up. I’ll admit, the clean up part of anything is my least favorite part, but it’s super easy to clean a blender. Just add some water into the pitcher with a tiny squirt of soap, then turn it on. It foams up the soap and gets all the gunk off the sides without any scrubbing. Voila, done.
What’s your favorite tip for making smoothie prep easy?
You can find more smoothie ideas, including low calorie and kid-friendly options on Silk’s Smoothie Solution page or sign up to receive Silk coupons here.
Some smoothie faves:
Key Lime Pie Smoothie
Cranberry Mango Smoothie
Summer Sunrise Smoothie
Peanut butter Hazelnut Protein Frappuccino
This conversation is sponsored by Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.
Beverage, Recipe
I want it to be spring. I really do. I’m sure you do too, right?
Look, if there’s no snow, there’s no point in it being dreary and cold. Don’t argue with me.
Unfortunately there’s little we can do about it, huh? Except pretend it’s spring.
Buy tulips. Play outside every moment the sun peeps through the clouds. Make tropical smoothies.
Instead of my normal coconut milk/spinach smoothie base, I started with cranberry juice. Umm, yum? It adds a whole new flavor dimension. I need to remember to think outside the box blender sometimes and not get stuck in a monotonous rut.
This, my friends, was not a rut. Not at all.
I started with a recipe Ocean Spray for a mixed berry smoothie and altered it to my tastes a bit: I used just blueberries {the seeds in raspberries & blackberries don’t go over well for me in smoothies- they’re not smooth!} and added mango, because I’m thinking tropical here people. {Please? Just 60s, that’s all I’m asking for.}
Mmm.
by with a Side of Sneakers
- 3/4 cup Ocean Spray Diet Cranberry Juice Drink, any flavor
- 3/4 cup blueberries
- 1/2 mango, diced
- 1/2 banana, cut into slices
Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend for a few seconds on high speed or until ingredients are thoroughly combined. Pour into a large glass.
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Using the Diet Cranberry Juice as a base was yummy. A serving provides a full dose of vitamin C for 5 little calories, flavor not compromised. Swapping out full-calorie juices can help you fuel for the day while still tasting that delicious cranberry flavor. Psst they have sparkling flavors as well. Mmmmm.
What’s your favorite smoothie flavor? I’d have to say I’m a big pina coloda fan.
This post was sponsored by Ocean Spray. Hence the logos. And brand names. 
Beverage, Recipe
It may not be an actual pie, but this gluten free, dairy free key lime pie green smoothie sure tastes like it!
I’ve never really been much of a cake person. I’m not a fan of icing and when you take the icing away, what’s left is pretty boring. When it came time to plan our wedding 5 years ago, the one thing I kept saying was “Do we have to have a cake?” Luckily for me, the husband agreed.
That left one big question. What to serve instead of cake?! The answer was easy. PIE! Key Lime Pie to be exact. If I hadn’t known for sure already that my now-husband was meant for me, this would have sealed the deal: a man that prefers key lime pie over cake.
Well, we ended up having cake anyways. There’s just something magnificent about a beautiful tower of confectionary goodness. It just screams wedding. Our cake was gorgeous- and delicious- perfect for smashing in each other’s faces. But there was key lime pie too, thanks to my pie-baking-connoisseur stepdad.
That’s a roundabout way of saying just how much the husband and I love key lime pie. Unfortunately we can’t eat key lime pie every day, but that doesn’t mean we can’t channel that delicious flavor combination into something we can have every day: a key lime pie green smoothie!
The lime juice and vanilla combine to create the essence of key lime pie, while the graham cracker crumble topping just seals the deal. The frozen banana provides the perfect consistency, although you could just add some ice cubes if you don’t have frozen bananas ready to go. The spinach creates the gorgeous green color a key lime pie necessitates, while secretly packing in some powerful nutrition.
Green Smoothie Recipe
by with a Side of Sneakers
- 1 cup Silk Pure Almond Unsweetened Vanilla
- 1 frozen banana
- ½ cup baby spinach leaves
- 1 Tbsp lime juice
- Zest of 1 lime
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 Medjool date, pitted
- 1 Tbsp crushed graham crackers, gluten free if needed
Combine all ingredients except graham crackers in a blender.
Blend until smooth.
Pour into a mug and top with crushed graham crackers.
Drink immediately.
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This nutrient packed green smoothie is 192 calories and packs in 5 grams of fiber. It’s easily gluten free and dairy free. It’s not a high protein smoothie, but you could easily add a scoop of vanilla protein powder to make this a great post-workout shake. If you’re watching your calories, this almond milk based shake saves you 30 calories over using skim milk, and has even more calcium.
Be sure to check out Silk Pure Almond website and Facebook page to see more delicious, creative recipes!
This post is part of a sponsored campaign with Silk and FitFluential, LLC. All opinions are my own. Learn more about Silk Pure Almond Unsweetened on Facebook and Twitter.
Click here for more Gluten Free Dairy Free Recipes that won’t leave you trapped in the kitchen for hours or hunting down a million bizarre ingredients.
Holidays
{Note: This is the first in a series of posts about celebrating summer sponsored by Bacardi.}
Nothing screams you’re getting close to the beach for 4th of July weekend after a long monotonous drive through back roads and chicken farms like a roadside fruit stand packed with juicy, mouthwatering peaches.
Every year growing up we’d get up at the crack of dawn one mid-summer Saturday, pack the car to the brim with boogie boards and beach chairs, and start the day-long drive from MD to the beaches of NC. Just as we approached the Outer Banks {really approached the Outer Banks, not just drove past the sign that tricks you into thinking you’re almost there}, the peach stands would start popping up.
First there’d be one sketchy shack by the side of the road. Then another. And another. Eventually you just HAD to stop. You could almost smell the sweet nectar of peaches seeping through the car vents on top of the slightly salty smell of the near-beach air.
When we finally got to the beach, we’d begrudgingly unload the overstuffed car, then happily stack the kitchen counter full of freshly picked peaches. When we tired of having sticky juice run down our chins as we bit into the ripe peaches, we’d turn to the blender. {Ok, no one gets tired of juicy peaches. But they still make good smoothies.}
For the rest of the week we’d blend up cold afternoon treats of peaches, bananas, and our secret tropical ingredient: Tang. You know, the sugary, powdered orange drink mix? Yeah, that’s the stuff.
It’s been years since I’ve been to the Outer Banks, but now that I live in NC, the husband and I take an annual trip {or two} to the closer beaches of NC and SC. It’s become a tradition to celebrate 4th of July weekend {better known as the husband’s birthday around here} at the beach with friends. We just got back from a trip at the beach and I learned a thing or two about keeping this breastfeeding momma hydrated in this inferno of a summer heat wave the whole country seems to be suffocating in. Remembering my peach-Tang-smoothie beach concoctions from childhood, I once again turned to the blender to help hydrate and beat the heat.
These ingredients are definitely a must for Independence Day beach bash birthday trip that’s just around the corner.
by with a Side of Sneakers
- 3 oz coconut water
- 12 oz coconut-almond milk
- 3 cups ice
- ½ cup strawberries
- ½ cup blueberries
Mix coconut water, coconut-almond milk, and ice in blender. Pulse and blend on high speed until ice is fully crushed. Divide into 3 parts.
Return 1 part of coconut mix to blender. Add strawberries and blend to combine. Pour into separate container.
Add another serving of the plain coconut mix to blender. Add blueberries and blend.
Fill glass by alternating smoothie layers so you end up with white, red, and blue stripes.
*Feel free to sub another kind of milk or fruit as desired.
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It’s the perfect smoothie to go along with your Fourth of July celebration fare. Serve alongside or as an appetizer to some of these fabulous Independence Day cookout recipes:
1. Crispy Blackened Tofu from Daily Garnish
2. Grilled Guacamole from Two Peas & Their Pod
3. Corn Pudding from Duchess of Fork
4. Chocolate Dipped Pretzels Sticks from Cupcakes & Cashmere
Source
What are your favorite 4th of July cookout staples & cocktails?Share your go-to’s in a chat with Foodie tonight at 4pm PST for a chance to win a $250 gift card from Sur La Table. Join in with #BacardiCocktails!
BACARDÍ Classic Cocktails Light is a new line of low calorie, ready to serve cocktails. At less than 95 calories for a 4-ounce serving, BACARDÍ Classic Cocktails Light is available in Pina Colada and Mojito flavors and is made with natural flavors, real juice and pure cane sugar. Whether enjoying a favorite cocktail after a long day or throwing a party, BACARDÍ Classic Cocktails deliver classic cocktail taste that’s a hit with friends, won’t add inches to your waistline and won’t take all day to prepare.
Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Bacardi via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Bacardi.
Recipe
I love smoothies. Especially green monsters. I hate making them. I’m way too lazy for that. And I especially hate cleaning the blender every time I make a single glass of cold blended fruit.
So of course I have a short cut solution.
I’m the queen of short cuts. Like making big batches of oatmeal overnight, huge pitchers of iced coffee, and pre-mixing my oats. I figure every minute I save is a minute I could be doing something else.
There are 2 main smoothie problems:
1. Pulling out tons of ingredients and mix-ins.
2. Cleaning the blender every.single.time. {and running the blender early in the a.m.}
Smoothie Solutions
The solution to the first “dilemma” is this:
– Pre make your smoothie base into smoothie cubes:
1 bag of baby spinach
1 bottle coconut water {I used Zico}
1 cup almond milk
1 packet Amazing Grass greens powder
2 scoops Sunwarrior Vanilla protein powder
Plus anything else you always put in your smoothie, like oatmeal, chia seeds, wheat germ, etc.
Blend, blend, blend. I can actually get the spinach all chopped up when I use this method instead of navigating chunks through my straw because I can just let the blender run without worrying about waking someone up from their beauty sleep. *cough cough husband cough*
Pour your spinach mixture into an ice cube tray. The silicone ones make it a lot easy to get the cubes out. Muffin trays work in a pinch.
Freeze your spinach cubes, then separate into plastic baggies. When you’re ready to make a smoothie, all you have to do is grab the spinach cubes, whatever fruit you want, and mix away. You don’t have to pull out all the separate ingredients again.
Of course, that doesn’t solve my 2nd problem. Using the blender every single time.
So solution two:
Start with the green monster base mix from above. {I usually just keep half from the original batch in the blender.}
Toss in your flavor of the week. I went with mixed berries this time: blueberries, a couple cherries, raspberries, and strawberries. I used about 3 cups of frozen fruit, plus a banana. I also like doing banana peanut butter, orange peach, etc.
Blend like you’re making a regular smoothie, then do one of two things {three if you drink some right away}:
– Pour into single serve, freezable glasses. My glass of choice: a mason jar. {You can easily shake it up when you’re ready to drink.}
OR
– Pour into ice cube trays/muffin tins like above, then store in baggies in the fridge.
{Small cubes will thaw faster, big cubes will thaw slower, so how much time you have determines what size you should make.}
Move the glass, or put some of the frozen smoothie cubes in a glass, and put it in the fridge overnight. By morning it will have partially thawed- enough so you have a smoothie and not juice.
If you’re going to use the smoothie as a workout recovery drink, leave it out on the counter during your workout so it will thaw faster.
If you really wanted to, you could pop the cubes back in the blender and mix it up, but I’m lazy remember? That defeats the whole purpose of not cleaning anything.
Mmm green ice cubes.
What are your tips for keeping things simple in the morning? Or not doing dishes? 
