Macerating the strawberries is a process in which the roughly chopped strawberries and sugar are combined and then sit together for 30 minutes. This not only softens the strawberries, making them easier to blend, but helps to dissolve the sugar to prevent any graininess. However, if you are short on time and want a quick breakfast or snack, you can skip this step altogether and simply throw all of the ingredients in the blender. I recommend doing an extra cycle of the smoothie cycle if your blender is capable of it.