Our Green Smoothie Formula

I’m not afraid to admit that a lot of my meals for the last week and a half have been liquid – in the form of green smoothies!  As much as I didn’t want to post another smoothie recipe, I think I’ll probably be posting some more in the near future.  But I have realized that most of our smoothies follow the same formula so I decided to post that today, instead of a specific “recipe”.  Of course there is no right or wrong way to make a smoothie and I’m sure this “formula” is nothing new, I still wanted to share it.  If I can inspire one person to try a green smoothie, it’ll be worth it 🙂

I have to say, I would be lost without green smoothies.  They are, without a doubt, my favorite meal or snack.  Who doesn’t love a good fruit smoothie?  Plus, it’s way better than sitting down to a bowlful of greens.  Not to mention, anyone with a newborn knows it’s not likely that you’ll have time to prep and chop veggies for a big salad(not to mention time to sit down and enjoy it!) any time soon, where a smoothie is almost a completely 1 handed meal.  Awesome!

Plus, something with spinach in it that my kids go crazy for?  Yes please!  It may not be equal to a big bowlful of greens but it really is better than nothing.

For this one we used our home canned peaches which is why it turned out to be such a pretty color.  The color isn’t always as pretty as this though, sometimes they’re brown or even almost black depending on the type of fruit we add.  If your kids think the color is gross you might want to invest in a cup that wont let them see what’s inside.  Of course that probably only works for little kids, but still… As long as you can get them to take one taste – they’ll love it!

I will mention that if you’ve never tried a green smoothie before – blend, blend and blend some more!  I’m pretty sure everyone likes a smooth smoothie.  Spinach chunks = ew!  So keep blending.  I do NOT have a fancy blender, I make all my smoothies in a plain old magic bullet and it works perfectly(if I don’t stuff it too full – which I usually do anyways and it’s survived so far – hah!)  For the record, the makers of Magic Bullet have no idea who I am, I just love my little blender.

[print_this]The Basic Green Smoothie

Makes one large smoothie suitable for one adult or two toddlers

•     1 large banana, frozen and cut up into chunks
•     1 C fresh or frozen fruit or berries(we use all kinds of local fruits including cherries, peaches, raspberries, strawberries, plums and various berries, but any kind of fruit is delicious, including pineapple, oranges and others )
•     1-2 handfuls fresh spinach, tough stems removed
•     1-2 C milk(any kind of dairy or non-dairy) depending on the thickness desired
•     up to 1 tbsp local honey or another sweetener, only if desired

For extra staying power consider adding one or more of the following:

•     1 tbsp peanut or other nut butter
•     1/4-1/2 C cooked or soaked oatmeal
•     1 scoop your favorite protein powder
•     1-2 tbsp very finely ground flax seed

Blend all in your blender for at least 2 minutes, making sure that no green pieces remain.  If your blender is very under powered, consider blending the greens with a little bit of milk first, until no large pieces remain, then add the remaining ingredients and blend until completely smooth.[/print_this]

 

I want to hear from you!  How do you enjoy your smoothies?  Do you add greens?  Do you use a basic formula for your smoothies(if so, what is it!), or do you usually wing it?