Freeze your smoothie stuff!

A half-gallon carton of coconut milk/almond milk/soy milk has 8 servings and the expiration date is 7-10 days. So I would have to drink a protein smoothie every day to use all the milk before it goes bad. I don't. I drink maybe 2 or 3 a week. Dilemma.

And then I saw this pinned on pinterest. In the blog post, the author explains how to freeze all your ingredients for smoothies. She never specifically describes freezing milk but I thought....why not? So I measured out a serving (one cup) and poured it into ice cube trays; my trays made 10 cubes for one serving. When they were frozen solid, I popped them out of the trays and into freezer baggies. Now I can just pull one of those baggies from the freezer the night before, dump the cubes into my smoothie cup, and let it defrost in the fridge. In the morning I can make a smoothie with milk that doesn't have a questionable expiration date.

(Oh, and fyi. Silk Light Chocolate Soy Milk freezer cubes taste a whole lot like a Fudgsicle®! Two cubes (1/5 of a serving) has 18 calories and 3.2 carbs.)

And if you were wondering, this is my smoothie maker - a Back To Basics Blender Express.

Smoothie Take 2

I wrote about my first smoothie attempt in this post.  The flavor was good but the texture was not. I tried another smoothie, this time with less protein powder and more fruit.

This is what I tossed in the blender this morning:
1/2 cup diced peaches
1/2 cup strawberries
2 C. fresh spinach (loosely packed)
1 C. unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1.5 T. MLO Super High Protein Powder

Calories: 176 Carbs: 23 Protein: 16

The result? Even though it had more fruit, it was less fruity tasting and not as sweet. (Bananas make a big difference, apparently.) Cutting the protein powder in half reduced the nasty gritty/chalky texture the first smoothie had but it was definitely less filling. Combined with a proteiny breakfast (ham & cheese omelet) this made a good meal, though.

Smooth Operator

I tried to ignore the Smoothie Craze. Just because I don't like to be a trend follower. But I have to admit there's something appealing about getting multiple servings of fruits and veggies in a glass.  And adding some protein powder eliminates that whole "Ugh, eggs again?" dilemma. So, this morning I threw some stuff in the blender:

1/4 cup sliced banana
1/4 cup sliced strawberries
1/8 cup blueberries
2 cups spinach (loosely packed)
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
3 T. MLO Super High Protein Powder

Calories: 211 Carbs: 18 Protein: 27

My verdict? The flavor was good - sweet, fruity, nutty, and not at all spinachy. The texture was pretty gross, though. Kind of...gritty or chalky. I'm guessing that was the protein powder? Maybe a different one would be better? (I want to try something with less freaky ingredients anyway). Or maybe use less? The smoothie was VERY filling, but it didn't last long. I drank the shake at 8:30 and really needed food by 10 o'clock.