Mind Explosion

4.07.2014


About a year and a half ago I made two of the greatest discoveries of the modern era:

1. The freezer. 
2. A single-size blender.

Let's take these one at a time.

#1: Freezer

I don't know why it had never before occurred to me to freeze things like, oh I don't know... fresh fruit & veggies, chopped fryer chicken, browned hamburger meat (my MOST brilliant of brilliant ideas, seriously saves me so much time), and other delicious foods that had previously gone bad before I could eat them. I distinctly remember the day when I was like OMG YOU CAN FREEZE BANANAS?! Um, yes, yes you can. 
Hashtag I'm an idiot.

#2: Individual Blender

I used to own a normal-sized blender, but I never used it because I didn't like to wash it. I love smoothies, but apparently I didn't love them more than I hated washing my blender. So it sat, unused, taking up valuable space in my otherwise cluttered pantry/hot water heater closet.

Then I found this:

For FIFTEEN dollars at Target. It might not look it, but this baby can blend pretty well considering it cost less than a pair of Nike running shorts. I use it weekly, and I have most definitely gotten my money's worth. So I got rid of my blender that I never used and upgraded to a cheaper, more functional model. 

Here's where the freezer comes in. Yep, you guessed it: frozen smoothies! I know. I'm a genius. Blueberries, get in my mouth. 

(Shoutout to Wyman's frozen fruit! Deliciousness in a bag, I tell you.*)

Now, once a week or so I make 2-3 smoothies, pour them into glass mason jars, and pop them in the freezer. Since it's a smaller blender, it's very easy to make different flavors, all in an individual serving size. This is a super easy weekday grab-and-go breakfast plus less cleanup because you're a) washing a smaller blender and b) only using and washing it once instead of three times! Mind explosion.


When I get to work, I let the smoothie sit out on my desk for a little while, and as it melts it turns right back into the original smoothie I made earlier in the week. Or, you can be impatient like me and eat it with a spoon. It's just as good, I promise.



So there you have it. Another brilliant idea courtesy of me.
I am positive no one has ever thought of this before.
This is how I shall make my millions.

[What's your favorite thing to freeze?]

* * *

Looking for more breakfast ideas? Make some breakfast burritos!
Click on the picture for the recipe.
_____________________

*I was sent a coupon for a free bag of Wyman's frozen fruit. This post was already written and planned before they contacted me. That, my friends, is what they call meant to be. All opinions are my own.
shelleystirs said...

Blueberries (last summer we picked 40 pounds and some of them are in my freezer). Apple pie filling (takes up less space than a pie and also makes an awesome side dish). Applesauce is good, too. I grew up with my mom and grandma making freezer strawberry jam. I hope to try that when strawberries are in season in a few months. I love my basement freezer!

Megan said...

We also freeze a lot of food, and I love smoothies, but I have never thought to make smoothies in advance and freeze them! You seriously could make millions from this. ;) Thanks for the tip!

Courtney said...

Post your smoothie recipes! Which ones have you made and liked?

I made a post about this recently too. I had a stick blender sitting in my cabinet for over a year{total solidarity on the hatred of the big blender} and finally got it out to make smoothies. I've been doing it every week now as well!

Teresa said...

I'm looking into getting a new blender because the one I have is so loud and, well, old. Does this one make a lot of noise? And does it easily blend frozen fruit? I hate having to stir the stuff in my blender like five times between blending...

Tara said...

My husband is a smoothie fanatic, so I might have to start using my freezer and making him some! One awesome discovery I made this past year- precooking dried beans and then freezing them in "can-sized" portions. It saves a lot of time and money (and I like the taste better than canned beans, anyway)!

The Hungry Goat said...

buying.blender.now. I literally went into Target today to buy a normal-sized blender and last minute changed my mind. That, my friend, is what they call meant to be.

Anonymous said...

OMG YOU CAN FREEZE BANANAS?!!

Allie @ Everyday Adventures said...

I have not had good luck freezing potatoes, so maybe just skip that one. They get all mealy and texture-bad.

But green onions? I never go through those fast enough, and I found out you can chop them all up and store them in the freezer and just use them as needed and they freeze perfectly!

Holly @ Hello Audrey Ruth said...

Love freezing cooked hamburger! In the winter it is my go to thing for any warm meal like chili. Adam has an herb garden and he loves to cut all the basil, put it in ice cube trays with a bit of water and freeze them. Instant fresh herbs whenever he wants it for spaghetti or pizza sauce or whatever.

Cece @Mahogany Drive said...

We have a blender that we don't use either. Washing is such a pain in the booty!! My husband got a nutri-bullet and keeps it at work for his smoothies. It's similar in size to the one you got.

Rebecca Jo said...

That is pretty brilliant!!!! Does it taste like ice cream when its still frozen?

Erika from America said...

I have that little blender and love it for the same reasons you mentioned! Makes it quick and easy! :)

-- Erika from America

The Lady Okie said...

I mean, it's only $15 so it's not the best blender ever, but it's small, so I don't have that much stuff in there to begin with. And, I usually put in my liquids first, so yeah I think it blends pretty well considering. I usually have to stir it once. As for noise... I feel like it makes the noise a blender would make. ha! I know that isn't helpful. I mean, I don't feel like it's obnoxiously loud or anything. It's a single button that you have to hold down, so there aren't different levels of blend. I usually end up pulsing it kind of, and that seems to work well. Hope that helps!

The Lady Okie said...

I know, right? Who knew!

Susannah said...

You truly are a genius! ;-)

Miss Nutralicious said...

Here is a step-by-step tutorial that might blow your mind:
1) Fill half of your blender with water, then add a few drops of dish soap.
2) Blend.
3) Dump out contents and rinse.

Ta-da! Blender washed. PLUS you got to watch bubbles form in the blender which is always pretty spectacular.

Unknown said...

Hahaha, I love this! I wish my freezer was larger so that I could stuff more useful ready-made items in it :( I'm definitely going to have to try this though! I never thought of ready-made smoothies!! I have a little Magic Bullet set that has all those single-serve cups that you can blend different things in individually--that would be perfect! :)

Saba said...

I LOVE THIS!! I'm too lazy to go through any kind of smoothie / fruit intake prep. How do you normally make your smoothies? Yogurt? Milk? I'm a complete beginner with these things. And a random, random point, there was a juice place near where I used to work in London and they made THE best smoothies cuz they made them with fro yo. the best thing in the morning when you just want to wake up!

Sx

Madison @ Wetherills Say I Do said...

I want one of those smoothies, right now! I don't think I've ever seen that kind of frozen fruit before. We always have an extra loaf of bread and bag of bagels in the freezer. I froze some strawberries a little while ago so that they wouldn't go bad. Also those breakfast burritos, now I'm hungry!

Jess said...

I used that exact blender almost every single day for smoothies for nearly 2 years!! Best $15 I ever spent!!!

Unknown said...

I was thinking about getting an individual blender but I wasn't sure how well it did with ice. Or do you not use ice and just use the frozen fruit + yogurt? Tell me your smoothie making ways!

Katie said...

i used to throw bad bananas away and now take them out, mash em up and put them in baggies in the freezer for banana bread. I don't know why I didn't do that before! and I miss eating smoothies! I need that little blender!

Kerry @ Till Then Smile Often said...

I love smoothies so I always have frozen strawberries in the freezer. I have homemade applesauce in the freezer and bananas.

17 Perth said...

You. Read. My. Mind.

I have been craving, and I mean craving a smoothie. Target--here I come!

Jennifer Prod said...

my freezer is empty and i didn't know until 5 seconds ago (when i was reading your post) that you could freeze bananas? seriously? probably all stems from not having a freezer in college, right? just that little mini-fridge. and those smoothies? they look perfect for after a summer workout. very possibly making this happen.

Amy Lee Scott said...

Oh yes, smoothies! They have changed my mornings since I can feel all virtuous with a few handfuls of spinach thrown in :) My favorite thing to freeze is quiche! I love pulling one out and having it bake on a lazy weekend morning :)

Anonymous said...

I tend to forget about my freezer too. No clue why there is some kind of freezer mental block plaguing the world, but it exists.

I really really really want to be better about making smoothies. I like the idea of making them in advance and then pulling out of the {poor, empty, neglected} freezer as needed through the week.

Oh and the breakfast burritos. Now I really, really want one of those.

-Amy

Amber Marie said...

I got a Ninja Food processor for my birthday last year...it has the standard size pitcher, but also two single serving cups. Best. Present. Ever. You can literally take it off the blender, snap a to-go lid on it and be gone! It's awesome.

Anonymous said...

Um for some reason I have never thought to get a single size blender, but you know...it makes perfect sense (esp since I live alone). Hmm...I need to get paid now. :)

Christina @ The Murrayed Life said...

Ok. This is SERIOUSLY an amazing thought. I'm a smoothie lover, and while we love our vitamix blender, while I was reading your post my husband is cleaning ours out because there was extra that was left in the fridge. But freeze some! GENIUS. And then I can easily have one made when the baby won't let me put her down and Declan is napping and I have no hands to eat a lunch let alone make it...

Unknown said...

I still want to do this! I'm such a slacker! I have the perfect size mason jars for this too, they even have lids. Big deal, right? I like to pretend I'm putting if off because of my lack of recipes. But really, all I have to do is throw stuff in my blender.

The Lady Okie said...

Yes! It's the best. And cheap!

The Lady Okie said...

Yeah, I don't use ice. My staples are OJ, vanilla yogurt, and some water. Then I have random bags of frozen fruit + frozen bananas (that I've already sliced before putting them in the freezer). The blender really does pretty well with the frozen stuff considering the fact that it cost me $15. I have to stir it once, maybe twice, but usually it blends really well!

The Lady Okie said...

DOUBLE MIND EXPLOSION.

Beka @ Sunshine to the Square Inch said...

I freeze all kinds of stuff but never thought to freeze a smoothie! I actually put 1/3 of my smoothie in the freezer so I'll have to try it in the am.

Also - when you make chicken stock you can freeze that too. Maybe you already are? It takes up a lot of freezer room but to me it is better than buying or throwing some out.

Unknown said...

I really really need to buy a blender. Really really. :)

Rachel said...

What? It took you that long to discover the magic of a freezer?? :P I hate browning hamburger meat, so I always brown like 5 lbs. at a time and freeze it and then I don't have to worry about having meat forever. When I make soups I make enough to freeze and then get an extra meal out of them....I hate cutting onions so sometime Angel cuts up a ton of onions (they sell 20 lb. bags of onions for $3 on the side of the road here so we buy a lot at once) and freezes them so that I can use them in recipes. And last summer we picked nearly 40 lbs. of strawberries and black raspberries at a local pick-it-yourself organic farm for low prices and froze berries that we made into smoothies and used in desserts all winter long. My mom used to freeze green beans from our garden, and venison from the deer my Dad shot, I haven't gotten that ambitious yet...but the freezer is an awesome invention!

Caitlin said...

I'm sitting here cracking up because... WHY?! Why would this never occur to me? I love, love, love smoothies but make only 4-5 a year for the same reason as you. I hate washing the dang blender, there's too many nooks and crannies! But making one big batch and freezing, or better yet.. buying an individual blender? This is purely genius.

The Girl who Loved to Write said...

And doesn't it make your mornings so much easier?!

Joy @ TheJoyOfHope21.blogpot.com said...

I've been on a smoothie kick for two weeks now since I was given a blender by a friend. But.... it never occurred to me that you could freeze them and then enjoy them later without changing the taste. I tried it twice this week making a smoothie to enjoy in the afternoon and then saving some for the next morning in the freezer and it was such a delicious idea to enjoy through my morning teaching. Who ever thought a freezer was good for anything besides things that come in boxes?? Thanks!

Allison said...

I never ever take proper advantage of my freezer. I do have you to thank, however, for finally getting me motivated on the breakfast burrito thing when you originally posted your recipe. I've been keeping them well stocked in the freezer since we got back and Riley is a very happy camper! I do buy a ton of bananas each week and then slice up and freeze the ones we don't eat soon enough. I'll have to start just using them for extra smoothies and freeze those instead!

Laura Morgan said...

Oh this is so smart! How are you so smart?! I love freezing too. I freeze spinach (to go into smoothies, coincidentally) and pesto. I do the pesto in ice cube trays and then it's the perfect amount for one sandwich or serving of pasta or whatever.

Unknown said...

YES PLEASE.

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