Fruit Smoothie

This yummy cool drink is great for a sweet treat without any artificial flavors or colors and no processed sugars. This makes two servings.

I always pull the frozen fruit out of the freezer a few minutes to let them soften a bit.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup juice (apple or white grape)
2 cups frozen fruit (blueberries, strawberries, peaches, raspberries)
1 banana cut into 2 inch chunks

Process:

Pour juice into blender, add bananas, then the frozen fruits. Process on lowest setting until mixture stops moving. You can wait for the mixture to "burp" itself or you can mix it carefully with a spatula or wooden spoon. Begin blending on lowest setting again for a few seconds, then increase to medium speed briefly, and finish off on the highest when you are satisfied with the texture of your smoothie. This doesn't take very long. If the smoothie is too thick for you just add more juice and blend again.  Pour into cups/glasses and enjoy.

Economy Tip #1

Step 1

Economy Tip #1

  If you like to grow your own fruits and veggies, or like to make your own smoothies, invest in freezer bags. This nifty, wallet-friendly tool helps when you want fruit, but don't want to spend a lot of money buying it during the off-season. This also gives you a reasonable excuse to clean out that freezer. Toss out whatever you don't need (or is now inedible) and pack away inexpensive fruit! You'll feel like you accomplished something! (Something with potentially tasty results.)

Step 4

Step 1: Buy fruit on sale, like strawberries. Don't forget the freezer bags. (Quart-size do well in our house.)

Step 2: Slice, dice, chop, or do whatever to your chosen fruit to make it a convenient size.We also put tomato sauce in ours. Spaghetti in the winter without any potentially hazardous preservatives and chemicals!

Step 3: Pack the fruit into the bag, fill to within an inch or two from the top, depending on how chunky your fruit is. 

Step 4: Squeeze out the air, seal the bag, and put the bag in your freezer.

Step 5: If you feel the need for some strawberry smoothie, or maybe some cherry crisps, pull out those frozen fruits and whip it up! You can reuse the bags by washing them out with hot, soapy water and letting them air dry. 

Note: You can also freeze vegetables, like squash, water chestnuts, green beans, carrots, etc for an easy stir fry or quick sweet bread addition. Just measure the shredded veggie to the needed amount and freeze. Then, in the middle of the winter, you can pull out the shredded veggie and mix it in the batter or dough. Bake up something warm and delicious to chase away those frosty chills! 
 
Save money! Go Gastronomy!