What's in your green smoothie?

[peaceful_mama]

We've been doing a ton of yogurt smoothies lately but I'm a little afraid to "go green".....what do your kids love and not even notice??

[Sayward]

Originally Posted by peaceful_mama

We've been doing a ton of yogurt smoothies lately but I'm a little afraid to "go green".....what do your kids love and not even notice??

Spinach! It's the most 'flavorless' of the smoothie greens, and the color can be really fun for kids. =)

[MyLittleWarrior]

Originally Posted by Sayward

Spinach! It's the most 'flavorless' of the smoothie greens, and the color can be really fun for kids. =)

:

Spinach is the easist to hide taste wise. Once they're ok with that (or once you're ok with that) I find kale and collards to be pretty easy to hide as well, but definitely more noticable than spinach. If you read some of the stuff by the green smoothie gurus out there, they'll say to only include greens and fruit in your smoothies. I have a hard time eating enough protein in the morning, so I usually put in an egg (raw eggs don't skeeve me out, ymmv) and some kefir. This morning my smoothie was: 1 banana, 1/2 tall can of mandrin oranges (my mangos need another day or two to ripen), handful of frozen raspberries, 1 egg, 1 cup kefir, about 3-4 oz spinach. I shared some of this with my 2yo, who throws a fit if I make a smoothie and drink it before he gets any. My 4yo won't touch these things with a 10 ft straw. He already had a "green things" aversion when I discovered green smoothies. My 2yo has been drinking them with me since he was about 1, and loves them. I intend to get dd (only 2 weeks right now) hooked on them when she starts solids before my 4yo turns her against all things nutritious also.

[prana]

Rainbow chard is also pretty easy to hide. Children love green smoothies, but you have to give it to them confidently or have them help you make it. If you set a green mush in front of most kids and stand in front of them to see how they react, they will sense that something is up.

We use either rainbow chard or spinach combined with pineapple and/or mangoes if they are in season. A bit of water (less than a cup) can be used to make it more liquid. Sometimes we throw in goji berries, but that's it. I'm not a fan of bananas in the smoothies because it makes me gassy, this may not be true for others.

Have fun and experiment with it.

I love green smoothies.

[Snowflower]

spirulina, brewer's yeast, hemp/flax seeds, avocado and spinach.

[AlwaysByMySide]

What's in it that's actually green? Spinach in ours. I tried kale, but didn't like the little bits. I'm going to try to be more adventurous in my garden this year and try chard, so I'll also be adventurous in my blender with it.

I load the kids up with bananas and berries, and make sure to put it in an opaque cup with a lid and a straw for the 4 year old. She used to not have any issues, but one day, woke up and decided she would not be drinking anything green.

[sunnysandiegan]

DD is 8 and is a much more fussy eater than when she was younger. Sigh.

I made my first "green smoothie" last week. I tossed in carrots & spinach (fresh from Farmer's Market) first, then covered those with frozen (by us from fresh fruit earlier in the year) raspberries & blueberries, and 1/4 bag of frozen cherries. (Our yogurt was no longer fit to eat, so I skipped it and decided not to add any "extras" this time around.) Blended and added organic not from concentrate grape juice until good consistency. I made this when no one was looking and presented it as a "smoothie" alongside a cooked breakfast DH prepared for all of us (eggs and something else???). Neither of them like most of what I put in the "smoothie", but they both liked the end result. It was a beautiful color and had a strong berry flavor. Not one hint of carrots or spinach. I like everything I put in it and loved the drink! (Ultimately, I made it for me and only poured each of them a small tasting amount and myself a large glass. They both asked for more, however, and we all ended up with a decent serving size. )

[azmomtoone]

Baby spinach & baby carrots can both be added easily without changing the flavor at all.
Spirulina goes over well here also, it does have a bit of a stronger flavor but it's somewhat sweet....and it's nice to keep on hand for days when we're out of greens.

For myself & DS, I've found we can easily add 2-3 cups of spinach & a handful of baby carrots to almost any fruit smoothie. Any other lettuce / greens, more than a handful will change the flavor, and I don't even like them w/ much in it....DS will not drink it if it tastes "lettuce-y".

Also - it goes over much better if you drink it too, then just give it to the kids.... DS & I will usually share one jar/glass with two straws.

If the green color turns your kids off, use blueberries, the smoothie will be purple instead of green.
Or chocolate - one of our favorites still is bananas, spinach, ice, & cocoa powder. "Chocolate Ice Cream"
Another one that's not too green is Watermelon, strawberries & celery (devein/destring the celery first!), and tastes great.

(We've been making green smoothies since DS was an infant; he loves them all now, and drank almost any of them from about 9 or 10 mos on....but went through a LONG phase in the middle of refusing to even take a sip of any that were green colored)

[GreenGranolaMama]

Dh and I do yogurt smoothies, but would love to add some green to them, these sound great!!!

[GuavaGirl]

My standard green smoothie is about 2 leaves of Kale, 1 banana, handful of nuts (walnuts, almonds, cashews, or hempseeds), ice (it has to be cold for me), and a little water.

[peaceful_mama]

what's spirulina? I have carrots in the house all the time hadn't thought of them, and spinach is somehting I could easily do. mmmmm and they love blueberry so they'll be purple like they always are

[peaceful_mama]

oh yeah I also have a GIGANTIC thing of flaxseeds but I canNOT for the life of me remember to throw some in my smoothie!!!! ??

[azmomtoone]

Originally Posted by peaceful_mama

oh yeah I also have a GIGANTIC thing of flaxseeds but I canNOT for the life of me remember to throw some in my smoothie!!!! ??

If you have a coffee grinder or smaller food processor (blender may also work, not sure?) grinds some up & keep in the fridge, you can just add a spoonful to smoothies (yogurt, soup, oatmeal, whatever) as you remember that way.

Spirulina is a blue-green sea algae.
http://www.herbwisdom.com/herb-spirulina.html
http://www.healthrecipes.com/benefits_spirulina.htm

[peaceful_mama]

It'll be OK? I heard they might go bad if ground early? (maybe I am thinking about leaving them out, or it applies to having like my entire container ground)

[Doodlebugsmom]

Originally Posted by peaceful_mama

It'll be OK? I heard they might go bad if ground early? (maybe I am thinking about leaving them out, or it applies to having like my entire container ground)

I keep my ground flax seeds in the freezer. They will go bad fast if left in the pantry.

[MiaMama]

These are all great ideas.

I am 30 wks pregnant, and I have been feeling a bit ill the past few days. The only thing that sounds palatable is my smoothies, mostly fruit, and only a tiny bit of yogurt. I have been throwing in a handful of spinach, but I really think I need to bump up the protien a little because I have not been able to eat much of anything else lately.

As I am preg, I am a little wary of raw eggs. Does anyone have ideas to add protien to the smoothies?

[GuavaGirl]

MiaMama: I like adding a handful of nuts. That little bit of fat from the nuts makes it quite tasty too. I use walnuts, almonds, pecans, cashews, or hemp seeds. Walnuts grind up the best. You could also use a protein powder like whey, pea protein, or soy.
Or just add more yogurt, or a greek yogurt.

[JessicaS]

I like putting kale in mine but if I don't blend it up well enough kale bits can make me gag.

I also like spinach, ground flax, walnuts, strawberries, raspberries, goji berries, yogurt (nondairy) oranges, blueberries

[dachshundqueen]

Today's smoothie (dairy free) is 2 kiwis, 2 huge handfuls of spinach, 2 small bananas, juice of one cara cara orange and a bunch of blueberries. Serves 1 adult and 2 short people. Yum!

Liz

[JessicaS]

Mine was blueberries, strawberries (I buy a bunch of berries in season and freeze) spinach, goji berries, ground flax and orange juice.