A (Green) Smoothie a Day…
I love smoothies. I mean, really, what’s not to love? A combination of blended fruit, yogurt and juice? Yum! Last week, I bought a bag of spinach to make a specific dinner, which I then did not make. So in an effort to use the spinach before it spoiled, I decided to make smoothies.
The first one I made was a blend of frozen bananas*, frozen blueberries, orange juice, spinach and strawberry yogurt. It came out a lovely purple color and was absolutely delicious! My only disappointment was that we didn’t finish it before it oxidized and turned ugly and brown.
The next day I realized I was out of blueberries, so the ingredients were the same, except I substituted an apple (peeled and chopped). This one didn’t have anything to mask the color of the spinach. Luckily, my son doesn’t discriminate and happily sucked the smoothie down. His father wrinkled his nose and said, “What’s in it?” But then admitted it was delicious after trying it.
I’m not really one to use organized recipes for smoothies, so the following amounts are approximations and can be adapted/changed according to taste.
Green Smoothie Recipe:
- A cup or two of spinach (A handful or two will do)
- One medium sized apple, cored, peeled and roughly chopped
- About ½ cup to a cup of some kind of juice (I used two different kinds of OJ and they were equally tasty each time)
- A frozen banana (sliced or at least halved…do that before freezing)
- Your favorite kind of yogurt (About a ¼ to ½ cup)
Throw all that in the blender and puree until smooth. It will blend nicely if you put the spinach and juice in first so that the blades of the blender don’t get stuck on the frozen stuff. Like I said, make any adaptations you want; for example, frozen strawberries instead of an apple would be wonderful.
This is a really great way to up your intake of leafy greens, something that is important for everyone, but especially for pregnant women as leafy greens are chock full of vitamins and nutrients that you and your baby need.
Here are some other benefits of green smoothies that should be appealing to anyone.
Incorporating Green Smoothies in your diet is an easy, delicious way to boost up your health and a great way to stay fueled through out the day. And because they are high in fiber, your body stays regular (if you know what I mean). Green smoothies are known to resolve a lot of digestive problems. And with a proper diet, can help you stay lean.
At any given time, I have a freezer full of half bananas because my son eats half a banana and decides he’s done. So I cut off the eaten part and throw it in the freezer for smoothies. They also work well for banana bread.
