Smoothies!

I'm a big fan of smoothies.  I can put just about anything in there and my kids will drink it up.  Ever since my boys were old enough to eat all the lovely fruit and yogurt I normally put into my fruit smoothies, they've been loving to drink 'em down.  And, since I have one really picky eater, I can hide some wonderful fruits and ground flax in there and no one will even know!

I've heard about green smoothies recently, and have been intrigued.  I was a little nervous, I heard there was kale or spinach in there or something and I was unsure how that would taste in a smoothie.  So, I put it off until recently, my favorite vegan cookbook author talked about green smoothies on her blog.  She included some recipes, so I knew I couldn't wait any longer, I needed to try making a green smoothie.

What I like best about these smoothies is it's only fruit and veggies.  There's no added juice or yogurt (even soy yogurt) so you don't have the added calories there.  And, of course you get the benefits of the greens you add.

So, my first green smoothie consisted of this:

     ::  about 1-1 1/2 cups of kale (you can try spinach or swiss chard, but I felt like jumping right into the deep end...plus, I heard that kale has a larger amount of calcium and iron which I liked)

     ::  1 cup of frozen mango

     ::  1/2 cup of frozen pineapple

     ::  1 banana

     ::  1/2 apple, cored and cut into chunks

     ::  1/2 pear, cored and cut into chunks (I just happened to have half and apple and pear lying around the kitchen, so that's what I added, you can add one whole apple or pear, whichever you prefer)

     ::  1 Tbs hemp seed

     ::  a few ice cubes to make it nice and chilly (you want it to be nice and cold, so adding frozen fruit is a definite plus, but add ice to make it frosty if your fruit is not frozen)

Blend it like you mean it.  You don't want any pieces or strings of kale floating around.  I have a crummy blender, so I had to stop many times (like 10) and push everything down with a spoon.  Just make sure you stop your blender before you do that!  Then, I let it run and run until I felt like it was nice and smooth.  I added a bit of water too, to get it moving better, because I was having some troubles.

Do you see someone eyeing it up in the background?  Yep, that's my boy!  He couldn't wait to get his own cup full of green deliciousness.

He just didn't like that it got into his nose.

You seriously can't taste the kale at all.  Some of my versions had a nice, fresh smell to it, which reminded me of something that came straight from the garden.  And, a couple of times I may not have blended it long enough.  But, I'm used to having raspberry or blackberry seeds in my fruit smoothies and so I wasn't bothered by the stray hemp seed that got through.

You can add berries too, but I guess it turns it to a very unappealing gray/brown color.  If that doesn't bother you, go right ahead!  I have made another version that swapped the mango for honeydew and substituted 1 orange for the pineapple.  I added half an avocado too.  That wasn't my favorite blend.  I prefer the sweet varieties myself.  I bought some frozen peaches today, so I'm trying that with the pineapple tomorrow.

Let me know if anyone has ever had one before, or if you try one let me know how you like it.

Oh, and if you're a frequent reader, please become a "follower" (ahem...Mom and Adam...).  I'm curious who all reads.

Happy blending!!