3 Magical Smoothie Hacks That Will Make You A Morning Person

Smoothies are one of our all-time favorite things to eat (well, drink) on the go. We have them for breakfast, as an afternoon snack, or even as a sweet treat. However, buying a smoothie is often extremely costly (certain juice places even sell them for upwards of $10!). So to spare all of our wallets, we are sharing some life-changing tips and tricks that will help us get into the habit of making smoothies at home. You won’t even need a recipe, just choose a few ingredients that you love, and follow these hacks. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’ve got some blending to do.

Here's the thing: We can SAY we're going to make more smoothies at home in 2016, but that's way easier said than done. However, if you make a big batch of smoothies in advance, then suddenly your goal isn't so impossible. The key to this hack is having a bunch of Mason or Weck, or other freezer-friendly, closable jars or cups. Make one large blender-full of the smoothie of your choice (or if you want to get really fancy, make a few different flavors). Then, fill up your jars (I usually use five 8-ounce jars so I have one for every weekday) and freeze them. Once they're frozen, you can grab one out of the freezer and let it defrost for an hour or two. You can even eat it with a spoon if it's not totally defrosted and you get impatient! I usually take mine out of the freezer when I'm getting ready for work, and then by the time I get to the office, it's ready for breakfast. Just be sure to give it a shake before you drink it.

If you don't want to make a bunch of smoothies in advance, you can still speed up the process so you're always ready to throw together a quick snack. For this hack, make individual baggies filled with the fruits and veggies you're planning on using in your smoothie. (You can even throw a couple spoonfuls of yogurt or almond butter in there.) Then, when you're ready to make the smoothie, simply dump your baggie into the blender, add the liquid of your choosing, and that's it! Baggie Measurements & Suggestions For 1 Ziplock:
1/2 banana broken into pieces (If you're not a banana person, double the other fruit.)
1/2 cup berries or chopped fruit of your choosing (You can buy pre-prepped frozen fruit to make it even easier.)
1 small handful leafy greens like spinach or kale (If you don't want to taste the greens, choose spinach.)

Liquid Measurements & Suggestions:
1/2-1 cup liquid of your choosing (We love half almond milk and half orange or tangerine juice, but you can use any liquid other than water. Coconut water is also a delicious smoothie addition!)

The absolute WORST part about making smoothies is cleaning the blender. It takes forever, it's dangerous (we don't want to cut ourselves every time we make a smoothie!), and the process makes it not really worth it, if you're hoping to turn smoothies into a daily snack. But, thankfully, like all kitchen processes we hate — there's a hack for that! Instead of cleaning out the blender by hand, just squirt a small amount of dish soup INTO your blender, fill it up halfway with water, and then turn it on! A few pulses later, one quick rinse, and your blender will be squeaky clean and ready for round two!