About a year ago, I started making smoothies on a daily basis. I realized I wasn't getting enough fruit in my diet basically because it was difficult to eat. Without getting into details, I had braces and four oral surgeries in the past 2 years. NOT FUN. Anyway, I wanted to get more fruit in my diet and figured a smoothie was a quick and easy way to do this. I started buying frozen strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries but realized they were really expensive. A bag of frozen Dole strawberries averaged $3.50 at my local supermarket. Blueberries and raspberries cost even more. I found berries at the dollar store one day in the freezer section but I always question the food at those stores. (I bought 5 bags anyway!)
Fast forward a couple of months when I finally Googled "freezing berries." Voila! It can be done very easily and in these prime summer months it saves me a ton of money. I am lucky to live in a neighborhood with tons of fruit and veggie stands as well as bodegas and carts on the corner selling produce. Whenever I see a good deal, I pick up as many bushels as I can carry. For those of you living outside of the city, like my sister, you have the luxury of picking your own. Us city girls gotta get creative!
Yesterday I bought two big boxes of strawberries and a pint of blueberries. Grand total: $3.00!! This was fifty cents cheaper than a bag of Dole strawberries and I not only got two types of berries, but I had nearly double the amount of berries that I would find in a frozen bag of berries.
Here are my easy steps to freezing berries:
1. Wash all berries thoroughly.
2. Discard any bruised berries or cut around the bad spots. For strawberries, cut off the stem.
3. Spread the berries evenly on a cookie sheet lined with paper towels.
4. Pop the cookie sheet in the freezer and wait about 2 hours.
5. Store the frozen berries in an air-tight container or a Ziploc bag.
6. Use in smoothies, desserts, yogurts, etc.
7. Enjoy!
Gluten-Free Fun Smoothie Recipe
1 full banana
1 handful (cup) of strawberries
1/2 cup of blueberries, peaches, pineapple, or any other fruit
1/2 cup of skim or soy milk
3 ice cubes
1 tbsp. of flax meal or flax seeds, if desired
I prefer the meal because the seeds make for a gritty shake
Put all ingredients in the blender for about 1 minute.
Fast forward a couple of months when I finally Googled "freezing berries." Voila! It can be done very easily and in these prime summer months it saves me a ton of money. I am lucky to live in a neighborhood with tons of fruit and veggie stands as well as bodegas and carts on the corner selling produce. Whenever I see a good deal, I pick up as many bushels as I can carry. For those of you living outside of the city, like my sister, you have the luxury of picking your own. Us city girls gotta get creative!
Yesterday I bought two big boxes of strawberries and a pint of blueberries. Grand total: $3.00!! This was fifty cents cheaper than a bag of Dole strawberries and I not only got two types of berries, but I had nearly double the amount of berries that I would find in a frozen bag of berries.
Here are my easy steps to freezing berries:
1. Wash all berries thoroughly.
2. Discard any bruised berries or cut around the bad spots. For strawberries, cut off the stem.
3. Spread the berries evenly on a cookie sheet lined with paper towels.
4. Pop the cookie sheet in the freezer and wait about 2 hours.
5. Store the frozen berries in an air-tight container or a Ziploc bag.
6. Use in smoothies, desserts, yogurts, etc.
7. Enjoy!
Gluten-Free Fun Smoothie Recipe
1 full banana
1 handful (cup) of strawberries
1/2 cup of blueberries, peaches, pineapple, or any other fruit
1/2 cup of skim or soy milk
3 ice cubes
1 tbsp. of flax meal or flax seeds, if desired
I prefer the meal because the seeds make for a gritty shake
Put all ingredients in the blender for about 1 minute.
Labels: "gluten free", berries, smoothie
1 Comments:
Your style of presentation is very impressive. The meaningful contribution of your mind reflects on those people who are looking for new ideas and informations regarding Gluten Free Products. This was a cool post guys, thanks a lot for sharing this blog with me.
Post a Comment
<< Home