Like most kids, my girls can be semi-picky about what they eat. I've noticed the older Chica gets, the more willing she is to try new things. Bug, though, is in the thick of the "I won't eat anything I don't want to and you can't make me na-nanny-boo-boo" stage.
Yep. I love it.
Veggies would be the most difficult thing to get them to ingest. Fruit and yogurt are probably the easiest. Not long ago, Chica started requesting smoothies for breakfast. I thought this was a great idea because it's about as healthy as you can get, right? So for the past few weeks, Smoothies have been the resounding breakfast order.
A co-worker of mine shared with me that she's been enjoying green smoothies. I'd heard about them, and I knew they were all the healthy rage. Still being a little suspect (I mean, c'mon, the drink is green. How good could it possibly taste), I took a sample that she offered me of a smoothie she'd made for herself that day. It involved yogurt, bananas, strawberries and romaine lettuce. And you know what? It was kind of good. The lettuce gave it a refreshing taste, but I the overall flavor was the fruit.
So I thought, "I should really try this with the breakfast smoothies."
Now, I have a love-hate relationship with my blender. In that my blender, which was gifted to me as a wedding gift almost 6 years ago, is one of those dual blenders that can act as a blender OR as a food processor. I've found that instead of being an awesome powerhouse of 2 kitchen appliances, it does neither job well.
We fight. A lot.
I wasn't sure Ol Blendy would be up to the task of grinding up the greens so that the kids would not see them. But there was no way to know until I gave it a try.
The first morning we did it, I tried to distract the girls so they wouldn't see the kale going in. Unfortunately, they are gourmands in the making and must watch EVERYTHING. I. DO. in the kitchen. They caught themselves a big eyeful of kale.
And they were ok with it.
I told them it would make them big and strong and give them superpowers.
They were even more ok with it.
 |
| Blender ready for Green Smoothie action |
 |
| See? They really do remain pink! Take note of healthy green flecks. |
Best news: girls did not care and drank the whole thing down, asking for seconds before the first cup was finished.
 |
| "Please Mom? Can we please have some more?" |
WIN!
I shared some pictures of this on the Confessions of a Stay-at-Home Mom facebook page, and a few people asked for the "recipe." There's not much to it, but I promised I would post it here:
- 1/2 cup of nonfat Green Yogurt (I use Strawberry)
- 1/2 cup of nonfat milk
- 1 cup of kale or spinach, washed and chopped
- 1 cup of frozen/chopped bananas
- 1 cup of frozen/chopped strawberries
1. Place all ingredients in the blender and puree until smooth
2. If the smoothie is too thick or won't blend, add more milk. If the smoothie is too thin, add more yogurt or frozen fruit.
3. Enjoy!
Notes:
- I have been buying the kale prewashed/chopped in bags.
- I don't want to spend the money on bags of frozen fruit, so I buy a large bunch of bananas and the largest package of strawberries. When I get home, I wash the strawberries, then I chop both the berries and the bananas. I put the berries in a zip-top freezer bag and lay it flat in the freezer so they don't clump together as they freeze. For the bananas, I place them on a cookie sheet spread out and let them freeze for about 30 minutes before I put them in a zip-top freezer bag so they don't freeze clumped together.
- If you find the smoothie not to be sweet enough, add some honey.
I'd love to hear how your kids (or heck, YOU) respond to the "green smoothie," so come back and let me know how it turns out!
Enjoy, and make sure to get your 5-A-Day!
