Smoothies, yes, but green? Why, Jennifer, why?

Because they are good… and good for you! And I can’t think of a better way to camouflage some of the green leafy veggies that my kids don’t particularly *like* to eat.

The basics:

frozen fruit
yogurt
kefir
100% juice (I like kagome’s juices)
mixed baby greens – kale, swiss chard, lettuce, cabbage, greens (turnip, collard, etc)
cinnamon
honey
milk

These are the basic ingredients that I use almost every morning.

I pour about 1/3 cup of yogurt into the bottom of my blender. Add about 1-1/2 cups frozen fruit, toss in a handful of greens, pour around 1/3 cup of kefir over that. Add in some juice and milk to keep it from getting too thick. The kids like it when I add a bit of cinnamon or honey to give it a hint of sweetness, but I don’t if the fruit is perfectly ripe and sweet.

Blend, ice crush, whatever setting your blender has that will chop up the fruit and greens into a wonderfully smooth, tasty mixture.

Pour into cups, add a fun straw and watch your kids (and yourself!) slurp down a delicious treat that is oh, so very good for them!

We drink these for breakfast or a mid-morning snack, but they would also be a great dessert. Just don’t let your kids see you making them… or your husband, for that matter! It will be our little secret!

Why frozen fruit?  Because it makes it more like a milk shake, something that kids love.  It also makes it easier to get everything to blend up well.  We pick a lot of fruit throughout the Summer, and I try to freeze at least some of it to enjoy during the colder months… of which most are here in Washington!

Tags: green smoothie, smoothie

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008 at 12:58 pm and is filed under Healthy Living, Kid-Friendly, beverages, vegeterian. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.