Smoothies are often a great, delicious way to start the day and ensure you’re getting your daily intake of fruit and veggies. For parents, a smoothie may be a fun way to get your kids to consume fruit. But the preparation process of a smoothie can often be cumbersome. You may find your mornings lacking time to hunt down and gather the various necessary ingredients from all four corners of your kitchen. This is where frozen smoothie packs come in. They make the process that much easier and quicker. With a little preparation, having a smoothie everyday can become less of a task and more of a joy. Here’s what you need to know to start making your own pre-packed frozen smoothies.
Decide on your recipes
A smoothie can technically be made from whatever you want. People often tend toward health-conscious, nutritious smoothies centred around natural ingredients like fruit, berries, veggies, greens, nuts and more. These ingredients may increase your fibre intake, which has been associated with reducing the risk of chronic illness like heart disease and may also help with digestive difficulty.
Figuring out the recipes you intend to make beforehand can go a long way. You don’t want to be scurrying looking for the right ingredients when you’re pressed for time. Additionally, you probably want to avoid missing out on ingredients during the shopping step.
There are many great recipes online formulated for various purposes such as the aforementioned detoxing, keto diets, green smoothies and vegan diets. It would help if you found several recipes to start yourself off. These typically tell you exact measurements of how much you’ll need for everything.
Shop for ingredients
One of the best things you can do for yourself is to make a grocery list. Write down everything you need on a piece of paper or keep it as a note on your phone—don’t rely on a mental list. Missing even one ingredient can throw a smoothie recipe off, so keep a list to ensure you get everything.
Decide how many days you intend your smoothies to be good for. Check your recipes and tally up the total amounts of each ingredient you’ll need. Because you’ll be freezing most of the solid ingredients, you can buy in bulk. That said, remember that milk and other unfrozen ingredients may expire, so plan carefully.
You can also buy wholesale frozen smoothie packs for whenever you want.
Freeze some fruit and veggies
In general, fruits and vegetables start going bad rather quickly if you leave them out. Freezing prevents bacteria growth. As a result, your frozen fruit and veggies can be kept for up to a year and still be used. Furthermore, freezing doesn’t seem to have any significant negative impact on nutritional value.
Prepare your packs
Alongside your smoothie ingredients, there are two things you’ll need before you can prep. The first is a box of Ziplock bags to make your smoothie packs—they should be big enough to hold everything. That said, any form of airtight container would work. The second is a marker for marking which smoothie recipe is contained in which pack and how much liquid to add. Some masking tape can be helpful during this step.
This part is simple and straightforward. All you need to do is divide your ingredients into their respective recipes. Next, pack them into Ziplock bags to make your packs—one smoothie per pack. Things like fruit, veggies, and other soft ingredients should all go into the bag. Liquids and less perishable ingredients like peanut butter, protein powders, and honey can be stored separately.
Finally, use your marker to write any relevant details on the bag. It can actually be easier to do the writing with the bag on a flat surface, before filling it with smoothie ingredients. You may also want to mark which smoothie recipe the bag contains.
It’s also a good idea to make a note of what needs to be added before you blend everything together. For example, write “100ml almond milk.” Additionally, consider marking the date you made each pack so that you can use older packs first.
Masking tape isn’t necessary, but writing on the tape before sticking it to a pack can be easier than trying to write directly onto the pack. You’ll also be making it easier to read the writing.
Blend your smoothie
Blending your smoothie is straightforward as well. Just empty a frozen smoothie pack into your blender, add the liquid of your choice (milk, water, coconut water, etc), and blend your smoothie. Use the ice crusher option on your blender to grind up all the frozen ingredients. Most blenders these days have an ice crusher anyway.
Conclusion
To the question, “How to make frozen smoothie packs,” the immediate response is that they’re easy to make, convenient, and can be usually be kept frozen for up to a year. If you enjoy smoothies but feel they take too long or require too much prep to do each day, smoothie packs may solve your problem. Find a recipe you like, head to the store and get your ingredients, divide everything into airtight containers (one complete smoothie per bag), and then stick them into your freezer. By doing this simple preparation, you’ll have ready-to-blend smoothies available whenever the mood hits.
References
- Healthline. “Are Smoothies Good For You?”. Healthline, 2022. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/are-smoothies-good-for-you#benefits.
- Muinos, Lacey. “Do Frozen Fruits And Vegetables Really Last Forever? | Livestrong.Com”. LIVESTRONG.COM, 2022. https://www.livestrong.com/article/13770458-how-long-do-frozen-fruits-vegetables-last/.
