A few years ago we saved up enough money to take our family on a cruise. One of the things the kids loved best about being on the ship was getting smoothies. Later, they discovered that our local farmer’s market made them and started begging for them every time we shopped there. It didn’t take me long to realize that this was one treat that I could make just as easily, and much less expensively, at home. However, though they are nutritious when made with fresh fruit and less sugar, they can still be pricey for an everyday treat. So, through the years I’ve come up with a few strategies that have helped me save both time and money while thrilling my kids with one of their favorite treats. Here’s what I’ve learned so far:
• Check out the marked down fruit at your local market. Slightly overripe bananas, strawberries that are a little soft and bruised peaches still make great smoothies. In fact , slightly overripe fruit is often sweeter and requires less sugar. Just use good common sense and discard any fruit that is moldy or too far gone.
• Go ahead and buy up more fruit than you can use and freeze it. Wash and trim berries, slice peaches and pears, but leave bananas whole, with the skin on. Then freeze on a tray overnight and store, frozen in zip lock bags. My kids particularly like picking out their own fruit mixture each day.
• Make and keep simple syrup on hand. Just mix one part water with two parts sugar and heat until the sugar melts. Store this in the fridge in a sealed container and you’ll always have sweetener on hand.
• Forget about buying a special smoothie maker. A standard blender works just as well.
• Try sneaking in some veggies. Cook sliced carrots until they’re soft and freeze them. Then, when you’re making a peach or strawberry smoothie, throw a few in the blender. No one will ever know.
• If you want to use less sugar in a smoothie containing highly acidic fruit like strawberries or pineapple, as just a tiny, tiny pinch (less than an 1/8 of a teaspoon) of baking soda to the smoothie. This will cut the acid and allow you to use half as much sugar.
• If you try the tip above and get a little too much so that the smoothie tastes odd, a little lemon juice will add flavor and restore the acidity.
• One advantage to using frozen fruit is that you don’t have to add ice. Just fill you blender about half full of whatever you’re using and add enough water to barely cover the frozen fruit. This will give you a lovely, drinkable smoothie.
• For a quick morning treat, substitute milk or yogurt for the water.
• Try surprising your husband with a smoothie just for him when he walks in the door from a hard day at work.
My Bio
Susan Mathis is a black belt tightwad with more than 30 years’ experience getting $1.50 out of every dollar. She lives outside Washington D.C. with her husband and her two youngest children. She is a regular contributor to
www.thecouponcupboard.com.
