Frozen Fruit Smoothie

Yep – this delicious frozen fruit smoothie is sitting on an empty ice cube tray…

This is an old trick of mine and one of my favorite blender drinks for summer.  It’s fast, super cold (it’s frozen!), nutritious (because I choose what I put into the blender) and delicious!   This is the perfect “Creative Recipe”  because you get to create your own drink each time, just the way you want it, using whatever you have on hand.

The concept is to combine frozen fruit, yogurt and liquid in the blender – the drink comes out thick and flavor packed, thanks to the frozen fruit,  and a bit creamy, thanks to the yogurt.  The liquid adds additional flavor and/or body, depending on what you choose to use, and is necessary to turn all that frozen fruit  into a frozen drink!

Here are my secrets to making this smoothie fast and easy, nutritious and delicious:

1.  First – the fruit! Notice the smoothie in my photo is sitting on an empty ice cube tray? Anytime I have extra fruit, or overripe fruit such as strawberries, peaches, etc., I slice it or dice it (no added sugar for me, either – straight up) and put it into the ice cube tray.  A few hours later, after it is frozen, I pop out the fruit cubes and put them in a container or freezer bag.  Extra blueberries, blackberries and so on?  You can smash them lightly to release some juice and put them into the ice cube tray as well, or put them whole into the ice cube tray and add a very small amount of water or juice to hold them together as they freeze.  See, you’re being creative already!

2.  We can never eat bananas as fast as they ripen, so I slice the extra bananas up – about 2 inches thick or so – and put them into a freezer container.  Frozen bananas add a wonderful creaminess to the smoothie, along with their potassium-packed nutrition.

3.  Yogurt – this is easy and again, your choice, your creativity.  I always have some in the refrigerator – can be plain or flavored, Greek-style, low fat or fat free, single serve or spooned from the big tub, etc., etc., etc. – your choice!

4.  Liquid – again, very easy and as creative as you want!  I have used skim milk, pomegranate juice (sparingly – it’s tart!), orange juice, fruity V-8 (they make a “smoothie” drink that is yummy) and so on.  I sometime use half skim milk and half juice.  It’s up to you, you, you!

When you’re ready for a smoothie, get out the blender and put about 2 cups of liquid in the bottom, then add yogurt (a single serving or a big spoonful – or as much or little as you like), then the frozen fruit cubes, banana chunks, etc.  I start the blender on a lower speed then work it up to high.  If the smoothie is not as thick as you like, add a little more frozen fruit.

That’s all there is to it!!!  Adjust all quantities to your blender and desire – I love to put the frozen smoothie into an insulated tumbler so it stays icy cold while I drink it.

p.s.  Check out The Big Pepper Freeze if you want a primer on the concept of freezing foods in an ice cube tray.

p.p.s.  If you never have extra fruit or can’t afford the time to do the ice cube tray thing, this works equally well with frozen, bagged fruit from the grocery.

p.p.p. s.  My mountain-biking niece adds a small amount of peanut butter to her smoothies for an extra dab of protein and a flavor punch.   Hmmmmmm……..  I can feel a frozen banana, vanilla yogurt, skim milk, dark chocolate syrup, chunky peanut butter kind of smoothie coming on here….

p.p.p.p.s – I just loving adding p.s.’s to my posts!! 🙂