Smoothie Starters

To be crystal clear this will not be a post where I walk you through various time hacks to get smoothies ready super fast.

Smoothies, my friends, take 2 minutes to make. They take 2 minutes to make if you have a bag of pre-prepped fruits and veggies, or if you grab a handful of fruits and veggies out of 2 separate bags. 2 minutes.

I recently watched a “smoothie” hack video where every single hack literally ended up taking longer than if you would just grab your ingredients and make a smoothie. Spending an hour pre-portioning spinach and strawberries into 10 individual bags or spending 22 seconds to grab a handful of frozen strawberries and a handful of frozen spinach from separate bags?  Hmm… I'm not sure I understand the hack. Plus all those plastic bags! Ahhh!!!!

Smoothie making should not feel overwhelming and complicated it should be fun and easy.

You don't ever have to turn into the smoothie mad scientist that I've become, I happen to love to mix and match and play with superfoods and explore. I have no less than 14 mason jars on my smoothie shelf filled with all kinds of goodness. Those are add-ins. They are optional.

What a good smoothie does require is good starter ingredients. That is where my smoothie starters come in.

September yields the biggest bounty of fresh local produce in the northeast. My CSA is off the charts EVERY WEEK! I am swimming in fruits and veggies, and fresh herbs, and all things wonderful that come from the earth or fall from a tree. It's joyful. It's fleeting. It's time to make some good use of all this produce!!!

Organic frozen berries and peaches and greens are expensive. Fresh local produce right now, is not. So, I simply blend them up in various ways and have the base for smoothies all winter long. This is genius. This is time-saving in that I don't have to keep running to the market for more frozen produce, and luscious in that the product I'm starting with is fresh and bursting with flavor. Good times!

How to make smoothie starters:

1. Pick your fruit or veggie of choice – I typically keep it pretty simple, just strawberries, or kale and lemon. That way I can make a smoothie based on how I feel and what I'm craving rather than a combo starter that has 10 ingredients.
2. Blend until smooth
3. Pour into an ice cube tray. Freeze overnight. Pop smoothie starters out of ice cube tray and into a baggie in the freezer.

Smoothie starters I love:

1. Strawberries – I received about 6 quarts of strawberries earlier in the season and 3 arrived the day before I was leaving on a 3-week trip. I washed and trimmed the berries, popped them into my vitamix and whirled away. Filled up 3 ice cube trays and I was out the door without wasting a single strawberry.
2. Blackberry + Mint – I love blackberries and mint together, so this starter has a handful of mint and a quart of blackberries. Whirl up, pour into ice cube trays, freeze. Done.
3. Kale + Lemon – I cook my kale first, and most of my greens, when I am using them in smoothies. Too much raw kale can potentially affect thyroid function, for my clients with thyroid disorder I always recommend cooked greens in smoothies. I boil kale for 3 minutes. Drain and blend with the juice from one lemon (the lemon juice helps to keep the greens super green).
4. Peaches + Camu Camu (or just peaches) – I added camu camu powder (1 tsp), a super food with high amounts of vitamin C. The camu camu helps keep the peach cubes peachie and adds a strong immunity boost.
5. Beets – I LOVE beets in my smoothies! I typically just peel and chop beets, steam them until tender, and then freeze. No need to blend into cubes.
6. Pineapple – All smoothies are better with pineapple. Truth. Like my Kale-A-Colada, still my favorite smoothie ever! Pineapples were on sale last week 2 for $4. I went pineapple crazy and now have enough pineapple for about 100 smoothies, all for $4! Winning.

That's the gist of it. Grab your favorite fruits and veggies that are abundant and fresh this time of year and get yourself all set up for those long winter mornings, curled up with a great book, tall wool socks, and a bright and beautiful, nourishing and delicious smoothie.

Thanks for reading Abra's Kitchen! To see what goodness I'm whipping up be sure to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. If you make this recipe tag #abraskitchen on Instagram so I can see your creation 🙂