Blackberry-Grapefruit Make-Ahead Smoothie Recipe #FloridaOJ

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As I mentioned last week, I created a cold, cough & flu kit containing items to stock both our medicine cabinet and fridge. Included in the kit were a few products to use for creating a smoothie to help us stay nourished and hydrated during this dreaded flu season. And as it happened, I had the perfect reason to make smoothies. Last Friday, Jai had a dental appointment at 8 AM, and since the clinic he goes to is 68 miles away, he left at around 6:30 AM. He was scheduled to have fillings done, and because it is a dental school, the process is slower than normal. Add the roundtrip drive time to that, and you have a long day without many opportunities to eat. I wanted to serve him a breakfast that would be quick, since he didn’t have a lot of time to sit around before he left, and would also fill him up so he wouldn’t be hungry all morning in the dentists’ chair. So what better time to try a delicious smoothie packed full of yummy, healthy ingredients?

Now, if you read my recipes regularly, you know that I like to get creative in the kitchen. I had several ideas that I wanted to try out, and since I also wanted to have time to write down my recipe and take photos, I knew it would take a little extra time to prepare. I already had my alarm set for 5 AM and really didn’t care to get up much earlier than that, so I did some research and after reading this blog post, I decided that I would try a “Make-Ahead” smoothie, where I prepared all of my ingredients the night before and refrigerated them. I was a little leery of how this would turn out, but I decided to take the risk and see what happened. The results? Tasty and time-saving!

Blackberry-Grapefruit Make-Ahead Smoothie

1 1/2 – 2 cups blackberries
1 small grapefruit
1 tsp. Antioxidant Omega 3 Greens
1 TBSP. sugar
1/2 C plain yogurt
1/2 C lowfat milk
1 cup Florida’s Natural Orange Juice

Preparation:

Peel and de-seed the grapefruit and add it to your food processor or blender. I chopped mine up with a knife on a cutting board, which was a little clumsy, but it worked. There was a lot of juice left on the cutting board, so I poured that into my food processor as well. I was inspired to make a smoothie using grapefruit because we had a bag of this fresh, delicious fruit that a visiting relative had brought us from his backyard in Arizona, so I was really eager to put it to use!

Next, add the blackberries. Mine were frozen in a large block, so I had to hack them into pieces to make them fit into the food processor. Fresh would work equally well, although you might find you need to add a little extra juice. These blackberries came from our Grandma’s backyard, so this is a family-grown smoothie!

Add the greens, sugar, and yogurt, then pour in the milk and orange juice.

Cover, and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning…

Simply pull the top half of the blender out of the fridge, plug it in, and blend until smooth!

Yum!

I was worried about the consistency being affected by preparing all the ingredients ahead of time, but it was unfounded. This smoothie had a great, unique taste and is just the thing for those rushed early mornings! If you want to feel your best during cold & flu season, getting in a healthy breakfast is great way to start. For those who are in a hurry, smoothies offer a way to pack in nutritious fruit for a breakfast-on-the-go. And if you do come down with a cold, smoothies are a very smoothing way to stay hydrated!

For more great recipes using Florida Orange Juice, visit the Florida Orange Juice Council website and their Facebook page.