Fruit Prep

People ask me how I prep my fruit for smoothies.  I try to do as much prep as possible when I get my fruit so when it's time to make a smoothie, its quick and easy.  I shop at our local public market every Saturday.  I buy as much of my produce there as I can.  It's cheaper and most of it is local to the area and/or state.  I freeze most of it, much to my husband's dismay.  My freezer is jam packed! 

Below is listed how I prep my fruit for smoothies.  Some of it, like citrus, I leave on the counter.  Any fruit I use for the juicer, I keep fresh on my counter.  I usually go through it pretty quick but if something starts to get soft, then into the freezer it will go. 

Make sure you wash all of your produce well.  There are several products you can buy such as Veggie Wash, Vermont Soap Organics, Biokleen or you can make your own.  I typically use Veggie Wash but if I don't have any then I use fresh lemons.  I just throw one in my juicer and them pour the juice into a sink filled with cold water.  You can also use distilled or apple cider vinegar.  Use about 1/4 of a cup in a sinkful of cold water.  I soak my produce for about 10 minutes then rinse and dry.  The only produce I don't soak are berries.  They are too delicate.  I just rinse them briefly.

BERRIES
This includes blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, gooseberries, boysenberries, cranberries, and grapes.

Gently rinse your berries.  Use the pointed end of a veggie peeler to pluck out the green part of the strawberries and cut them in half.  All others, including grapes you can leave whole. Lay your berries flat on a cookie sheet and freeze.  Once they are frozen, put them in bags quickly and refreeze util needed.  Grapes, cranberries and gooseberries can be put directly into a bag and frozen. 

You can store your berries by kind or you can make a mix of several kinds.

POMAGRANATES
Remove the seeds from the fruit and store them in the freezer.  These will not work in your juicer so save them for the blender.

CHERRIES
De-stone them and bag them and freeze them.  If you don't have a cherry stoner, invest in one.

APPLES & PEARS, PEACHES & NECTARINES
Leave the skins on your apples, pears, peaches, & nectarines!  There is a lot of nutrients in those thin skins!  Chop them into 1" cubes and take the seeds out.  Lay on a cookie sheet in a single layer and freeze.  Store in freezer bags and store in the freezer.

BANANAS
Peel bananas and cut into 1" chunks.  Place on a cookie sheet in a single layer and freeze.  Store in freezer bags.

MANGOS, PAPAYA, PINEAPPLE, MELONS
Peel skins off, cut into 1" chunks, layer on cookie sheets and freeze.  Store in freezer bags.  A note on the papayas, you can eat the seeds!  Store them separately in the freezer.  Add some to your smoothies for a burst of protien.

CITRUS
I keep all my citrus on the counter.  Use a carrot peeler to gently peel the zest off of your citrus.  The white pithy part has a lot of vitamins in it so leave it on.  (Juicer note....you don't have to peel the zest off of lemons and limes when you juice them.)

PRETTY IN PEACH Smoothie

1 cup hemp milk
1 banana
1 cup of chopped watermelon
1 cup of chopped cantelope
1 cup of chopped papaya (you can throw in some of the pips too for some added protein)
1 cup of choped mango

Throw it all in the blender a little at a time. Add some ice to make it frothy if you want. This is also really good as a summer drink. Just use seltzer water instead of the milk.

You can also turn the seltzer version of this into a great adult beverage by adding some rum or vodka!

PINAPAYANGO Smoothie

Well that's a mouthful! And it's delish!

1 cup of hemp milk or almond milk
1/3 of a papaya including the seeds
1/3 of a pineapple
1/2 of a mango

Put everything in the blender and whiz until smooth.  Don't leave out the papaya seeds!  They have a powerful kick of protien!

PROTIEN POWER PUNCH Smoothie

4 clementines
1/2 a pomagranate
6 medjool dates pitted
1 cup papaya
2 TBS of the papaya pips
1 banana
1/8 cup of aloe juice
1 heaping TBS each of hemp seeds, flax seeds & hemp protien powder

I did have to add some water to thin it a little. You'll have to blend this for a while.

TROPICAL TREASURE Smoothie

1 cup of hemp milk or almond milk
1 banana
1/3 of a mango
1/4 of a papaya
1 kiwi
6-8 strawberries

Get the milk going then add fruit little at a time. Add ice if you like.