You want to eat healthy, but don’t always have time to make something. Even preparing smoothies can be a time consuming process.
However, there are ways to reduce the time involved in buying and preparing the ingredients for several smoothies a week. By employing one or more of the techniques I outline below, you too can shave time off of your smoothie making endeavors.
Making healthy smoothies should be quick, easy, and fun. Don’t let your busy schedule prevent your from making healthy smoothies on a regular basis and enjoying all the wonderful health benefits.
5 Time Saving Smoothie Tips
1) Prepare produce for several smoothies at a time
Identify the produce you commonly use in your smoothies or plan on using for the next week or so. This could be fruits or vegetables from your last trip to the farmers’ market or grocery store. Buy bulk to cut down on trips to the store or market and increase the number of smoothies you can prepare for.
I learned about this tip from my uncle Karl. He goes to his local farmers’ market every Sunday morning and comes home with a variety of ingredients, such as kale, spinach, collard greens, dandelion greens, Swiss chard, celery, and/or seasonal fruits.
Later that day he cleans and separates equal proportions of the ingredients into daily bags (unsealed), which he stores in the refrigerator for use during the following week. This makes it much more convenient to gather the desirable ingredients for blending into a smoothie each day for he and his wife.
Clean produce from the farmers’ market
Separate equal proportions of the ingredients
Place produce in bags for easy storage and retrieval for smoothies
Taking this a step further, you can also add fruit to your “smoothie pouches”, seal, and put in your freezer. This extends the life of your produce and helps to ensure nothing goes to waste.
2) Combine other ingredients for multiple smoothies
This is the same concept as the first tip, but applied to other smoothie ingredients, such as protein powders, green powders, superfoods, seeds, nuts, spices, and herbs. This has personally saved me gobs of time because I often get pretty creative with my smoothies. I like to combine ingredients for up to 2 weeks worth of smoothies.
Here’s an example of what I do. Using a sealable container of some sort (1 quart mason jar is perfect), I measure out 2 weeks worth of protein powder, green superfood powder, maca, cacao powder, and cinnamon. When smoothie time rolls around I simply take a couple big scoops from my mixture and add to my blender. No more opening and closing each bag and making a mess on the counter-top. The more smoothie ingredients you use, the more time this tactic will save you.
3) Freeze your fruit, silly
Buying fresh fruit from the store or market a couple times a week isn’t ideal if you’re looking to save time. Instead, load up, wash, and freeze your fresh fruit. It takes very little time to add frozen fruit to your smoothie.
On a recent trip to the farmers’ market I procured two quarts of beautiful blueberries. After washing them, and eating a handful or two, to the freezer they went. I’m blessed to live in the blueberry abundant state of Michigan and often freeze several quarts of blueberries a year for smoothie making all fall and into the winter months.
You can just as easily do this with almost any fruit. My freezer also fills up quickly with raspberries and strawberries. Not only is frozen fruit great in smoothies, but those of you with a powerful enough blender can make ice cream with it too.
It could be said that bananas are a smoothies best friend. They provide that signature rich, creamy texture and sweet taste. To expedite adding bananas to your smoothies, once ripe, peel and break the bananas into small 1-2 inch chunks. Then, you guessed it, place in a zip lock baggie or other container and store in your freezer for easy retrieval.
4) Anyone care for some tea?
If you’ve been around Healthy Smoothie HQ for any length of time you know I’m a huge fan of using healthy teas as the liquid for your smoothie. Brewing a fresh cup of tea every morning is not a time saver, especially if you prefer it chilled.
To save time and money, purchase loose tea in bulk so you can brew a big old pot. Then simply transfer the tea to a container you can store in your refrigerator (1/2 gallon mason jar works great) and you’ve got a healthy smoothie liquid for the week.
5) Strategic Placement
This last tip is perhaps the easiest, yet often overlooked. Strategically place your blender and any often used smoothie ingredients next to each other, preferably on your counter-top. I use to stow my blender away making it a small hassle to get out and put back. End result, less healthy smoothies.
Now I have a “smoothie station” in the corner of my kitchen where all my ingredients are within arms length. Have your kitchen setup for easy cleanup as well. If it takes me more than 5 minutes to whip up a delicious and highly nutritious smoothie, something is not right :)
Bonus Tip
This is for everyone who loves using chia seeds in their smoothies. Fresh chia seeds are great in smoothies, but chia seed gel is the bomb in comparison. Chia seed gel is a great alternative smoothie base ingredient or thickening agent. If you need a break from bananas, this is a perfect replacement, although without the sweetness.
To make chia seed gel simply add about 1 part chia seed to 1 part water in a small to medium sized glass jar and stir with a spoon. In about 20 minutes you’ll have chia seeds gel. Store in your refrigerator and spoon out a tablespoon or two when your smoothie’s a calling. Chia seed gel can also be used to make delicious puddings. Do a little googling to find out more.
By investing a little time up front, you set yourself up for easy, breezy, healthy smoothie making all week long.
I’d love to get your feedback on this article. Please comment below if you use any of these tactics, or better yet, have your own time saving smoothie tips to share. As always, happy blending!
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