Fruit smoothies are cool creamy treats enjoyed by many, including myself. But with a price tag of five to eight dollars depending on the food vendor, I don’t indulge often. That changed when I recently acquired a personal sized bullet style food blender.
I received a NutriBullet blender for free as part of my employer’s healthy living incentive program. The blender came with a sizable book of recipes to make vegetable and fruit smoothies. Unfortunately all the recipes had at least half a dozen ingredients. I knew I would never use any of them. I wanted something simple and convenient, and through experimentation I found it.
Simple, Convenient, and Delicious
To make a great fruit smoothie, all I needed was two ingredients, and five seconds.
- A bag of frozen fruit
- V8 Fusion (8oz cans)
I mixed ¾ cup of the frozen fruit with one 8oz can of V8 Fusion and blended it for about five seconds. Pop off the top, add a straw, and I have a fruit smoothie that rivals any specialty food vendor.
Cost Breakdown
Frozen Fruit from Walmart:
- Cost: $8.74
- Servings: 17
- Cost Per Serving: $0.52
V8 Fusion :
- Cost: $3.99
- Servings: 6
- Cost Per Serving: $0.67
Cost Per Smoothie: $1.19
Infinite Varieties
Several varieties of V8 fusion exist, as do types of frozen fruit. If you find a good sale, buy fresh fruit and freeze it for this use. The fact that the fruit is frozen is what gives it the right texture. Experiment with different fruit and V8 or fruit juice combinations to find your favorite!
Uses For Homemade Smoothies
Making smoothies at home has several advantages:
- Most importantly, they’re delicious
- Great way to get servings of fruit and vegetables
- Healthy, low calorie way to start your day
- Easy and delicious way to help kids who don’t eat fruits and vegetables fill an important gap in their diet.
I love having the ability to make delicious, low cost fruit smoothies at any time without worrying about fruit going bad, measuring or having a lot of ingredients on hand. You have to make the initial investment of a bullet style blender (about $40), but it’s definitely worth it.
How about you, EOD nation, do you like fruit smoothies but find them difficult to make at home? Would you give this a try?
