Leftover Fruit Redo

Supreme Smoothie Saving

I don’t know about your kids, but when I pack lunches, something inevitably comes back. I used to get annoyed, even though I liked knowing how much and what my kids ate while away from me. But now I repurpose their fruit leftovers into smoothies, so I love getting back their rejects.

My kids love smoothies and they don’t care about what goes into them. My youngest loves a banana, blueberry, yogurt, and milk mix that he can drink out of his “special” straw cup. (Smoothies clog up the spouts on most of our sippy cups.) So now I store meal and snack leftovers. If the fruit doesn’t meet my kids’ standards (my kids won’t touch an apple with brown spots), I toss it into a container. Then once the container has a few things in it, or I have a collection of small containers, I can add liquids and blend with my handy immersion blender. It makes no additional dirty dishes, my kids argue over who gets seconds, and they gobble up fruits, which it feels like they never have enough fruits or veggies.

I toss in milk and yogurt with whatever we have on hand. Want to avoid milk? It works just as well with juice or water, or you can add ice, too, for a colder treat during hot days. Apples, bananas, oranges, melon, berries – almost all the kids favorites work. Just about anything goes into the container without worrying about exact ratios, and it still tastes good when you pour it into kid cups.