We often drive to wherever our summer assignment takes us. With our upcoming move to Puerto Rico, we decided to fly out to Colorado this year. Our Vitamix goes with us whenever we drive, but this summer, we left it at home. I thought of putting it in my carry on. I knew I would miss it since we drink smoothies almost daily at home. A few nights ago, I actually had a dream about a Vitamix. Clearly I have issues…
Let’s talk about green smoothies. Have you jumped on board with them? I was hesitant at first. I figured there was no way my kids would drink a smoothie that was no longer pink, but green. Or even worse, brown, since berries plus greens make an ugly color. But then five years ago, Costco had Vitamix in town. They were sampling tortilla soup and green “ice cream”. My kids LOVED them both. So we bought the Vitamix, began experimenting with green smoothies, and the rest is history.
A friend referred me to the girls over at Simple Green Smoothies, and there are some amazingly delicious green smoothies over there. They recommend starting with this Beginner’s Luck Smoothie. It’s perfectly sweet, the color is beautiful, and it has spinach, which you truly can’t taste (unless you start getting super generous as you throw it in).
We make a lot of different smoothies (here’s a non-green smoothie) usually with greens to help the kids get them in their diets. It had been a while since I had made this recipe, and when I made it for these photos, everyone was over the top about how good it was.
I always use frozen mango and pineapple (frozen fruit ensures you don’t need to use ice). Or you could use frozen banana. When we have overripe bananas, we peel them, flash freeze them on a plate, and then bag them up and keep them in the freezer for smoothies. I usually use fresh bananas for this recipe.
Beginner's Luck Green Smoothie
Ingredients
- 2 cups spinach
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup chopped frozen mango
- 1 cup chopped frozen pineapple
- 2 ripe bananas (fresh or frozen)
Instructions
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Blend the spinach and water until smooth.
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Add the mango, pineapple, and bananas and blend again until smooth and creamy.
Notes
Source: Simple Green Smoothies
First, I made your Fruit Pizza last week when we had Nicholas, Joanna Sam and Livi over. We all loved it – I confess I used the shortcuts, and used chocolate chip cookie dough instead of sugar cookie dough. It was yummy!
Second – this may seem like a silly question – but WHEN do you drink smoothies? Are they in place of a meal or a part of a meal, or…??
Third – I’ve been meaning to reply to your email about Puerto Rico – I’m still going to! For now – WOW!!!!! And I’m praying for each of you!
-Wendy