Have all y'alls heard of Green Smoothies? I have to thank my friend Jen Hatch and her cute little Vegan blog for introducing me to them. You should check out the blog; you'll find a lot of great family-and-picky-kid-friendly recipe ideas on there.
We've just recently started drinking these, but apparently they have been all the rage in certain healthy eating circles for some time now. I was a little skeptical at first, but you say the word "smoothie" to my kids, and they jump for joy no matter what I throw in there or what color it comes out. I'm pretty sure McKay would even eat a bean if it was blended up in a smoothie (I should try that). My boys love these things, they are Vegan and totally healthy, and they a great way to get your calcium if you have decided to forego dairy and yet you don't eat handfuls of raw spinach on a daily basis.
So here's the formula we use. If you don't like it, you can adjust it to your liking - smoothies are luckily very forgiving. You can get really crazy and add flax seeds, vanilla, carrots, kale.... & tons of other good stuff your kids would never touch if you put it in front of them on a plate!
Green Smoothie
1 banana (cut up and frozen beforehand)
2 handfuls strawberries
Cover with water and add:
enough spinach to reach the top of the blender
Blend WELL then add:
a little agave nectar (this makes it sweet, so how much you add depends on how sweet you want it)
1-2 medium jool dates (optional; my cheap blender doesn't work well enough to handle these)
1 scoop coconut oil
5-6 cubes ice
Blend well again and voila! Delish.
By the way, if you haven't discovered dates yet, you are seriously missing out. They are "nature's candy" and McKay asks for them instead of candy. I am a total sweetaholic (I know this is going to make someone sick, but I have been known to down like a dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts in a single sitting) and FOR REAL, a handful of these curb my cravings for sweets. They don't look like much, but they are so tasty! Try one. You can get them at your local supermarket in the produce section. We can even get them in Texas where people eat only meat all the time.
1 comment:
Kelli,
I'm excited to try some of your recipes. I'm a huge quinoa fan. My boys also love smoothies. Dusty calls them "everything but the kitchen sink" smoothies. I actually do put a small handful of beans in mine (black, pinto, garbanzo) as well as red cabbage, cauliflower, cranberries, and frozen peas. I even will add some almonds. While I don't have a super blender and my smoothies come out with more texture than I like (mostly because of the almonds), the kids love them anyway. Maybe it would be worth a try. Have fun cooking!
Janeece
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