Green Smoothies are what's cooking!

One of my favorite things to make in the morning is a Green Smoothie. My favorite website about them of course is greensmoothiegirl.com. Robyn not only has tons of information on her blog she also has a lot of youtube videos where I have gotten great ideas and new recipes. She has one where she explains to her kids about white flour - so great!

I have tried a lot of recipes from all different blogs and websites, GSG being my fave. My conclusion is - I think all kids are different. If your kids are used to tons of sugar they are not going to automatically love a green smoothie. When I first started making them, they tasted too "green" for my girls. They have gotten used to them and I have gradually put more greens in.

This is a picture of an old recipe but you get the idea of what goes in the blender.

Here is my new favorite recipe:

Jenna's favorite Green Smoothie

Put ingredients in blender in order:

2 cups Water

1 - 2 big handfuls of spinach

2 apples (cut into fourths and seeds removed, sweet apples)

1/2 lemon (I have found it is too bitter to include the peel, I cut out the flesh and only throw it in)

2 carrots (scrubbed and cut into 2 inch pieces)

4 inches of a cucumber (cut in half)

1 scoop protein powder

Put lid on - Blend on whole juice cycle!

It looks kind of gross after that cycle!

Then add:

1 cup frozen blueberries

2 cold bananas

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

sweetener (stevia)

Ice - I have teeny tiny trays here in Switzerland - maybe 1 cup?

Blend on Smoothie Setting!

This fills up the entire blender 64 oz. Container. That is the normal size that comes with the blendtec.

Voila! This makes enough for my girls and I to each have 1 serving in the morning and 1 serving in the afternoon.

My girls love their green smoothies with straws.

It is fun to throw in extra stuff or whatever fun fruits or veggies are in my fridge or freezer.

Variations are limitless but here is what we sometimes add:

yogurt

any fresh berries

frozen mangoes

frozen raspberries (I put these in the with the whole juice cycle so the seeds get pulverized)

coconut milk or coconut meat

Swiss chard or kale

frozen spinach if I run out of fresh

flax meal or flax oil

* Lemon helps cover up the green taste. Blueberries make it a pretty color.

Another fabulous thing to do with green smoothies is to freeze them and make popsicles out of them. My girls and even visitors love them. SHHHH - no one needs to know they have veggies in them.

En Guete! - Jenna