Berrylicious (Tesco Smoothie Mix)

Member Name: sweetdaisy

Product:	Tesco Smoothie Mix
Date:	22/03/07 (1629 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great way to get your 5 - a - day, taste gorgeous, real fruit

Disadvantages: you'll want more than one smoothie ! !

I guess it’s that time of year again, where everyone is feeling they should be a little healthier. So during my weekly shop I came across Tesco Red Berry Smoothie Mix. I have to say it was a close call between this and Haagen Daz, however feeling that I should at least try and attempt to eat my 5 -a day I opted for the Smoothie Mix.

I rarely make smoothies and there is a good reason for this. The last time I can recall trying to make my own smoothie (using a rubbish hand blender) I spent ages trying to scrape strawberry and kiwi seeds off my kitchen wall!! So I thought I’d make life easier and buy the fruit frozen.

Tesco Red Berry Smoothie Mix 740g can be found in the frozen section next to the ice-cream and frozen desserts and is made up of 4 individually wrapped portions of fruits: Strawberries (41%), Red Grape (32%), Banana (20%) and Blueberries (5%). I did wonder why they had bothered to call it ‘Red Berry’, when it contains Banana - I had always thought that they were yellow and not a berry!! But never mind as it adds to the taste. Also, aren’t blueberries purple?!!

The individual portions are packaged in clear plastic bags inside a white plastic bag with a large picture of a Red Berry Smoothie on the front. The Smoothie Mix costs £2.97 and is available in 3 different flavours which are:
Red Berry (Strawberry, Red Grape, Banana and Blueberries)
Tropical Fruit (Pineapple, Mango and Papaya)
Banana and Strawberry

Each Smoothie sachet contains 185 g of fruit and all you need to do is add 75ml of natural yogurt or juice to make the smoothie. It states that one sachet will make up one smoothie, however in my experience this is enough for 2 large smoothies. As soon as you open the bag of fruit the smell hits you - a lovely fresh smell. The fruits are frozen whole i.e. full grapes, strawberries, slices of Banana etc, not chunks of fruits that has been mashed into a frozen pulp.

Each smoothie sachet made up with 75ml of natural yogurt contains
145 Calories, 27.5g of Sugar, 2.4g of Fat, 1.3 g of Saturates and 0.1g of Salt.

The Smoothies are very easy to make: empty the sachet of fruit into the
Blender add 75ml of yogurt or juice and blitz until smooth. However, if like me you use a hand blender you need to make sure that the fruit has softened before use, otherwise the blade on the blender may break. All you need to do is pop the sachet in the microwave for a minute or leave at room temperature for 30 minutes before using. I pop mine in a bowl of warm water which does the trick.

I prefer to make my smoothies using juice rather than yogurt and I find that apple juice is better, rather than orange juice, as this can make it taste a little bitter. According to the instructions you should use 75ml of juice or yogurt however you need to use a lot more than 75ml of juice! When you blend the fruit it is very thick in consistency and you need around 150ml of juice, so double what it states. If you don’t add more, you will not be able to drink the smoothie as it would be too thick.

I also like to add a Kiwi Fruit to the Red Berry smoothie and a few raspberries to make it taste even nicer; however they are fine to have on their own without having to add any extra fruit.

I have tried all three varieties of Smoothie Mixes and all of them are very nice and even better is that each portion contains 2 of your 5 a day, so making it easier to reach that target of 5 and beyond. I have also found the portions to be quite versatile and they are great on their own (having been thawed) with natural yogurt on the side, or used in a fruit salad.

I would definitely recommend the smoothie mixes as they taste absolutely gorgeous, are healthy and good for you and make a refreshing change from fizzy and other juice drinks.

Summary: Delicious red berry smoothie mix which contains 2 portions of fruit