FUNKY POLKADOT GIRAFFE

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Delicious Green Smoothie Tips

Lately I've been obsessed with green smoothies. 
I'm always looking to put more green veggies into my life 
without having to eat bowls of broccoli with each meal :) 

Enter the green smoothie!

So I thought I'd share a few tips and tricks that I've learned over
the past few months that have made me love
these crazy looking monster smoothies
that make my kids go,
"Eww! I can't believe you're drinking that!"

I had JT fooled for a little while,
until he saw me shoving handfuls of spinach into the blender :)
Isabella was always wise to my plot,
but she prefers to eat her spinach steamed with
salt and butter, so at least she'll eat it green stuff.

What's in my typical smoothie:
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 cup ice
3-4 handfuls of spinach
1 banana
1-2 handfuls of fresh berries
1 swirly squirt of honey or agave
2 tablespoons milled flaxseed

This recipe usually makes 2 servings, 
so I fill up another cup and freeze it for the next day
so I'm only having to make a smoothie every two days.

I'm blending in my KitchenAid.
I'd love to have a VitaMix or a Blendtec,
but for now they remain on my Wishlist :) 



What I've learned:
  • No cow milk or yogurt. From what I've read the yogurt and milk don't jive with the fruit juices and greens so they are best left out.
  • Use ground or milled flaxseed to get the most of out of your flaxseed. Whole flaxseed will just pass right through you.
  • Don't sweeten. I know, I know, I add honey :) But I'm trying to wean myself off of the extra sugar and just embrace the fruit flavors.
  • Blend and blend some more. I don't want any chunky chunks in my smoothie, so I blend that sucker to death.
  • Don't use overripe bananas. Well, unless you like the flavor. But I don't and I don't like my entire smoothie to taste like a REALLY ripe banana. And nothing I've ever added has masked the flavor of a banana that's too ripe.
I think that's it.
Do you love green smoothies?
What's in yours?


6 comments:

Gretchen said...

Oh I would LOVE a VitaMix as well! Those things are AMAZING! My Cuisinart leaves little bits of spinach, but I use frozen berries instead of banana because I'm not a huge banana fan, so I have a huge purple monster smoothie instead of a green one. And my kids LOVE it. We do use peanut butter, milk, and yogurt, but it's kind of a funky taste (not sure if it's the peanut butter (literally just crushed nuts) or the milk products).
Using banana is there a banana flavor to it? I'd love to make it green and have considered using peaches instead of banana, but I think I could get the kids to drink a green smoothie with banana; it's just not my fav fruit.

Ladies Holiday said...

I love me a green smoothie! And those are great tips...ones it sounds like we've both learned from trial and error. And oh, yes the vitamix is dearly sought after by me too...the holidays? Anyway, I love a quarter avocado in my smoothie! Also oatmeal is great, but again, blend, blend, blend!
Cheers!

Mimi said...

i like green smoothies too, especially because i don't like to eat vegetables, haha. ;) thanks for these tips! :D

p.s. we put kale, pears, green apples, and lime in ours. :)

<3, Mimi
http://whatmimiwrites.blogspot.com/
Twisted Orchid Giveaway -- Win any bag of your choice! :)

jenerekfamily said...

I learned that if I put about 1 cup of liquid in (I use carrot juice usually) and then all of my greens (kale, collard greens, spinach, dandelion greens) and blend them up before putting in any of the frozen fruit, it helps to give it a REALLY smooth consistency. Then I put in another cup or two of liquid and the frozen fruit and voila!

Mimi said...

hi! i just wanted to answer your question about the limes -- we only use the juice. :D

<3, Mimi
http://whatmimiwrites.blogspot.com/
Twisted Orchid Giveaway -- Win any bag of your choice! :)

Unknown said...

We love your cute blog and would love to have you link up to our Strut Your Stuff Saturday at sixsistersstuff.com and share your great ideas. We are also hosting a Build Your Blog Conference in Salt Lake City on Feb. 16, 2013. You can find a link on our website or you can go to buildyourblogconference.com. We hope to hear from you soon! -The Sisters

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