Our Basic Green Smoothie

I didn't think to take a picture till about 15 minutes after I had made the smoothie. 

It must have been good :)

In our house, there is a basic green smoothie that all others are made from. Green grapes are a must. After that, the rest is up for grabs.

Ingredients in this mornings smoothie:

1 Banana
2 c green grapes (frozen or fresh or a mix of both)
2 small honeycrisp apples
1/2 pear (freeze the other half to use in a future smoothie)
1 c frozen yellow squash
5-6 large swish chard leaves (no stems)
1/2c dandelion leaves (from our back yard)
1 tbsp chia seeds (it was a heaping tablespoon)
1 tsp Vitamin C powder
5 drops Liquid Vitamin D
Filtered Water as needed.
2 Probiotic capsules per serving (added to the individual glasses)

For the water, I usually just fill a mason jar and keep it close by.  I put 1/2c to 1c in to start, depending on how many frozen items there are in the smoothie. The more frozen items, the more water I tend to use.

Once the smoothies were poured into individual glasses, I added the powder from two probiotic capsules to each glass. This is the only supplement I do that with. For whatever reason, the probiotics are the only ones I feel that I need to know exactly how much we each are getting. The other supplements (the vitamins and minerals) I know we will get in other foods throughout the day.

The straw really makes a difference. Emma is able to sip as she plays, making a smoothie for breakfast very convenient for those mornings when she is lost in her own world.

Emma approved

Jared thought it was ok, but he was a good boy and drank his anyway. I've started giving him a bigger serving because he doesn't eat as well as Emma and I do throughout the day. He needs the extra nutritional boost that a green smoothies gives him.

Some other items that can go into a green smoothie:
kiwi
pineapple
avacado (usually just 1/2 unless making a lot a lot, then use the entire avacado-minus the pit and skin)
honeydew
spinach
romaine lettuce

Basically if it's green or yellow, it will work. I have found that adding in foods that are different colors will result in a brown smoothie. Still tasty, but not as visually pleasing.

A great resource for making smoothies. Gives a nice formula for how to actually build a good smoothie.

I promise to actually post something more Emma related soon.