PRO meals: Smoothie Packs
As I mentioned in my meal planning post, I’ve been feeling a little lackluster with dinners lately. I throw something quick in the slow cooker, or we’ll have the same things over and over again (especially since the Pilot was away). I will say that there was one lovely chicken pasta and wine night at home with nana, but other than that, it was food to-go or something quickly made at home.
When I spent a little while today prepping for the week, there was one food that sounded particularly awesome: smoothies!
I saw this idea on Pinterest and knew it would be perfect for the upcoming week. Here’s how it works: you put your smoothie servings into a bag in the freezer so they’re ready to add milk and blend later on.
I LOVE this idea because I’m not the biggest fan of pre-made smoothies. For convenience they do the trick (and they taste the same) but the texture is never exactly how it was when they were freshly made. This way, I can quickly add milk and blend when Liv and I are ready for a snack, and easily customize by adding protein powder to mine, whole milk for the little lady, nut butter for both of us 😉
This week’s smoothie packs:
-Mango, 1/2 banana, spinach (to add milk or fruit juice, protein powder if desired)
-Cherry berry blend, 1/2 banana, avocado (to add cocoa powder, milk of choice and protein powder)
Some more ideas:
-Pineapple, spinach, shredded coconut ( + milk of choice)
-Mango, goji berry puree (soak and blend goji berries) to add orange juice, lime juice and cayenne pepper (this is one of my all-time faves!)
-Strawberries, banana (to add milk of choice, protein powder if desired and lots of nut butter)
-Banana, chocolate chips, spinach, fresh mint leaves (to add milk of choice)- this tastes like a chocolate chip mint shake
[Tips for making a meal out of your smoothie]
Are you a smoothie lover? What’s your favorite combo? To me, nothing says “summer” like fresh smoothies and juices. You can see more of my favorite recipes here! Any prep ahead ideas you’ve discovered lately?
Cheers!
xoxo
Gina
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Oh yes, I’m all for smoothie packs! It’s the one thing I’m really good with preparing beforehand. It’s so much easier to just have things ready to go for smoothies when you’re in a rush.
I adoreee smoothies! Especially now! I’ve been loving green smoothie with frozen spinach, banana, avocado, protein powder, and coconut flour (instead of the gums) so it’s better for my digestion. So good together.
Silly smoothie question, but how do you easily clean your resusable straws? My breakfast smoothie tends to go to work with me and then the straw sits there, dirty all day making it hard to get it 100 percent clean inside. Any ideas?
Maria,
I finally caved and bought a straw brush. (I think it’s a Brushtech sports bottle straw brush). They’re not too expensive and it’s a very nice feeling to scrub out the remains in the straw…
I have used regular old pipe cleaners like you use in crafting.
I take mine with me to the bathroom after I use it and rinse it out really well.
I made a chocolate peanut butter smoothie for breakfast today and it was absolutely delicious. One cup chocolate soy milk, 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter, a banana, 1/4 cup ground flax seed, and a handful of ice. I think it’s my new favorite breakfast!!
Oh my gosh, that sounds delicious!!!! I am so trying that!
Brilliant! My fav combo is almond milk, spinach, strawberries, half a banana and some protein powder!
I really love this idea – it would definitely save me a lot of time and make for a perfect meal to throw together in a pinch. My favorite smoothie is currently a combo of banana, vanilla protein powder, oats, and almond butter – it tastes like an oatmeal cookie.. and who doesn’t love a drinkable oatmeal cookie? 😀
LOVE smoothies! Between green smoothies and green juices, my blender gets a very good workout 🙂
Great idea on the smoothie packs! My all-time favorite is mango ginger protein… it just screams summer!
Sounds delicious! Whatever you do don’t let them thaw in the least or the spinach will be naaasty. Learned that one the hard way haha.
wow, good tip- thank yoU!
I LOVE smoothies and since the weather is warmer it has been a GO to for me lately! I do the smoothie packs and have my clients do the same so there is NO excuse as far as I was not sure what to put in etc. you literally do not even have to think and a PLUS side is its cheaper then those dreadful smoothie packs! My favorite combo at this moment is: Macro Greens Powder, Berry Bliss (thephilosophie.com), Cacao Powder + Maca Powder, Psyllium Husk + an Acai Packet and Almond Milk! LOVE LOVE LOVE! Thank you for sharing 🙂
This is a GREAT idea! I never thought to fill baggies with everything I need in a smoothie and freeze them to make it faster! Thanks!
Love this idea!! I make smoothies a lot in the warm months but sometimes the thought of getting it all out and coming up with a combo of things is exhausting haha I am going to start doing this! Thanks for the tip 🙂
I love smoothies but it’s snowing here in Denver, again. But during the summer I always want to drink my breakfast… not in the AA way but in the fruity goodness way.
I’m sure I could google it…but does anyone know if greens lose their nutritional value once they’re frozen?
They don’t.
My favorite combo: strawberry, banana, raspberries, spinach, zucchini, almond milk. So good!
Hey Gina!
I’ve been in a dinner rut too- so I hit up Pinterest for ideas.
I found the YUMMIEST pasta sauce recipe made from avocados! Not sure if you are big pasta fans (I could eat it every day). It’s simply garlic, lemon, olive oil, fresh basil, salt/pepper and avocado blended up! Delicious and so easy!
-Crystal
That sounds awesome Crystal. Where did you find that recipe, on Pinterest??
Mmm… I LOVE that very cherry berry blend. It’s a staple in my house.
My favorite smoothie right now: apple juice, greek yogurt, banana, frozen strawberries and as much kale as I can stuff in. I usually do protein powder instead of the yogurt, but trying to stay away from the processed stuff while prego. (3-ish more weeks!)
Love the idea of the bag ahead smoothie! I usually do banana, greens, strawberries and blueberries. I also love the mango-banana combo with almond milk. Nice and creamy!
my all time fav – Vanilla whey protein powder, spinach, almond butter (T), blueberries, banana (1/2), unsweetened vanilla almond milk – Yums!
I’m a big smoothie drinker! I have one for breakfast and sometimes a second one in the evening. I actually use a magic billet for my smoothies so I prep a whole bunch of bullet cups on Sunday with frozen mixed berries, banana and spinach and leave them in the freezer. Every night I take one out, add water and kefir and put in the fridge. In the morning I add protein powder, flax and chia before blending. Takes about 10 seconds in the morning!
Love this idea! I love smoothies, especially any with banana and nut butter.
This is a great diea! My fav combo lately has been almond milk, spinach, banana, avocado and pinapple..SOO good!
Wow I haven’t made any smoothies since last fall! These combos sound amazing, thanks for posting <3
I’ve never thought of this. Love it! Especially since I’m on a major smoothie kick – mango, banana, spinach, coconut milk, chia.
Thanks for all of the combos. They sound great! Any ideas to replace the protein powder? I haven’t found a protein powder that doesn’t upset my stomach.
you can skip it! just add in something else that will give a little protein boost, like nut butter
I love smoothies – this is such a great idea! My fiance bought me a Ninja blender for Christmas this year and I use it at least 3x per day for smoothies, guacamole, etc. I love my smoothies with a little Greek Yogurt mixed in, especially the plain flavor from Greek Gods Yogurt! It’s low in sugar content, and makes the smoothies have the perfect texture. 🙂 Also love adding in a little Unipro Perfect Protein Powder!
Anybody have suggestions for great blenders at a lower price point than the Vitamix? As badly as I want one, I need to be sure I’ll use it almost everyday before I spend a car payment 😉
I was in the same boat, did a ton of research and it seems like either vitamin or blendtec if you want to spend the money, but if not to go with a ninja — $100 I think? Ish
I am obsessed with smoothies! I love banana with any kind of berries!
This is a great idea, love it, thank you Gina!! Since I’m frequently on the go too and don’t have a lot of time to throw them together (and I don’t like premade ones much either, especially made the night before- tried that a couple times, and I had more fruity almond milk than a smoothie ;-)), I will definitely use this. 🙂
Tonight for dessert after my Turbo Fire workout, I rocked an almond milk + frozen peaches and berry medley + low fat vanilla yogurt + flax seed smoothie, and it was AH-MAZING!! Totally rejuvenating. 🙂
Hi Gina, I’m trying to click on your Pinterest icon and it’s bringing me to some sort of page with a bunch of html coding. Just thought I would let you know.
I’ve been in such a smoothie rut lately and all my new “recipes” have tasted like…mud. Such a helpful list! Thank you!
So you can freeze spinach?? Mind=BLOWN!! 🙂
Love smoothies and this idea! I typically enjoy my smoothies out of a bowl with some granola on top. Thick and delicious!
Amazing idea! I love Pinterest! My favorite combo is a classic: banana-strawberry-lime or banana-kiwi-lime
I love smoothies! I definitely like the combo of spinach, avocado and berries, in fall/winter I love Pumpkin Protein Smoothies. If I want them to be richer I add some tbsp of oats, so good!
I wonder if there’s a more environmentally-friendly way to store all the smoothie ingredients. I shudder at all the plastic packaging!
I reuse them- they’re easy to clean
Thanks for your reply – of course, don’t know why I didn’t think of that!
no worries! i didn’t know about that either, until a friend told me earlier this year.
xo
I am a smoothie junkie these days. My husband and I have been having a green smoothie as a post workout snack every morning for a couple of months now. I make them with nonfat yogurt, milk, a couple of handfuls of spinach, a banana and then I change up the rest. Other fruits I put in are strawberries, mango, pineapple, orange, or apple. I will try out other things as they come on sale. I love smoothies.
This is such a good idea! Especially the one with avocado, I love avocado in my smoothies but often only want 1/4 of one in there and it’s too much of a hassle in the morning to cut it all up and store the rest for 1/4 avocado.
I’d feel bad about all the plastic bags though, I wonder what a good reusable option would be. Small tupperware containers? I guess if you have heavy duty bags you can always rinse/reuse those (at least my grandma does, haha).
That’s what I do- they’re easy to clean 🙂
I tend to drink my smoothies really fast, I’ve been really into Smoothie In a Bowl lately. Katheats originated the idea, but basically you put a smoothie in a bowl, top it with something like cereal, granola, coconut, etc., and eat with a spoon! It’s so satisfying.
i had smoothie in a bowl at work last week. everyone was like “what is that?!” haha
I love this idea, what a great post! Smoothies can be a great source of nutrients, especially for those of us with tight schedules. It can be really tough to fit in balanced meals, when we are constantly going from one place to another. I love to do a smoothie when I get back from my morning run, but I often find myself rushing to get it prepared. These would definitely save me a ton of time in the morning! As for my favorite I love a combination of Strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. I’m not a big banana person, so I always mix in a supplement with all of the essentials. Your Mango and Goji Berry smoothie sounds awesome- I am definitely going to give that one a try!
This is a great idea! I just recently started pre-planning my meals and it makes the job so much easier. I will try to do it this way and see how my smoothies come out. Thanks for the info!
What about cleaning the blender everyday? Do you just rinse it so it wont be in the dishwasher the next day?
i put dish soap and water in there, then blend on high, rinse out and it’s clean! super speedy
I looove smoothies! My current favorite is frozen butternut squash (freeze leftover roasted), spinach, banana, cocoa powder & Sun Warrior. Sometimes I add peppermint extract, too.
Another tip: I don’t like the texture of leftover smoothies either, but if I make too much I freeze it in ice cube trays or a plastic cup. Just re-blend later with a little almond milk. Fresh smoothie in less than a minute!
Also if I have avocado I don’t think I’ll eat fast enough, I chunk it up and freeze it for future smoothies, just like a banana.
Brilliant idea. I currently am loving peach, banana, spinach, and a splash of almond milk. I am trying to find a protein powder that doesn’t taste terrible ha
This is such an awesome idea! I’ve contemplated doing something like this in the past, but never seem to get around to it! I love some of these combination ideas, too – that banana/chocolate chip/mint one sounds particularly delicious 🙂
I love smoothies but I haven’t been able to have them lately because my roommate’s blender is broken. 😛 My favourite has always been strawberry banana!
This idea is ingenious!
I’ve been having a smoothie (or sometimes two!) a day since Friday. I find smoothies a great way to easily up my intake of veggies, especially leafy greens. I just tried this combo yesterday and had to have it again today because it was SO GOOD: 1 c unsweetened chocolate almond milk, 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, 1.5 scoops vanilla Sun Warrior (if I’d had chocolate I would’ve used that instead and skipped the cocoa powder), 1 c organic baby kale, 1 c frozen mixed berries, 1 tbsp raw almond butter, 1 tbsp chia seeds (plus a splash of water to thin it out a bit more). Yum yum yummmmmmmmm.
Yay it’s smoothie weather again!!
My favorite is just a simple berry mix, half a banana, protein powder, spinach and cocoa nibs.j
I also love avoiding having to clean my whole blender each time, I have these plastic smoothie containers that fit over any blender bottom. They made smoothie making so much easier, and I can get the perfect amount each time. They turn your regular blender into a bullet basically.
How much frozen fruit do you add to the baggies and how much spinach? Does already frozen spinach work? How much milk do you add? Great idea!
I have been adding Hemp Hearts to my smoothies lately. Gives a yummy nutty taste and a little protein kick! I use about 1 Tbs so that I’m not chewing on my smoothie but you could add more (3 Tbs is 10 grams of protein!). I got a giant bag of organic, non-GMO hemp hearts at Costco for a great price.