Super Saver: Freeze your own fruit

These puppies are ready for their date with the freezer. Photo by NCRI love smoothies. I drink at least one, sometimes two a day.

The problem is that frozen fruit can be pricey. One bag of frozen strawberries can cost anywhere from $2 to $4.50, depending on if it's organic or not. And the bag only holds enough strawberries for about two or three smoothies. 

If you're like me and you're drinking seven to 14 smoothies a week, that adds up -- and fast. And, really, all you're paying for is for someone else to cut up the fruit. Is it really worth it? 

I didn't think so, so a year or so ago I started cutting up my own fruit and freezing it. 

I buy all my fruit for the week on Saturday, bring it home from the store and spend about 30 minutes washing and chopping it all up. Then I lay one varietal of fruit at a time in a single layer on a piece of aluminum foil, and stick it in the freezer for about two hours. Once it's all frozen, I transfer it from the foil to zip-top freezer bags. 

I freeze pineapples, bananas, mangos, melons, peaches, blueberries (love them because they don't need chopping), and, of course, strawberries. 

Try it. It's worth the effort.

Smoothie recipes on The Concentric Circle:
Kale and peach smoothie 
Dark chocolate and blueberry smoothie 
Blueberry-banana smoothie