Saturday, January 16, 2010

Green Smoothies


Last spring my cousin mentioned that she was making a green smoothie every morning. I was intrigued, and finally I did a little research.
I read somewhere that a quart of green smoothie has 15 servings of fruits and vegetables in it. I also read that smoothies are great because the blender breaks down the cell walls and makes the vitamins in the fruits/veggies more available. I decided it was worth trying and before long I was hooked.

Then I got Jason & the little kids addicted too.

Now we start every morning with a green smoothie, except for Fridays when we have to leave the house pretty early.

I've had a couple of people ask how we make them, so here are my directions. And oh--if you need a blender, the best reviews on Amazon were for a $20 blender from Walmart that does a fantastic job on frozen smoothies!

These directions will make about 6 cups of smoothie--which is enough for me, Jason, and the littles kids.

1. Put 1 c. juice and 1 c. hot water in blender. I usually use frozen OJ concentrate straight from the freezer. If I make up the juice someone drinks it right up and it doesn't last long enough to make it into a smoothie! Tthe hot water helps with the frozen fruit later.

2. Add in spinach. I put in 2 big handfuls; until it's up to the 5 c. line. I use the box of organic spinach from Costco.

3. Lately I've been adding a handful of carrots too. I know that carrot juice is supposed to be very good for you, so I figure I'll add a little to our smoothie this way. I think I'm going to switch to using organic big carrots though.

4. Then I blend it all up. Yum, yum! (This is the green part.)

5. After that is really smooth and gross looking, I start adding fruit. I always add a banana first. My kids go through bananas fast, but if they ever start to get dark looking I freeze them and add them frozen. Otherwise I add one that is fresh. Sometimes add 1/2 of an apple, I find it cuts the taste of the spinach really well. I'm careful with that, though, since adding both the carrots and the apple changes the texture. And I don't like the taste to be overwhelmingly apple.

I get several different kinds of frozen fruit from Costco--which definitely has the best price for frozen fruit.

I usually add 8 or so big strawberries.

Every now & then I buy a pineapple (at Costco, where else??) and cut it up and then freeze it. Then I throw in a few chunks to the smoothie.

The all important blueberries turn the smoothie from it's disgusting color (green-brown after you start adding fruit) to a nice purple. I usually add 1/2 cup of blueberries or 1 cup of mixed berries.

The kids liked the smoothies a LOT better after I started adding the blueberries!

I add peaches & other fruit from a bag of mixed fruit--about the same amount as the strawberries. Sometimes I have to add a bit of hot water as I go, to keep it from getting so thick that the blender can't blend it.

At the end I taste it. Sometimes it's just great. Sometimes I can tell I need to add a little more fruit. Sometimes I plop in another spoonful of OJ concentrate. Sometimes I add a little sugar after I've poured my smoothie out of the blender. The kids don't enjoy it as much if it's a little tart.

The end is a yummy smoothie that I feel great about starting my day with!

9 comments:

  1. Hooray! We have a giant box of costco spinach that I have to use for something. A giant green monster drink would be perfect. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'll have to try this- If you go to all that effort every morning, it must be good right? Of course, that's what I said about swallowing a tablespoon of straight cider vinegar- no one would do that if it didn't do something good for their bodies right? It only took me once to decide I don't care what the benefits are- I'm not drinking vinegar ever again!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Katie--it is good! The kids are disappointed now if I don't make it. And I tried apple cider vinegar too, but only once!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm really impressed that your blender can handle raw carrots. I'd be really nervous that they would do my blender in. {Of course, our blender is on its last legs, so it wouldn't take much. =) I'll have to check out the Amazon reviews -- thanks!}

    Thanks for sharing your methods. I've heard you mention green smoothies and wondered about them. What a great way to disguise all those wonderful spinach nutrients. =)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yum. Clark and I have talked about doing this for a long time. I had a delicious green smoothie this summer and have just not gotten in the routine of doing it. Like Melissa, I definitely need another way to use the GIANT bag of spinach we always buy at Costco.
    PS--Hope that smoothie drinking starts helping you feel better!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I sure wish I would have looked at this before Bob and I did our food storage shopping at costco last night!
    Maybe we will have to back tomorrow!
    Question: can this be made in advance and stored? Like made in the evening and consumed in the morning?

    ReplyDelete
  7. A comment about apple cider vinegar: I used to take it with honey for my joints. It wasn't bad. I think it was 1 T. each in a glass of water. Can't remember why I stopped taking it.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Andra--you can and then put it in the freezer. There is usually a glass in our freezer from someone who didn't finish. Cindy would have to say if the taste changes, but the little kids seem to still like it. You do have to let it thaw a bit to actually drink it or use a spoon.

    I only get these treats on Sat if the stars align properly.

    ReplyDelete