Green Monster Smoothies!

Maybe I am slow on the uptake, but I just heard about these! Apparently they are all the rage and have been making the rounds in the blogosphere. Well in case you are like me and you haven't heard--what exactly are Green Monster Smoothies? Green Monsters typically contain a leafy green like spinach and kale, some sort of fruit, a milk product (cow, soy, almond), and maybe some ice. I made one on Saturday with my eight-year-old cousin who had just gotten finished with three hours of gymnastics. I knew she needed a healthy lunch and I also thought she might get a kick out of making a Green Monster smoothie around Halloween. She helped me measure out the spinach, she peeled the banana, she added a small amount of blueberries and poured the milk in the blender. She was also happy to push the buttons on the blender and watch it go from salad to smoothies Then she happily drank one serving of vegetables and two servings of fruit! I was pretty impressed that she was willing to try to it considering spinach is not a typical smoothie ingredient. Since then, I have made my own batch of Green Monster smoothies. Below I will include the most basic recipe and then the one I made the other day.  The picture below is the smoothie I made with my cousin--it has two blueberry eyes and an apple mouth.

Basic Green Monster

2 cups of fresh spinach

1 1/4 cup of milk

1 ripe banana

ice if you want to add it

Put the spinach in the the blender first, followed by the banana and then pour the milk over it. Blend until you achieve the desired consistency.

Rachel's Green Monster (double batch)

4 cups of fresh spinach

2 cups of milk

6 oz of plain Greek yogurt

1 bag of Dole frozen strawberries, bananas and peaches (bag contains about 3 cups of fruit)

1 Tbs of ground flaxseeds

1 Tbs of honey

I used a food processor, which I actually prefer to a blender, but of course a blender works and is more inexpensive. I added the yogurt for creaminess some extra protein and some probiotics. I used frozen fruit because the bananas at the grocery store were still green and I also love strawberries and peaches.  The flaxseeds add some Omega-3s and fiber and the honey is for sweetness. I love this smoothies--it is such a great way to get your vegetable and fruit servings in plus iron, protein, Vitamin A, calcium and many more nutrients! I made a double batch (about 4-6 smoothies maybe), had one and froze the rest to drink throughout the week.