Preparing for baby: Make ahead freezer smoothie kits!

 Expecting a little one soon? Don’t forget to prepare for yourself, too! 10 Easy Smoothie Kits you can prep in under an hour for your freezer.

We’re officially in the home stretch with this pregnancy–week 36 is a few days away! One of the best tips I got when I was pregnant with the twins 8 years ago was to prepare for YOURSELF too. I was so wrapped up in the nursery and all things baby that it never dawned on me that I need things too.

After that point, I started filling our freezer with easy to prepare meals for when the babies arrived and it was a lifesaver! With this pregnancy, Ricky will be off of work for 4 weeks, but I still want to stock up. Aside from freezer meals, I also get plenty of drinks, since nursing makes me SO thirsty– coconut water, vitamin water and a nice stainless water cup. Smoothies are great because Ricky or one of the girls can easily make one for me if I’m busy with the little one.

I love the line of nutritional boosters available from Bob’s Red Mill because they use monk fruit to sweeten instead of some mystery products. Also, there’s fiber AND plant-based protein. There’s plenty of smoothie options when you can pick from vanilla, chai and chocolate boosters. I do find that only one scoop and a half sized smoothie fits my diet better.  If you want a larger smoothie size for your kits, just double the recipes!

These kits can be made in less than an hour if you do a little ahead of time prep. In about 35 minutes today, I made 30 baggies!

Ahead of time prep:

• Make a list. Figure out which smoothies you want to make. Sometimes I just wing it!
• Wash and freeze produce. It’s easier if everything is frozen solid beforehand. I get out a cookie sheet or two and line them with slices of banana, berries, spinach, etc.
  • You can also do cubes of Greek yogurt or pumpkin puree
• Don’t forget pantry items, too! Rolled oats, pitted dates, peanut butter powder (or regular peanut/almond butter) or cocoa powder are always staples. I love that the boosters already have chia seeds and flax–no need to add your own!
• Storage. I use square snack sized baggies and store them in a large gallon sized bag, plus fun color masking tape to label.

Since I’ve been craving oatmeal cookies like crazy, I love the chia powder for an Oatmeal Cookie smoothie. You might not think you love dates, but they add a nice, subtle sweetness to your smoothies.

Print

Oatmeal Cookie Smoothie

Quick and easy smoothie that tastes like dessert!

Servings: 1 smoothie

Ingredients

• 1 scoop Bob's Red Mill Nutritonal Booster Chia Flavor
• 2 whole pitted dates
• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup milk (regular or almond)

Instructions

1. In a small snack sized baggie, add dates, oats and chia protein powder.
   

2. Label: Oatmeal Cookie, plus make a note to add 1/2-3/4 cup milk and ice, plus 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract before blending.
   

3. Store in freezer until ready to prepare.
   

4. To prepare, pour baggie into blender. Add 1/2-3/4 cup milk of choice, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract plus 2-3 cubes of ice. Blend until smooth.
   

5. Enjoy!
   

Recipe Notes

The smoothie can blend up thick, so add up to 1 cup of milk for desired consistency.

My Top 10 Smoothie Kits:

Note: all kits need 1/2-3/4 cup milk and ice before blending. I add that note to the labels.

1. Oatmeal Cookie. Recipe above.
2. Chocolate PB Banana. 1 scoop chocolate powder, 1 Tablespoon peanut butter powder and 1/2 frozen banana
3. Blueberry Ginger. 1 scoop vanilla powder, 1/2 frozen banana, 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger (or fresh), 1/4 cup blueberries, 1/4 cup spinach.
4. Apple Peanut Butter. 1 scoop vanilla powder, 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 apple chopped and 1 Tablespoon peanut butter powder
5. Peanut Butter & Jelly. 1 scoop vanilla powder, 1/2 cup frozen strawberries and 1 Tablespoon peanut butter powder.
6. Chunky Monkey. 1 scoop chocolate powder, 1 frozen banana and 1 Tablespoon peanut butter powder.
7. Neapolitan. 1 scoop chocolate powder, 1/2 cup frozen strawberries. When blending, add 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt, plus milk.
8. Tropical. 1 scoop vanilla powder, 1/4 cup frozen mango, 1/4 cup frozen pineapple, 2 Tablespoons coconut flakes. Blend with coconut milk.
9. Pumpkin Spice. 1 scoop chia powder, 1/2 cup pumpkin puree (about 3 cubes frozen), 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 cup oatmeal. Blend with milk and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
10. Kiwi Strawberry. 1 scoop vanilla powder, 1/2 cup frozen kiwi, 1/2 cup frozen strawberries and 1/4 cup frozen spinach. Blend with a drizzle of honey.

Want to try the Bob’s Red Mill boosters? Here’s a coupon!

Did you prepare any freezer meals before you had a baby? Have you tried smoothie kits before?

Save

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.