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I think it’s about time I delve into the green smoothie a little further, so let’s put our wetsuits on and dive into this healthiest of treats! Before you know it, your kids will be begging for their green veggies.

For my family, a green smoothie is often something like this: One peeled banana broken in half and tossed in the blender with one large handful of baby spinach (or kale, swiss chard, mixed spring greens), and about two tablespoons ground flax seed (we use a coffee grinder). Then we fill the blender to about the 2 - 2 1/2 cup mark with orange juice. Blend it until the smoothie is nice and - uh - smooth. We often will throw in other goodies like 1/2 an apple (peel on if it’s organic), a handful of grapes, some kiwi, or whatever else is floating around the kitchen. This about does it for two adults and one thirsty, bouncing toddler yelling “Juice! Juice!” as the blender whirls.

Orange juice does have a lot of sugar, so if any smoothie drinkers in your family are trying to lose weight, you can water down the juice or even use soy milk. For us, it’s about as sugary as we get in a day, so I figure what the heck. You can also experiment with other juices as well. It’s all good!

If you have a fairly decent blender, you’re fine. We can’t all afford a Vitamix (my dream blender - not a sponsored post, so Vitamix people, feel free to email me and talk samples!) and if you mix it long enough, most of the time the smoothie will come out well. But kale and chard tend to be a little more pulpy, so if your blender is the one you got as a wedding gift 20 years ago, you might want to stick with the spinach.

Some other items we love to use: parsley (flat leaf is the favorite), mango, pineapple, dried seaweed (a little goes a long way - too much and you actually taste it), ground walnuts, a couple dates, cucumber. Hold on, Trigger. Don’t try them all at once. But it sure is fun to experiment! With older kids, you can tell them you’re doing a scientific project and you need them to help you choose what to throw in. Wow, what fun! Just make sure you know what’s going in the blender or you may lose something valuable.

So there you have it - more information on how to make the all-important green smoothie. A very popular topic around this blog, one that just couldn’t go any longer without further exploration. Now go drink your salad.

March 19th, 2008 | Tags: green smoothies, healthy treats | Category: Health, Recipes | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL