Mason Jar Smoothies, my new favourite thing!

Soundtrack - Princess Chelsea "The Cigarette Duet"

Sometimes our inspiration is invigorated in odd ways. My dear friend Dani has a Facebook group called Frugtastic where she shares tips on how to economise or create things in unique ways that don't require spending a lot. She posted a wonderful article from a website called "Apartment Therapy" about how to make a mason jar into a blender (in lieu of buying one of those little blenders one sees in 3am infomercials that can cost an arm and a leg). Well, I've been trying really hard to be better about my food. I used to do smoothies for breakfast last summer (and went on a bit of a frozen fruit buying blitz) but I was finding the clean up was a deterrent first thing in the morning. I even tried making them the night before, but with my crazy schedule (and no dishwasher) the darn blender would sit in the sink for days before I finally had time to clean it, which was not at all hygienic.

With this brilliant method (apparently, mason jars used to come with blenders, so this is not a new idea), you make the smoothie in the container you will end up storing it in, and transport for a breakfast on the go is a snap! Of course, you know I just had to try it.

 



 

So, as you can see from the pictures above, take the original lid off the mason jar, screw on the blender attachment once you have your ingredients in the jar, screw it into the base and blend as normal. I had a teeny tiny bit of leaking, but I think I didn't have the blender attachment on tight enough.

Today's smoothie was particularly delicious, and easy peesy! I've put the leftovers in the fridge in the mason jar with the lid screwed on, and there was no messy clean up because there was only the blade attachment to clean!

Today's smoothie ingredients:

1 cup lactose-free 2% milk
100 grams of coconut Greek yogurt (one individual yogurt container because that is what I had on hand)
1 cup of mixed tropical frozen fruit (strawberry, peach, mango)
1 tbsp pistachio butter (like a cross between peanut butter and Nutella. Crazy good)

Blend until smooth, add more milk if it's too thick. I find it easiest to pulse the mixture first for a few seconds and then go full-tilt blend after it's broken up a bit.

Not only is this new method going to make it easy for me to use up all the frozen fruit I have in my freezer, but now I'm totally inspired to eat healthier; these smoothies are definitely going to be an integral part of my summer!