After hearing about the fun things that Catherine and fellow twin-mama K put in their kids’ smoothies, I was determined to add them to our breakfast routine. So the girls and I assembled a vibrant army of ingredients on the counter and prepared to be amazed. That’s when I remembered that our blender glass was broken eons ago and we only had the forlorn bottom sitting solo in our cupboard. Doh!
Blah di blah... the girls had something else for breakfast and I set off for Target (you’ll never hear me complain about having to visit that lovely establishment). There were scads of blenders, but one was really calling my name. It was a slick little gizmo called the Ninja that has a “normal” blender cylinder as well as three blend-and-sip glasses that just screamed “smoothie.”
Oh yeah! After school we fired that baby up and it was divine.
We used yogurt, frozen berries, wheat germ, torn-up baby spinach leaves, and orange juice for these first smoothies. Delish! I love the fact that I can put spinach leaves in there and easily get in a serving of veggies without any taste at all. You basically put your ingredients in one of the cups, screw on the slicing lid, flip it over and blend. Then unscrew the slicing lid and put on one of the sipper lids instead. Repeat with another cup for another smoothie, and voila. Good to the last drop.
Slurpies, I mean smoothies, have now been added into our breakfast rotation. The girls have really been digging yogurt with granola on top and also fruit-and-cream oatmeal, so it’s good to have another a.m. smile-maker in house full of non-morning people.
So, does anyone else have any good ideas for smoothie ingredients? I know we can use milk instead of orange juice (well Lactaid, in the girls’ case), and different kinds of fruit (almost any kind will probably be enthusiastically accepted, although Ro and Ree are kind of anti-banana right now). I might just pop into JambaJuice to see what their menu board looks like!
Post 27 of 31 in Oct Daily Life
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Stock up on bags of frozen spinach and frozen berries at Trader Joes and use different flavors of yogurt.
ReplyDeleteI freeze leftover fruit/veg. juice, liquid from canned fruits, lemonade, etc. in an icecube tray. The cubes, placed in a bag in the freezer, are ready to pop into a smoothie quickly for flavor or thickening. (I found a tray on amazon that has a sliding, no spill top and drops the cubes easily.)
ReplyDeleteAdd-in suggestions: nuts, protein powder (egg), cocoa, peaches, apple, cherries, pineapple, cranberries, mango, pomegranate, raisins/craisins/dates/figs, m&ms.
Again, I keep a container of frozen bits of leftover fruit to pop into smoothies.
http://www.chopchopmag.org/
ReplyDeletehas smoothie recipes. Weelicious.com also has some great ideas.
Elaine
YAY!! Glad it was a success! We have used oatmeal (a half cup uncooked quick oats) with a 1/4 cup of peanut butter, some avocado (in place of the banana - gives the smooth consistency of a banana without the banana flavor)and flax for another yummy option. I've used kale and collard greens(instead of spinach). I've also added a bit of cocoa or chocolate almond milk to make an extra special chocolate smoothie. :)
ReplyDeleteAdding some Greek yogurt (although it may not be good for the girls' tummies if they are sensitive to lactose) gives a boost of protein.
I've been thinking about asking Santa for a Ninja. I'd love to hear more about what you use it for.
ReplyDeleteavocado! Makes it really creamy and yummy.
ReplyDeleteYou should see the horrid color of my DH's smoothies. He has one every. single. morning. He uses kale and chard. He adds hemp seeds. He adds spirulina. He's got it down to a science really, and somehow with all of the fruit it doesn't taste as horribly disgusting as it looks, and Linhsey drinks it! My smoothies tend to be pink and pretty. Oh, you could add any kind of nut butter or coconut oil too.
ReplyDeleteI never thought of adding spinach! I throw in bananas with our frozen fruit if I have them. I have a big jug of Jarrow's plant based protein powder, and I always throw in a couple of scoops. I use a food processor because my blender broke...now I know what I'm picking up at Target today!
ReplyDeletespiniach? seriously?? it adds NO flavor whatsoever? cuz i have some veggie phobes here and that would be great to sneak in some green stuff. and do you add in frozen fruit for thickness or just as is?
ReplyDeleteour blender is ancient- and that ninja is looking pretty cool!
Maybe try Almond Milk or Coconut Milk? They're pretty good and the vanilla flavour is kinda sweet - the girls might like it!
ReplyDeleteSpirulina powder
ReplyDeleteoats
cashew nuts
pine nuts
walnuts
LSA mix (linseed, sunflower, almond)
vanilla yoghurt
honey
maple sirup
Pat from New Zealand
Inspired by K and C, I broke out the blender after a bit of a break and smoothied our breakfast!
ReplyDeleteKeep smilin!
Mmmm...sitting here drinking my morning smoothie and grinning at your adorable smoothie moustashed girls!
ReplyDeleteI've taken to adding some rolled oats to ours based on K's suggestion and wowza...yummo!
Also, I freeze bananas and use them but not sure if they will work if your girls aren't lovin them right now. Could you sneak in a little bit? ;o)
I also use almond milk some days when I'm out of oj. It's a different taste that I enjoy at times but oj is still my go-to beverage.
Cheers to you friend!
when bananas come back into their favor....frozen banana, peanut butter, milk or milk substitute. YUM!
ReplyDeletefor the pumpkin lovers: pumpkin puree, vanilla yogurt, pumpkin pie spice, ice cubes....pumpkin pie in a glass!
My sister throws in silken tofu for protien and consistency--I keep forgetting to buy it so I haven't tried it. She says it is great
ReplyDeleteWe don't drink cow's milk here either (for health reasons) but we LOVE coconut milk and almond milk in our green monster smoothies. My Vitamix recipe book has a ton of great recipes too.
ReplyDeleteI put a scoop of protein powder (vegan brown rice) in mine after my workouts--SUPER energy boost all day long.
I have been a long time fan of this site: http://www.greensmoothiegirl.com/
ReplyDeleteI find that pineapple juice can hide the taste of any veggie!
Cheers!
I like to add kale or collards along with the spinach. I'll also mix up a batch and freeze it as popsicles. It makes me giddy thinking my 4 year old is eating greens and fruit for dessert!
ReplyDeleteI buy Costco's bag of frozen fruit. I normally make it for her when she comes home from school. I use yogurt, frozen fruit (no need for ice)and cranberry juice or grape juice. I'm going to try the spinach. For weekend breakfast we have an orange smoothie which is only orange juice, vanilla ice cream (you can add a little sugar if you want it more sweet) and it is so good. We don't have time for smoothies in the morning before school, it's too early for us.
ReplyDeleteBananas (frozen ripe ones are the best!), almond milk, oatmeal, mango or pineapple are BEST in smoothies with spinach!
ReplyDeleteWe use the OJ with calcium and vitamin D added to it.
ReplyDeleteJamie
I love almond milk in my smoothies.
ReplyDeleteMy DD loves fresh fruit, so we always have a ton of it. When it looks like it's about to go bad, I clean it, peel it (in the case of oranges, peaches and nectarines) and throw it into a big freezer bag for smooties. We use any kind of fruit - cantelope, watermelon, blueberries, strawberries, along with yogurt, milk and ice. It always makes too much, so I put the extra in a little plastic cup, cover and freeze for later. 20 seconds in the microwave and it's easy to chop into bite size pieces (or use the popsicle mold). Love our ninja!!
ReplyDelete