A mango and banana smoothie you can make from the pantry in 10 minutes

Some mornings you have time to cut fruit. Most mornings you don't. This smoothie skips that step entirely, because the mango, the banana, and the milk all come off the shelf. It takes about ten minutes, most of which is soaking, and it feeds two.

The taste holds up. The fruit rehydrates to something close to fresh, and the milk gives it real body instead of thin, watery froth. I make it on school mornings, and it also happens to keep for years in the pantry. One recipe, both kitchens.

What the pantry does for this smoothie

The whole thing works because a few good staples do the heavy lifting.

• Our Freeze Dried Mango Chunks and Freeze Dried Banana Slices give you peak-season fruit any month of the year. They soak up water in about five minutes and come back with real fruit flavor and a texture that blends clean. No peeling, no brown spots, no waste.
• Our Powdered Vitamin Milk is what makes it creamy instead of icy. It adds 7g of protein, calcium, and 33 essential nutrients, and it sits on the shelf for years until you need it.

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Mango and banana smoothie

Serves two. Ready in about ten minutes.

Ingredients

• 2 cups freeze-dried mango chunks
• 1 cup freeze-dried banana slices
• 3 Tbsp Powdered Vitamin Milk
• Optional: 1 1/2 cup plain yogurt (or use rehydrated Powdered Vitamin Eggs for extra creaminess and protein)
• Optional: 1 tsp lime juice, for brightness
• Optional: 1 to 2 tsp honey or maple syrup, to adjust sweetness
• Optional: a handful of ice cubes for extra chill and thickness
• Garnish: a few diced pieces of the rehydrated mango

Instructions

1. Soak the freeze-dried mango and banana in a small bowl of water for 5 minutes, then drain well.
2. Mix 3 Tbsp of the Powdered Vitamin Milk with 1.5 cups of water. Stir until the powder is fully dissolved.
3. Add the rehydrated fruit and the milk to your blender. If you're using them, add the yogurt, lime juice, sweetener, and ice. Blend 60 to 90 seconds, until it's smooth.
4. Taste it. Too thick, add a splash of milk or water. Too thin, add a few more banana slices or ice cubes.
5. Pour into glasses, top with diced mango, and drink it while it's cold.

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A few things that help

• For an extra 13 gram boost of protein and a creamier texture, swap the yogurt for rehydrated Powdered Vitamin Eggs, or stir in a spoonful of nut butter.
• To make it a spoonable bowl, cut the milk to about 1 1/4 cup and add more ice or frozen fruit.
• A large handful of fresh spinach blends right in. You won't taste it, and it adds more nutrients.
• You can make it ahead. Blend a batch, pour it into mason jars, and freeze. Thaw one overnight in the fridge for breakfast on the way out the door.

Keep the makings on the shelf

Camping trip, power outage, or just a week where nobody has ten spare minutes, the same three cans cover all of it. Keep Freeze Dried Mango Chunks, Freeze Dried Banana Slices, and Powdered Vitamin Milk stocked, and a good smoothie is always five minutes of soaking away.