Green Smoothies

If you haven't heard of green smoothies, you must have been living under a rock for the past few years!    A green smoothie is basically a regular smoothie with a handful of lettuce, spinach, or other "greens" thrown in. It makes the smoothie bright green but has almost no effect on the taste. Smoothies are better than juicing because all of the fiber is retained. If you drink your smoothie first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, your body will be able to easily absorb all of the nutrients because it won't be working on digesting anything else.

The best part about green smoothies is that you can use whatever fruits and veggies you have, so no special trip to the store. (Please tell me you keep a decent stock of produce...) I usually use spinach and whatever variety of lettuce is cheapest at the time, whatever fruit we have, and I always add a banana to improve the texture. I love to add frozen berries and mango, but since they are so expensive this time of year, I only buy them occasionally. Pineapple is good and usually cheap, as are apples. If you are not worried about fat and calories, you can add some plain yogurt.

If you are really afraid to just wing it, google "green smoothie" and a million recipes will come up. I never follow a recipe so I don't have one to share, but here is one that sounds good.

            

Evie loves her smoothies, as you can see. When she was going through a really bad teething period and wouldn't eat much, I froze the smoothies into popcicles and she was wild about them. They eased the pain and tasted yummy, while helping ensure her nutritional needs were being met.

I usually make a big batch and freeze several servings so I don't have to make one every day. It works out great, as long as I remember to take one out of the freezer every night!

If you haven't tried green smoothies yet, give it a shot and let me know how you like it. If you are a green smoothie veteran, share your favorite fruit and veggie combo below!



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