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It’s that time of year, when the “New” of the back to school year has worn off and we are in the “routine” which is sometimes more daunting. One of the things I really wanted to be good about this year was feeding my kids healthier snacks after school. When life gets busy it’s so easy to run through a drive through in between Dance and Baseball and all my great intentions from the beginning of the school year go out the window!
One of the easiest after school snacks that we often turn to is Fruit! My kids love fruit in just about any fashion so I always have Fresh Fruit on hand that’s peeled, cut, and washed and in the fridge ready to go! This makes a quick side for my little guy that’s home during lunch time and also a great after school snack for my bigger kids!
When we were shopping for fruit this weekend my daughter was SO EXCITED about these brand new Disney Princess Grapes that you can find at Walmart. I love that Disney is committed to creating healthier generations by making healthy living fun and simple! This year Disney is even launching a new campaign called “Be Your Best” it’s goal is to inspire kids to eat better, be more active, and do their best in school and beyond. As a mom these are the things I’m already focused on, so I love that you can find fun & healthy options that incorporate my kids favorite characters.
Preparation is the key to eating healthy, when I take time on the weekends to prep fruit and vegetables it makes everything so much easier. One of the things I have started doing recently is placing different kinds of fruit in Sandwich Size or Quart Size Freezer Bags to make Fruit Smoothies.
Once I have all the bags ready then I place them in the Freezer and let the Fruit Harden, The smaller individual serving bags makes it easy to pull one out, toss it in the blender and go! I’ve even sent Smoothies in my kids Thermos Containers for school a few times!
I typically mix up my fruit options, here are the 3 kinds of smoothie bags I made this week:
Strawberry/Orange/Grape
Strawberry/Pineapple/Grape
Strawberry/Raspberry/Grape
These are just some of the fruits I love to mix and match. Overall most fruit freezes well, I don’t really like to Freeze Banana without the peel or Apples, they never turn out as well but just about anything else works great!
To make the smoothies I just pull out my BlendTec Blender and add about 1 Cup of 100% Juice. I love 100% Apple Juice because it’s sweet or you can also use a 100% White Grape Juice. 1 Cup of 100% Juice with 1 Freezer Bag is just about perfect! If your fruit isn’t frozen solid or you blend it too much you can always add a scoop of ice to thicken it a little and give it a slushier consistency.
I also love to add a Low Fat Yogurt to my smoothies to give them a thicker texture and more protein! Here’s a quick recipe for making a Yogurt Smoothie:
1 Sandwich Size Bag of Frozen Fruit
1 Cup of Plain Low Fat Yogurt
1 tsp. of Honey
Blend until well mixed & Pour into your favorite tumbler!
I originally started making these smoothie bags for my kids, but my husband and I are enjoying them so much too! It’s easy to add a little protein powder or your favorite energy drink to the mix before you blend! I store my smoothies in my Yeti Cup so they stay frozen and chilled for hours!
Don’t forget you can find the Disney Grapes at Walmart! I’d love to know if you give this After School Snack Idea a try! Just leave a comment, and don’t forget to use the image below to save this post on Pinterest!