Smoothie Freezer Packs

In an effort to streamline my mornings and make sure I get out the door with my mid-morning green smoothie, I made up some freezer packs last night. I didn't take pictures, but the idea came from Pinterest (big surprise).

In sandwich size zip top bags, I threw in a handful of spinach, a half a sliced banana, and some frozen fruit. I did several mixes...pineapple/blueberry, pineapple/mango, blueberry/strawberry. This morning, I just grabbed a pack, threw it in the Magic Bullet, added water and whirled away. That saved me the time from getting out all the different bags of fruit, the spinach and slicing a banana. Ok, so it doesn't sound that hard, but it was super easy this morning. No thinking invovled.

After making my smoothie this morning, I will say the frozen spinach leaves didn't blend as smoothly as the fresh leaves. I think next time, I might try blending the spinach with water first and freezing this mixture into ice cube trays. Then I'll just put a cube or two in each freezer pack.

I also threw together some smoothies for the kids' lunches. I've had these Ball brand plastic freezer containers for a while, purchased just for this reason, but I've yet to use them. It didn't take long at all last night, especially since I had all the fruit out making my packs.

For SB, I made a smoothie she really enjoyed last week as breakfast...banana, pineapple, blueberry, and milk. One totally full Magic Bullet's worth, made 3 almost-full containers. For Ryan, I have to keep his simple...banana, chocolate syrup and milk. I did add some flaxmeal to his to see if that helps his tummy issues.

I put the screwtop lids on and stuck the smoothies in the freezer. This morning, Chad just put those in with the rest of their lunches. I'm hoping by lunch they are thawed enough to drink/eat. My biggest worry is that they use Pack Its, and I'm not sure if they'll stay too cold to thaw.

If they like the way theirs turn out, I may try blending up my smoothies and freezing them as well. I'm guessing if I took them out of the freezer in the morning and set them on my desk, they'd be perfect by my conference period.

I also have dinner in the crockpot for tonight...terriyaki beef. I am planning on steaming a bag of Asian vegetables and making some fried rice or noodles. I love knowing I don't have to worry about dinner.

It's amazing how a little prep work and planning makes such a big difference.