Some recipes are so simple and delicious, they call for poetry…
Smoothie bags for all.
Strawberry and blueberry.
Spinach, banana.
Don’t worry, I don’t plan on writing this whole post in haiku, but the haiku expresses the smoothie bag so perfectly. Simple, quick, easy, and completely no fuss!
I love a hot meal, but come summertime, I would much rather snack on something cold and not deal with the stove! Smoothie bags are the perfect solution – not just for summertime, but for mornings, post-workout recovery drinks, fussy kids, or any other of the million times you really just want someone to hand you a smoothie. The smoothie bag is essentially you having a smoothie bar in your freezer, minus the expensive price tag and sometimes questionable and disturbing sweeteners or add-ins.
What is a smoothie bag?
For those of you who don’t know, a smoothie bag is a little saviour that you keep in your freezer till you’re craving a smoothie. Prepare bags ahead of time with your favourite smoothie add-ins, store in the freezer, and when you’re ready to drink it, just pop the ingredients out of the bag and into the blender, add some liquid, and voila, you’ll be sipping on a delicious drink in less time than it takes you to read my haiku.
Why bother with a smoothie bag?
Other than the obvious time saving element, I love a smoothie bag because it gives me another opportunity to extend my enjoyment of local fruits and vegetables. Every year I like to buy berries in bulk when they’re at the peak of the season so that I can get them at their sweetest while also enjoying an amazing deal on local, organic fruit! I process the berries myself by washing them, laying them out on cookies sheets lined with tea towels to dry (and sometimes helping them out with a bit of patting), and then freezing them so I can enjoy them throughout the year. Now that growing season is in full force, I’ve been doing the same thing with some gorgeous local, no-spray spinach.
Sure, all of that takes time, but I do this because there is no beating local, no spray/organic produce (in terms of flavour and health benefits), and by doing this at the peak of the season, I can actually enjoy these delicious organic fruits and vegetables at the same price (or cheaper) than a store bought, imported, generic version of the same item!
How to make smoothie bags (and what to put in them)?
There are so many delicious options out there. Basically anything that you’d put into your smoothie can go into a smoothie bag as long as it’s not a dairy product or liquid. I’ve included my favourite go to smoothie recipe below, but here are some other great options (with added freezing instructions) from some of my fellow Scratch Mommies:
- Red Raspberry Leaf Tea Smoothie: Pre-freeze measured raspberries and bananas in a bag.
- Breakfast at Tiffany’s Maca Smoothie: Pre-freeze measured spinach, blueberries, and banana in a bag.
- Kid-Approved Prune Juice Smoothie: Pre-freeze measured kale and berries in a bag.
- Dandelion Green Smoothie: Pre-freeze measured dandelion greens, spinach, banana, orange, and strawberries in a bag.
- Nourishing Smoothie Add-Ins: These are some of Scratch Mommy Founder Jess’s favorite smoothie add-ins.
And now for my favourite smoothie recipe…
- 1 whole organic banana
- ½ cup (generous) organic blueberries
- ½ cup (generous) organic strawberries
- 1 cup organic spinach
- 1.5 cups organic unsweetened juice (can sub coconut water also)
- ¾ tsp spirulina powder
- 1 tsp ashwagandha powder
- 1 scoop natural, unflavoured protein powder of choice (optional)
- Freeze the first 4 ingredients in a freezer safe bag until ready to use.
- When ready to use, add the ingredients from the freezer bag into your blender and then add remaining ingredients.
- Blend on high until smoothie is fully blended.
Comments 2
I am surprised at instructions to freeze spinach! When you take it out of the freezer, is it still even spinach? My experience with frozen spinach – albeit accidentally frozen – has not been good! Will look forward to your comment!
Author
Hi Judith!
Thanks for you comment! I often freeze spinach without issue – in fact this is my favourite way to ensure that my spinach doesn’t go to waste. A couple of tips for freezing:
– make sure your spinach has been cleaned but is dry
– pre-portion your spinach into manageable sizes before freezing (chopped up and frozen in ice cube trays, frozen in 1/2 cup or 1 cup portions)
– make sure your spinach is frozen in a freezer safe bag to prevent freezer burn
If this is too much work, there are readily available frozen spinach options at natural food stores and even many large grocery chains.
Frozen spinach is perfect for smoothies, as it doesn’t matter if the leaves have broken apart a bit (hey, it probably even makes blending a little easier!). I also use frozen spinach in omelettes, frittatas, spinach dip, muffins (blended into fruit and veggie muffins), pasta sauce, and Indian palak/saag.
Hope you give frozen spinach another try! 🙂