Homemade Smoothies: A frugal and delicious Summer treat (plus, a little giveaway!)

At our house, we love to have homemade smoothies in the Summertime. Not only are they yummy and refreshing--especially on a hot Summer day!--but they can also be quite frugal. Yes, really, smoothies can be frugal!

Almost any kind of fruit can be used in a smoothie, but berries are especially good. During the Summer months when berries are in season and plentiful, the sales on them are usually abundant. Buy a little extra each week and wash, chop, and freeze them to have for later and you'll save a bundle and stock your freezer with a nice variety of berries to use in smoothies for a few months to come.

I like to spread the berries on baking sheets after I've washed and chopped them and then stick them in the freezer until they are frozen. Once frozen, I transfer them from the baking sheets to freezer bags. This method prevents all of your berries forming into one big clump in the freezer bag and makes it much easier for you to get out a cup or two at a time to add to your blender for a smoothie.

Another fruit which is a must-have in smoothies is bananas. Our stores sell bananas which are past their prime for a very reduced price. I buy these up and we eat what we can the first day and then chop and freeze the rest to use in smoothies and banana bread. This is a much more cost-effective way to add bananas to your smoothies and you can't tell that a banana was a bit overripe if it is in a smoothie!

Since I love experimenting in the kitchen, I find smoothies to be a great way to use up some of those odds and ends of produce from the refrigerator and freezer. From that little bit of leftover juice or yogurt which wasn't used for breakfast the day before to the spinach from the garden which you have in abundance, almost anything can go into a smoothie so long as you put enough other things in it to "hide" it!

The other day, I used the items pictured above to whip up some strawberry smoothies: some of the YoBaby yogurt, frozen strawberries, milk, and some Santa Cruiz juice.

I always begin by adding in the frozen fruit and any fresh fruit, then yogurt or milk, and then liquids (either milk or juice). I add more liquid if needed and sweeten it with honey or sugar if it needs it (most of the time, we don't add sweetener as the fruit is plenty enough!).

 

And the girls just gobble it up!

We love strawberry smoothies, but another family favorite is our Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie recipe which is posted here. I made it up on a whim one day and we all decided it was a keeper! If you're a little more adventuresome, you might also try Green Smoothies. We've made these before and no one seemed to even notice the spinach in them!

Would you like to try your hand at making smoothies? Just for fun, I'm giving away a Smoothie Kit on my blog today complete with yummy smoothie recipes, a small Hamilton-Beach blender (shown above), and Bone Health t-shirts.

May was National Osteoporosis Awareness and Prevention Month and the Milk Bone Health Program was going to give away this kit then, but since I had a baby in May, I'm a little behind here. But I thought it'd be fun to still give away this kit--especially since it's a wonderful time of year to be making smoothies.

To enter to win this Smoothie Kit, just leave a comment on this post in the next 24 hours. I'll randomly choose a winner once this giveaway is closed.

The girls, enjoying their smoothies and sporting their "I {love} strong bones" t-shirts. 

Comments

[Julie Perrotta]

We LOVE smoothies too, I just started freezing the bananas and it works out great. Thanks for the PB recipe.

[Patty]

We love to make smoothies as well. And our blender just broke!
Thanks for all of your hard work.

[Melissa]

Mmm, I love smoothies.

[April Jones]

YUM! We love smoothies at our house...but our blender just died...so this would be great!

[Jasmine]

This would be a great giveaway for me to win. My mom and husband are both having jaw surgery this year and will have their jaws wired shut for a month each. I'll need all the help I can get when it comes time to take care of each of them. My mom is especially picky so I've been trying to stock up on recipes she might like.

[Jennifer]

I've recently started adding spinach to my smoothies and love it.

[Amanda LaPlante]

As always, thanks for the chance :o)

[Christina]

Those smoothies look delicious!

[Stephanie]

stephanie I would love the smoothie kit we too are crazy about smoothies all summer.

[Young]

We sure do love homemade smoothies. Yummy.

[Julie]

Keep up the good work! You make a difference.

[susan]

I love smoothies, but haven't tried to make them at home yet...so this would def motivate me to begin!! Thanks!

[Tiffany]

I can't possibly be the first comment??? We have smoothies almost every meal!

[Diane]

mmmm, smoothies! That sounds great, especially in this weather!!! Thanks for hosting this give-away!

[Jennifer]

I never thought of freezing bananas. I am not a huge berry fan but love banana smooties. Cutting and freezing the bananas is a terrific idea. Now if I can just get my 3 year old to like smoothies as much as I do.

Thanks for the ideas.

[Abby]

Please enter me into the drawing. Thanks!

[Meagan]

I love smoothies too. We always add oatmeal or wheat germ to it, and I think it improves the texture without changing the taste much. Also, we usually add vanilla to ours.

[Kathy]

Thanks for having this contest! We actually don't have a blender, and this would be perfect for our family right now. God Bless!

[Andrea L. Britton]

We love smoothies at my house!

[Michelle]

Crystal,
I love smoothies too. My mom got us started on them when I was living at home. I now am a single gal living on my own and still enjoy smoothies. (You don't know of any KJV conservative guys in their 30's middle to late or so that is looking for a wife do you:) You can take that part out:) I have started using peanut butter in mine too! I can get organic or natural peanut butter for dirt cheap:) My secret;) and so I enjoy the taste. I need to get to the grocery store more and freeze like you mentioned. I have no large freezer though:( Boo, hoo. Would be fun to win and thank you! I love your blog and turn others onto it when I can.
Michelle S.

[Rebekah]

This sounds so tasty!

[Marcie]

I love smoothies! It's a great way for my 1 year old to get his nutrients too.

[Michelle Evans]

Sounds great! I LOVE smothies!

[lisa bauermeister]

We LOVE smoothies!! We make them almost daily and would love to win this giveaway

[Aimee B]

Cool deal, count me in.

[Jen L]

My littles would LOVE smoothies! What a great idea!

[Tanya Y.]

Homemade smoothies......yummo! Refreshing in the heat, health building, and great tasting...thanks for the ideas! I am new to your blog and appreciate the time you take to help other mamas! From one mama to another...thank you!

[Shanna]

The smoothie kit sounds like something fun to try out this summer! Thanks for putting this together!

[Joni Schmidt]

I also love making smooties this time of year. You had some great idea's, I loved the idea of cutting up the banana's to put in the freezer. I do this with strawberry's that we haven't gotten to and it works great!

[Laura Hills]

Yummy! Thanks for sharing!

[Stacy]

My family has just started trying to eat better and smoothies are a great idea. Thank you for the information.

[Tonya M]

I love your blog and love your giveaways!!!

[Diana]

Ohh I would love to win this!

[Tonita Nance]

I love reading your blog!! The kids would love the smoothie kit.
Thanks,
Tonita Nance
3789 Rugby Pike
Jamestown, Tenn. 38556
redeemed5@twlakes.net

[Courtney]

Sounds delicious!

[tonya]

My three girls LOVE smoothies...until they wore the blender out. New recipies and a new blender would be GREAT!

[Michelle]

These smoothies look great!! Your thoughts would be to wash your berries before you freeze them? Is it ok to freeze them without washing them? Washing them once you are ready to use them. Does it matter? Thanks for the input! :)

[Teresa Hewson]

We love smoothies at our house. We grow our own blueberries and trade some with our friend Marge for some of her blackberries. Our smoothies tend to be on the purple side! Our blender is getting old and tired, smells like rubber burning when we use it, so we could certainly use a new one. Have you ever made peach smoothies?

[Jessica]

We love smoothies here, and could use a new blender! Thanks. Jessica, jehoch@gmail.com

[Lauren]

thanks!

[zina]

I am in. I would love to win this one.
Thank you

[Emily]

We love strawberry smoothies too!!

[Brooks Munday]

Great Smoothie ideas, I love the info on the berries.

[Kristin]

Great giveaway

[Aunt Pippy]

Whoo hoo! We love smoothies! Enter me, please.

[Sarah Milbrandt]

What a great giveaway! My boys would love smoothies as a afternoon snack!

[Nicole]

I love smoothies, too!

[Jennie]

We'd love to win! We love smoothies at our house (I try to mimic Jamba Juice recipes!) but our blender just went on the blink.

[Sue]

Thanks so much for this offer - I'd love to get into "smoothies" so hope I'm the lucky one!

[Melissa]

We love smoothies!