Busy Morning Smoothies {Made with Greek Yogurt}

My kiddos are wanting breakfast smoothies a couple of times a week once school starts. I initially cringed at this, thinking of all the prep work and time smoothies can take...not ideal for our hectic school mornings. But then, I was completely inspired at a Mop It Up Monday party a couple of weeks ago, when Frugal in Florida linked up her Smoothie Bags post. I was SOLD!! What a fabulous idea she had.

I have tweaked mine a bit to our tastes and diets, but the idea is very similar. Thank you, Frugal in Florida for making my mornings soooo much easier! I seriously give her all the credit for this fabulous time-saving idea.

One thing I changed was using Greek Yogurt...my kids adore the stuff! I also added ready-made frozen fruit, simply because it's cheaper and there's nothing added to it to alter it in any way. I also add honey or organic agave nectar {not pictured} to sweeten them a bit...but that is just our preference.

Prep Work {I do this part of the recipe on the weekend ahead of time}:
Place your yogurt into the compartments on an ice cube tray. I did a little research to make sure the Greek-style yogurt was okay to freeze...and it is! One of these larger cartons fills up about 3 ice cube trays for me.

I also prep my bananas ahead of time. Bananas can be frozen when chopped up...I've done this for years to save old-ish bananas to make banana bread when I don't have time to tend to it right then. I only grocery shop once a week {on Mondays}, so by the time Friday rolls around, the bananas are either gone or black. Freezing a bunch on the weekend allows us to have smoothies all week without worrying about bad {or no} bananas.

I freeze them overnight. Then I pop them out of the trays into plastic storage containers. This takes a bit of time, so you may want to include this in your weekend prep as well. You could even take it a step further and use quart sized freezer bags and make up individual smoothies {minus the milk}. I prefer to just pull all of my tubs out in the morning, so everyone can choose what they want that day {hey, somedays you want peaches, some days not so much}.

I use FOUR cubes of yogurt, THREE cubes of bananas, 3/4 cup of unsweetened almond or coconut milk, agave nectar or honey to taste {optional...we just use these to sweeten}, and whatever "extra fruit" the kiddo wants in theirs that day {if strawberries, I use three, peaches take about six slices, blueberries are about 1/2 cup}. Feel free to get creative! Sometimes we skip bananas and do a "very berry smoothie" with strawberries, blueberries and whatever other berries I have on hand.

I love the idea of not having to use ice cubes in smoothies anymore. The yogurt cubes are perfect for this! I set my blender to high and start the smoothie setting. If your blender is sluggish, try adding a little more milk, or maybe let the frozen items sit out & start to thaw for a few minutes while you do other things {pack lunches, etc.}.

Easy peasy. I serve these with gluten free toast or muffins. They are so filling...which is wonderful for school days. Last year, my first grader had to wait five hours between the time he had breakfast and when his class went to lunch....I was always shoving food down him to make sure he "lasted"!