Frozen fruit smoothies made easy…

We went away in the February half-term and had a wonderful time. The accommodation, entertainment and facilities were first class. There was one thing that I noticed though once we had been back a few days – my weight!

We had gone half-board and took full advantage. For 5 days straight we indulged in a wide variety of food from a fry up of all the items you shouldn’t eat to three courses every evening consisting of meals from every continent.

Now back at home, the first thing I looked at changing was my breakfast. Usually it consisted of a few slices of toast with either a layer of honey or lashings of butter. What was worse, by 11am I was snacking as it wasn’t filling enough for me.

I wanted to change that and find something that would be nutritional, low cost and had little prep time. For me there was something that ticked all three boxes – frozen fruit smoothies.

Nutritional

• If you are looking for an easy way to get your ‘5 A DAY’ then there is no better way than having a big boost with a fruit smoothie for breakfast.

• Frozen fruit has massive benefits; because they are frozen shortly after being harvested, it locks in many of the nutrients you would lose with fresh fruit.

• Using frozen fruits allows you access to fruit from around the globe whether in or out of season. What’s more, whatever the time of year you won’t lose that just picked taste.

Low Cost

• Buying a lot of fresh fruit means that there will likely to be some that goes bad before it’s eaten, which in turn is money wasted. Frozen fruit, however, can be placed in the freezer and will last indefinitely.

• My favourite ingredients have in smoothies are blueberries and raspberries. A quick check online at MySupermarket.com confirms that these two fruits are massively cheaper when bought frozen compared to fresh.

Prep Time

• Unlike fresh fruit, frozen has no prep time. Imagine every morning having to peel, wash and slice the fruit needed for that yummy (and healthy) smoothie. I know in my house this would be nearly impossible as the children take up every spare second first thing.

• Normally when making smoothies, for the best result you should add ice cubes to make it refreshingly cool but with frozen fruit there is no need to do this.

Extra Tip

I have three children of varying ages from 2 to 14 and trying to get them to have a smoothie in the morning instead of cereal is quite a hard task. A cheeky tip is to make frozen fruit smoothie lollies. The children think they are getting a real treat and at the same time they are getting a proportion of their ‘5 A DAY’.

Conclusion

Having a frozen fruit smoothie in the morning, instead of the toast, will go a long way in helping me achieve my goal of losing those extra pounds. Quick to make, cost effective and full of nutrients – you really cannot go wrong with a frozen fruit smoothie.

Ricky Willis, father of three, freelance writer, columnist and blogger. After giving up his job in the city to become a stay-at-home-dad, Ricky started the award winning blog skintdad.co.uk. Ricky covers a range of topics which demonstrates how you can ‘spend less, cut back, but without living without’.