Saturday, February 18, 2012

Green Smoothies

I had been wanting to give mythical green smoothies a shot for a while before I actually gave them a shot. The question that lingered in my mind was a daunting one: could a green drink I made myself possibly be any good? I wondered if I would really taste the spinach or the kale in these, but they're barely detectable since only a natural sweetness comes through. It didn't even beg for a shot of honey or agave.

Green smoothies, it turns out, aren't all that attractive-looking compared to the pleasing colors of typical fruit smoothies, but the point is that just a few simple ingredients pack a healthy punch, so that's okay. Fitting in an extra vegetable in the morning and getting an energy boost after drinking one of these couldn't be a bad thing, right? At some point, we might even commit to having one day for a while...

Spinach + Strawberry Green Smoothie

3 cups of baby spinach (loosely packed)
1 large frozen banana (or 2 small bananas; either way, peeled and cut into a few pieces)
4 strawberries
juice from 3 oranges
ice (optional)

Blend until all ingredients are fully combined.

Kale + Berry Green Smoothie

1 1/2 cups curly kale
a handful of raspberries
a handful of blueberries
juice from 3 oranges
1 large frozen banana (or 2 small bananas; either way, peeled and cut into a few pieces)
ice (optional)

Blend until all ingredients are fully combined.

9 comments:

  1. I'll do these! We'll see how they go over with your nephew. :)

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  2. Smoothie number 1 (spinach) a hit! I split it with G3. It didn't even taste like spinach, it tasted like strawberries. Graham drank the whole thing, said "mmmm! pinch moomie!" and didn't need the addition of honey or anything. I also thought it was great.

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  3. Oh, I used 3 cups of packed spinach.

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  4. Allright. It passed the kid test. What a great way to get kids to eat veggies. We should call it "Pinch Moomie"

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  5. Only because if you don't know G3, it reads like "Pinch Mommy". You don't want the mommy segment of your readers mad at you. I promise.

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  6. I always make G3 guess who made the dessert I have ready to serve, and he always says, Mamey made it! I had no idea he would like my smoothie recipe, too! Go me for making a green drink a 3-year-old likes! Glad it worked out well.

    A

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  7. Finally made the kale one...drinking it right now.

    It's good (I like the spinach a little better), but, again, the kale is pretty hidden behind the fruit. G3 is drinking it down! I did use a frozen berry mix of blueberries, raspberries and blackberries that I had in the freezer, so slightly veered from the recipe. Sorry I kind of forgot about testing this one. :/

    B

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