These make-ahead frozen Smoothie Packs are all kid-approved and are perfect for when you have a glut of fruit. Get tips for how to make smoothies and how to freeze them for later plus 5 great child approved fruit smoothie recipes.
We were a little late to the smoothie and juices thing here. I guess that is due to us not having a powerful blender and the boys not liking bits in their smoothies, but we have put all that right over the last couple of weeks and are now smoothie pros! So much so that we have a freezer full of make-ahead smoothie packs for kids.
Why make frozen smoothie packs?
The boys have really taken to making smoothies thanks to the Ninja smoothie maker we received and we have been going through a lot of fruit and veg. I have found that by having make-ahead packs in the freezer I have no need to add additional ice. We can just take the frozen smoothie pack out of the freezer, add our choice of liquid whether that be water, coconut water, milk or almond milk and then pop it all in the cup, add it to the Ninja and then blend on auto and one minute later we have a delicious smoothie.
It also means that rather whipping up one batch that suits everyone, we can all choose our individual tastes and I can accommodate all our preferences. Plus you can use any fruit that is overripe or reduced at the shops or pre-frozen fruit, which really keeps the costs down.
So I want to share our favorite make-ahead smoothie packs that we are love and that are totally family friendly and have our thumbs up.
5 Make-ahead Frozen smoothie packs – Kid-approved
Each of these packs needs one cup of liquid adding. You can use yoghurt, milk, water, coconut water or even cold green tea (you get the idea)!
Mixed Berry Madness
- 1 cup of strawberries
- 1 cup of blueberries
- 1 cup of raspberries or blackberries
- Handful of baby spinach
Summer Fruit
- 1 cup of strawberries
- 1 kiwi fruit
- 1 cup of peaches
- half cup of cucumber
Minion Madness
- 1 banana
- 1 cup of melon
- half cup of pineapple core included
Watermelon Whoop
- 1 kiwi
- 1 cup of watermelon
- 1 cup of grapes
Pina colada (Use coconut milk as your liquid)
- 1 banana
- 1 cup of pineapple chunks core included
- 1 handful of baby spinach
We often add a little extra to our smoothies as we blend them such as peanut butter, chia seeds or even oats. You can add additional flavour by adding ginger, cinnamon or chocolate. Once you find the basic flavours that you and the kids like you can experiment.
Each of the frozen smoothie packs will keep for up to three months in the freezer, but they are best used within 30 days.
Nutri Ninja® with Auto-iQ
We have been wowed by the Nutri Ninja® with Auto-iQ (UK Link/US Link). The boys love it and can use it on their own. They simply pop the ingredients into the cup (there are two sized) add the top and then attach then with the press of one button the Auto-iQ® does the work. It creates unique pulse and pause patterns to extract all of the nutrients you put in, leave no item unblended and even cuts through ice. Just look at how great it is and how smooth Mini is:
Before receiving this machine smoothies were not on our radar, we had tried making them with our previous blender and the boys didn’t like them, they were not smooth. The Nutri Ninja has made such a difference. I guess we have been missing a high power blender from our kitchen for a while and we are delighted with the Nuri Ninja.
Joseph Joseph LockBlock™ and knife set
I also want to share with you our knife set from Joseph Joseph, which is the lockblock. The LockBlock™ and knife set is perfect for parents with little ones running around the kitchen. As each knife is placed inside a knife slot, its blade is held securely by the unique childproof mechanism. Pulling on a knife only increases the force of the grip so knives cannot be simply forced out of the block. It is really clever. Now my boys are older they can operate the release button, situated on either side of the block.
The knives are colour coordinated making it easy to pop them back in the right place. They are also really well balanced and have grip handles. These are the only knives we all use now and they are perfect for both me and the boys to use. Over the years I have realised that having sharp knives is safer as you apply less pressure when using them. A good knife set is a real investment and I can see that these will be used by us for years to come.
If you tale a look around our kitchen you will see quite a bit of Joseph Joseph that we have bought over the years including out kitchen utensils (The Elevate wood carousel) and our chopping boards (which we have had over 15 years). They make great products which last a long time.
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