Green Smoothie Recipes

I thought I'd post a few our family-favorites! You may need to add less greens in the beginning (especially for the kiddos) and more fruit, but as you do this more and more, they will be able to drink more greens and like them! I sometimes sweeten their smoothies with a little agave nectar or raw honey. However, that's not really necessary if you use very ripe fruits. I hit the sales on super ripe bananas or day-old strawberries and freeze them in large batches. Frozen grapes are really good for smoothies too.

Smoothie #1

• 3 bananas
  
• 1 cup of papaya
  
• 4 big handfuls of baby spinach
  
• 2 cups of water
  

Smoothie #2 (similar to #1, but very still a hit)

• 3 bananas
  
• 3 huge handfuls of baby spinach
  
• 2 cups of water
  

Smoothie #3

• 2 bananas
  
• 6-7 strawberries
  
• juice from 2 oranges
  
• 2 handfuls of romaine
  
• 1 cup of water
  

Smoothie #4

• Half a head of green leaf lettuce
  
• 2 bananas
  
• juice from 2 tangelos
  
• 1/2 a bag of frozen mangoes
  
• 1 pear
  
• 1 cup of water
  

Smoothie #5

• 6 ounces of orange juice
  
• 1 cup of pineapple
  
• 1/2 cup of coconut milk (this is the best if you get a Thai coconut and use the water and meat, but the canned stuff works too)
  
• 2 handfuls of romaine
  

Smoothie #6

• 1 stalk of celery
  
• 2 cups of blueberries
  
• 1 banana
  
• 2 cups of water
  

Smoothie #7

• 6 to 7 romaine leaves
  
• 1 cup of red grapes
  
• 1 medium orange (peeled, but whole, not juiced)
  
• 1 banana
  
• 2 cups of water
  

Smoothie #8

• 2 large grapefruits- juiced
  
• 6-7 frozen strawberries
  
• 1 cup of peaches
  
• 2 handfuls of lettuce
  

Smoothie #9

• 4 ripe pears
  
• 4-5 kale leaves
  
• 1/2 bunch of mint
  
• 2 cups of water
  
• (I would add sweetener on this one!)
  

Smoothie #10

• 2 bananas
  
• 2 large collard or chard leaves
  
• 1/2 pack of Trader Joes frozen "Mangolicious" blend (has frozen mango, raspberries, and blueberries in it)
  
• 1-2 cups of water or orange juice
  

**You can substitute water with any juice you like. The amount you put in depends upon the consistency you like. My kids like it thick like ice cream...I like it almost as thin as juice.

The possibilities are endless really. You can add greens to any of your usual smoothie favorites. It will change the color, but if you do it in a small amount, it shouldn't take away from the flavor much. You can substitute in these recipes for any greens you like. The greens we use the most are kale, collard greens, chard, spinach, romaine, and bok choy. I try to use the dark leafy greens that my kids won't eat on their own, cooked or otherwise. I sometimes also add ground flax or nuts/nut butter for added protein. Most of these recipes will yield a quart of green smoothies (32 oz). Hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

Holli W.