Greener Food

One of my goals (and I have many) is to get my family eating healthier. That includes more greens. We aren't bad eaters. We do eat good food, but we also eat a lot of snacks. Some weeks more than others. The boys will eat some vegetables but each one likes different things so some nights one will have a feast and the other will have a famine. At least with the vegetable portion.

I had read about a year ago about 'green smoothies' and while they sounded fascinating, I just couldn't imagine being able to afford getting all that organic produce. I do buy some things organic when I can, but whatever anyone may say, it's expensive around here. My garden doesn't yet produce what I'd like so that's still not an option. I'm working on it little by little but for now, I don't have all organic fresh greens growing whenever I need them.


I went ahead and tried the green smoothie and you know what? It's good!!! I buy organic when I can but don't stress over it (and please don't leave a discouraging post about how bad it is to use produce that isn't organic!). I have made smoothies three different days. If you don't believe me when I say it's good then you should look at the photos below.



They both love it! How great is that?!?

Here's our favorite recipe so far:

2 Handfuls of Kale and at least one cupful of water --Put in blender and get the greens broken down. (If you have a fancy blender ie Vitamix, you don't have to do the extra step.)
Add in:
One banana
One cup frozen mango
One cup pineapple
Ice to taste

Pour and enjoy!!! I like to use the fancy wine or cordial glasses to make it an extra special treat. It's also something the boys think is extra special. They aren't normally allowed to use those glasses.

This is a great way to get some extra fruits and veggies into your diet and your kids diet. The really green color is almost half the fun! So much food aimed at children has that bright color from unnatural sources. This is bright, green, sweet goodness! There are about a bazillion different recipes to use in this. You can even check YouTube for green smoothies. Find a combination you like but make sure to change it up now and then. I'd like to find a way to get berries into our smoothie without it turning a gross brown color. There's a trick to it I'm sure. This week I hope to try it again using spinach. I had read you can use frozen spinach but I wouldn't recommend it. You can definitely taste the difference. (Ew.)

Right now our frequency isn't the greatest. One per week. However, once the weather gets warmer this should be a perfect cool treat to combat the heat. You could even turn it into popsicles I guess if you wanted to. Wouldn't that be a riot?!? Pull one out and surprise your kids' friends that are visiting. LOL

Happy green goodness everyone!