My New Obsession: Smoothies [Review]

As I said a couple weeks ago, after feeling bad about myself for eating fast food twice in one week, I decided to peruse the frozen fruit aisle at Target.  [If you haven't been to Target's new full grocery stores, you should.  The only thing they really don't have are fresh fruits - hence my choice of frozen fruit.]

Well, the last few times I've been to the grocery store, I've seen these frozen smoothies, but I was under the impression that they were pretty expensive.  I know Target is fairly inexpensive overall, but these were an especially great deal.  Here's what I bought:

Yoplait Triple Berry: $2.69
Dole Peach Mango Shakers: $1.99
Market Pantry Strawberry Banana: $1.89

First I tried Market Pantry's [Target brand] Strawberry Banana.  What I liked about this one was that the fruit and yogurt powder were separated.  When I usually go to smoothie places, I get fruit smoothies instead of yogurt-based smoothies.  It suggested either juice or water to blend with the smoothie, so I did half Welch's white grape, half water [so it was not too sweet], half of the yogurt powder, and the fruit.  It was delicious - thick but still very fruity.

On my way to work the following morning, I had the Dole Shaker, since I didn't need a blender.  All you have to do is break up the fruit a little with a fork, let it thaw for a few minutes, and add juice.  Again, I did half juice and half water.  This smoothie was fairly chalky tasting.  The fruit flavor was good, but the consistency was a bit strange.

Finally, last weekend, I tried to Yoplait brand.  This one had the frozen fruit and chunks of yogurt in the pouch.  It told you to add a half cup of milk, but said in little letters on the bottom that you could add fruit juice instead.  Of course, I chose the half juice/half water method, and it came out great.  I like the flavor behind the triple berry better than the strawberry banana, but the little yogurt chunks left in the smoothie [even after I blended it for a good couple of minutes] was a little weird.  

Here's my rating:

1. Market Pantry Strawberry Banana [10/10]

2. Yoplait Triple Berry [8/10]

3. Dole Shakers [3/10]
I loved the MP way of putting together the smoothie [with the yogurt powder] and the Yoplait triple berry flavor was amazing.  I will [and have] buy those two again, as well as wake up an extra few minutes early if I want a smoothie before work so I do not have to buy the shakers again!

I was not compensated in any way for this review, I simply wanted to share a few affordable, healthy snack options with you.