Smoothie packs

If you got a great deal on discount produce and are looking for ways to use it up before it goes bad, smoothie packs are a great option. You can put them together in a few minutes, and they keep in the freezer for months.

The basic idea is to put smoothie ingredients in freezer bags, label them, and put them in the freezer. When you would like a smoothie, just empty a pack into your blender with some liquid, and enjoy! The actual ingredients are very flexible, depending on what you like and what you have on hand. If you're looking for inspiration, check out the suggestions below.

For the smoothie packs:

• Fruit: fresh, frozen or canned
• Veggies: cauliflower and zucchini are both pretty tasteless in smoothies, and avocados add a creamy texture
• Greens: spinach and kale both blend well
• Protein add-ins: yogurt, protein powder, peanut butter, tofu
• Dry ingredients: oats, cocoa powder, cinnamon, ginger

For the smoothie:

• 1 smoothie pack
• Blending liquid: milk, water, juice

 

1. To make smoothie packs, simply add all smoothie ingredients except for liquid to a freezer bag. Seal, and use a sharpie to label (if you like). Transfer to the freezer
   
   
2. To make a smoothie, just add 1 smoothie pack along with liquid of choice to a blender. Blend and enjoy!

• To reduce mess, you can slice bananas and freeze in a layer on a baking sheet ahead of time, before transferring to the freezer bags. If using yogurt, you can freeze it ahead of time in ice cube trays as well, and add the frozen yogurt cubes to the bags.
  
  
• To save space, bags can be laid flat to freeze. Once they have frozen, they can be stood up in a row or stacked in the freezer.

You can make just about anything into a smoothie, but here are some suggested flavour combinations!

• strawberry + banana + oats
• mixed berries + spinach
• oranges + banana + yogurt
• peanut butter + banana + cocoa powder
• pineapple + spinach + banana + shredded coconut, or coconut milk

 

• Smoothie packs can be stored in the freezer for around 3 months

Food is Too Expensive! was funded by the City of Saskatoon through our Healthy Yards partnership, the Cyril Capling Trust Fund of the College of Agriculture and Bioresources, and the Department of Plant Sciences. Focus group research to inform this work was collected by CHEP. Thank you all for helping us make healthy food more accessible!