Friday, August 26, 2011

Go Green and Healthy!

I learned about Green Smoothies about a year ago and have been amazed that I can get my son (who hates all veggies) to drink them.
In fact, he likes them so much he will beg me to make them. This is a healthy drink which gives you a pretty high dose of greens, but is still yummy. Here are two of the basics recipes I love.

Green Smoothie
Put 2-1/2 cups water in Blender
Add:
Raw, washed greens (spinach, spring greens, romaine, chard, kale, collards)—I add a bunch till the blender’s full of greens and water.
¼ whole lemon, including peel (anti-skin cancer, high in flavonoids) **I skip this if I don’t have a lemon around.
2-3 Tbsp. flax seed (or flaxseed oil) ***You can skip this too if you don’t have it
Puree until very smooth—it will look like puke (but thankfully, it doesn’t taste like it)
Gradually add fruit until container is very full; blend until smooth
1-2 bananas
1-2 cups frozen berries
Any other fruit to taste: pears, peaches, apples, apricots, cantaloupe, mango, pineapple

Then add sweetener to taste (I use sugar, but if you’re a healthnut, you can use stevia or organic agave nectar to sweeten it)
When all blended, pour out into a cup and enjoy, or keep it in the fridge and sip it throughout the day to keep from bad snacking.

Now, if you just can’t get past that puke green color (which my husband can’t), then here’s a way to mask it.

Green Chocolate Shake
2 cups milk
3 cups spring greens (or any other greens)
2 ripe bananas
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. soy sauce (yes! I didn’t make a typo; this somehow brings out the chocolate flavor)
¼ cup honey or agave nectar (or if you’re lazy like me, just regular sugar)
½ cup cocoa powder
2 cups ice

Blend all ingredients together in a blender. I love how frothy and thick these are.
Sometimes I drink either of these two drinks for lunch and feel pretty good about myself for the rest of the day. They're so healthy! Look at this face! It's total proof that these drinks are great—even for green haters like my son!
There’s a whole website on green smoothies, so if you want to learn more, go to www.greensmoothiegirl.com .

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16 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks for the recipe!! I really need to try out the chocolate one for my kids and hubby!!

Anonymous said...

This is such a great idea to get your greens in for the day...and a fun way to eat (drink?) them!

The Miller's @ Prezidential Life said...

ohhh I am sooo going to try this and not even tell them (including the picky husband) the main part!
thanks for sharing!
the miller
prezidential life

Canda said...

Thanks! I made these for their snack yesterday (the chocolate) and they loved it. Even Nathan tried it and said it wasn't too bad. Once Ciera heard what was in it she wasn't too keen on them anymore, but I am gonna keep making them. I did think the chocolate was pretty chocolately! I may cut down the cocoa next time :)

Charissa said...

Yeah, the cocoa could probably be cut down; it is really chocolatey. Glad you liked them though. Curtis is funny...even though he knows what's in them, he still craves them.

Dave and Alicia said...

My kids love green smoothies (I would even serve it to the kids in my preschool co-op a couple years ago and they all loved it, too)! When I started making them a couple years ago I dubbed them "Shrek Smoothies" so my kids would drink it. It worked! I haven't tried chocolate though...excited to test it out!

Big D and Me said...

I would love to think my son would try this and enjoy it but I am skeptical - maybe if I was to put a grilled cheese sandwich or mac n'cheese in there he'd give it a go:)

Jamie said...

That seems like an amazing healthy but delicious drink! I especially love the idea of drinking it throughout the day when you might feel like bad snacking.

Thanks for sharing.

Feel free to link your green healthy drink up to my new Make Yourself Monday Blog Hop!

-Jamie
For Love of Cupcakes

Jill said...

Oh my goodness - they really sound delicious - and very healthy! I'll have to try those out!

Thanks for linking to a Round Tuit!
Hope you have a great week!
Jill @ Creating my way to Success
http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

Yum! I have been experimenting with my green drink in the morning..I will give this one a try too!

Unknown said...

Yum! I have been experimenting with my green drink in the morning..I will give this one a try too!

Anonymous said...

I SOOOO want to try this for my green haters. Thanks for the post!

Hopping over from Hope Studios. Please come by if you get a minute: http://wp.me/pYcKQ-bP

Kim@todayismysome-day said...

Whoa, this is uncharted territory! But, I think I'll give the 2nd one a try this week. Visiting from TT&J link party.

Marie said...

We'll have to try this! Thanks for linking with us at Show & Share!

Marie
mylilpinkpocket.blogspot.com

Kristen said...

I love this, especially the pictures! I'm a green smoothie kind of girl too. Right now, I'm on a spinach, almond milk, blueberries, and frozen mango kick. YUM!

ruzzel01 said...

It is so surprising nowadays to see kids eats vegetables.
greens plus

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