They're not so green if you add strawberries!
They’re a great way to get green veggies in your diet without having limp spinach leaves on your plate and wondering how you’ll convince your kids (and husband?) to consume them.
Green Smoothie Basics
- Put some greens (kale, spinach, avocado, cucumber, lettuce, etc) in the blender.
- Blend with milk and yogurt until smooth.
- Add fruit.
- Blend again.
- Yum!
A few handfuls - this happens to be spinach.
The green-ness!
You don't have to be picky when you freeze strawberries for smoothies - I even left the greens on these!
I tried these with kale the first time, and they were very well received…other than my son getting his sister’s throw-up bug and depositing “used” green smoothie on my living room carpet. It’s unfortunate that my memory of my first “green smoothie” experience will always be tainted!
Cooked Smoothies? Yuck!
In researching nutrition information about vegetables, however, I learned that there are some foods that are better eaten lightly cooked than raw, kale and spinach being among them. (See here for more.) “What about the green smoothies?” I thought. I couldn’t imagine cooking the spinach first…way too much work for what was a great-vegetable-eating-yummy-trick.
The baby food cubes are the answer to the problem. Just lightly steam a big batch of greens, blend up with a bit of water, and freeze in cubes. You can have a whole bag of green cubes ready to go into any smoothie, and with the nutrition of cooked greens to boot.
Timesaver: Use the same steamer basket you just cooked veggies for dinner in. Also, you can leave a bit in the bottom of the blender, add milk and yogurt, and have green smoothies for dessert that night, so you’re not doing extra dishes with the blender just for the cubes. I promise it doesn’t taste like you put cooked spinach in there!
Added bonus: the more frozen things go into the smoothie, the more like a “dessert” it really is!
Our Best Green Smoothies…
Perfect for our family of three:
- 3-5 cubes cooked, blended and frozen greens
- 1 cup milk
- ½-3/4 cups plain yogurt
Blend thoroughly. Add:
- 1 frozen banana (this is the key ingredient according to my guys!)
- about a cup of frozen strawberries, peaches or combination
- You can also add fresh fruit: we’ve done whole peaches, pears, and melon slices.
- Add honey or sugar if necessary – but taste it first. Sometimes you really don’t need the sweetener!
Frugal Note: Check your regular stores for prices on kale. I don’t know why, but the store that usually has higher prices in my area sells kale for 99 cents a pound, which is about 60 cents a bunch, but my primary store with the lowest prices sells it for $1.50 a bunch. !! It pays to check when you’re buying something new-to-you that might not be in the regular sale rotation!
Sadness announcement: I broke my blender this week making a green smoothie! We LOVED our blender until this point, so this is really a point of mourning in our family. We won’t be having smoothies at all until we figure out what to do about the ol’ blender…and I’m stuck with 10 frozen bananas waiting and taking up space in my freezer!
Other Green Smoothie links:
- I learned from Lindsay at Passionate Homemaking.
- Sarah gets credit for the kale cubes inspiration.
- Stephanie adds peanut butter!
A blog all about kale!
Other Recipe Connections:
- Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes
- Potato Salad with the Kids
- Homemade Refried Beans
- The Best Scrambled Eggs Ever
- Happy Uses for Tomatoes
Hungry for more? Related posts:
Katie, I’m so sorry tp hear about your loss. Cheer up. It’s gargae sale season!
[Reply to this comment]
What kind of blender are you looking at getting? I broke my blender, borrowed my mom’s and broke hers too. Apparently I’m really hard on blenders, and am looking for recommendations for a long-lasting one!
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Katie Reply:
May 8th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
I’ve heard good things about the Vita Mix, and there’s another one highly recommended by Green Smoothie Girl here: http://www.greensmoothiegirl.com/best-blender.html I’m first wondering if we can fix ours, but if I end up with a new one, I’ll post about it!
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Gotta love a green smoothie!
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Thanks for the info about cooking the kale first and making the cubes. I had been adding in raw greens to my smoothies. I’ll have to make up some kale cubes this weekend!
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Twitter: sarahsmusings
// May 12, 2009 at 6:56 pm
Thanks for the link! I’m just now catching up on blog-reading (and re-subscribing to certain blogs, ahem
after the baby, and enjoying your posts as always!
Best,
Sarah
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
May 12th, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Yay, Sarah! I hope all is well with new baby!
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