Smoothies are always refreshing on a warm day, but hitting the fancy smoothie stores is like hitting the coffee shops: it adds up fast. A 16-ounce smoothie can run you from $3 to $5 not including the extras like vitamins and protein powder.

Homemade smoothies are cheaper as most of the ingredients are already at your disposal and you have more control of what goes in to your smoothie as some stores add fruit with syrup to smoothies instead of fresh frozen fruit.

Here are some possibilities, but remember that you can always mix and match to suit your tastes. If you freeze the fruit in small chunks first your smoothie will stay cold much longer.

Protein smoothie

1 cup Soymilk

½ cup Strawberries

½ cup Blueberries or Bananas (the taste of bananas will overpower other fruits so use just enough to naturally sweeten the smoothie)

Tropical smoothie

1 cup Mango juice

1 scoop Orange sherbet

½ cup Strawberries

½ cup Peaches

Aloha smoothie

1 cup Pineapple juice

½ cup Frozen pineapple chunks

Plain yogurt

½ cup Strawberries or any of your other favorite berries

1 scoop Pineapple sherbet

DIRECTIONS:

1.     Pour the juice or milk in blender

2.     Add frozen fruit and sherbet, if any

3.     Blend until smooth, but try not to over blend. If you prefer a thicker consistency, add less liquid.

4.     Mix in yogurt, if any, at the end so it keeps its consistency

For a light dinner in a pinch, check out Bargain Babe’s farmer’s salad or get more ideas for feeding your family healthy food. Stay on top of the latest strategies, coupons, and inspiration to save money everyday with BargainBabe.com’s email list.