Pink Smoothies

These were delicious!  

I changed the original recipe a bit ... mainly I didn't add celery ... eww!  

Here's what I did ...

  

1.5 cup water or coconut water (I used water)
1/2 a medium avocado, pitted

1 cup frozen strawberries
1/2 a medium raw beet, chopped 1/2 a lemon, juiced
1 tablespoon coconut oil
a handful of ice cubes
1 sweet apple cored and roughly chopped

Throw all ingredients into blender.  Blend.  I started with one cup of water and then added the other 1/2 cup as necessary to keep the blender moving ...

best green smoothie

:::EDITED:::

(edits highlighted in orange)

I just made the most perfect green smoothie combination today! I was getting burnt out on bananas and berries.
Here's what I added:

• 2 navel oranges peeled
  (Found that tangelos are particularly yummy and SO juicy!)
• 1 cup frozen pineapple
• 1/4 cup organic unsweetened coconut
Better yet...A splash of coconut milk! YUMMY and not gritty like the dried coconut flakes!
• a bit of organic agave nectar
• approx. 1/2 cup filtered water
• 6-8 ice cubes

Blend all of the above ingredients very well before adding greens.
Add to mixture:

• approx. 4 cups organic baby spinach

Blend, blend, blend...no chunky smoothies here!

DELICIOUS!!!
I gave My Girl a bit today, and she asked for MORE! So yummy!

Not For Beginners ...

I made this green smoothie this morning. I was just adding as I went and tasting. I got to this very green stage, had a taste and was surprised by the fact that I LOVED IT ! But, it was VERY GREEN tasting and probably not good for a beginner green smoothier !! I know I wouldn't have liked these a few months ago ... But easing into it with fruitier ones has gotten me here !!

I'm at the end of the week ... need to shop today or tomorrow,
so I pretty much just dug through the fridge and did a big cleanout into the blender !



I used ... a very little bit of mango off the seed that was (oddly) leftover.
One peach.
One nectarine.
A spoonful of homemade peanut/cashew butter.
and a lot of snow pea sprouts !



I blended that up and then added all of the baby spinach I had left in the fridge.
Added about 1/2 a cup of water and whizzed it up again !
DONE !



I poured my glass, then added a cup of frozen blueberries to the remaining mixture, whiz whiz whiz and we're done ... kid approved green smoothies !!



Yum Yum !

Green Smoothie ~ Day Nine ~ Bonnie

This one was delicious.
Might be my favorite one yet ...

One frozen banana
strawberries picked out of our garden
frozen cherries
one whole orange
home made greek yogurt
water
acai berry power
heaps and heaps of spinach

Green Smoothie ~ Day Eight ~ Bonnie

if you are paying attention, you will notice that i skipped from day five to day eight
smoothies on the weekend didn't work
no biggie

this smoothie was nice

not my favorite one yet but nice

here's what i put in it :

one frozen banana
one whole orange
frozen raspberries
fresh strawberries
one whole tomato
water
acai berry power
greek yogurt
a heap of spinach
agave nectar

Green Smoothie ~ Day Four ~ Bonnie

Today's was the greenest yet.
The kids think it was the best tasting one so far.
I agree, they just keep getting better !!

Here's what was in it :

One frozen banana
Two big chunks of watermelon
Handful frozen raspberries
One whole tomato
Couple spoonfuls homemade Greek yogurt
Teaspoon berry power
Agave Nectar
Water
As much spinach as I could fit !!

Green Smoothie ~ Day Three ~ Bonnie

Call me crazy, plenty of people do it regularly, but I just can't help but photograph my green smoothies in the garden. I don't know why but it just seems like an appropriate place !

Today's smoothie was the best one yet ... and the kids agree !

Maybe it was the homegrown strawberries ...

Here's what it had in it.

One frozen banana.
Leftover fruit salad that I threw in the freezer last night.
One tomato.
Fresh strawberries ... picked from our garden this morning !
Bok choy ... also picked from our garden this morning !!
A chunk of watermelon.
Agave nectar.
Probably 2 cups of spinach ... that's all I had left ! Bought more today !
and a couple heaped spoon fulls of homemade Greek yogurt.

oh yeah, water too. They always have water in 'em !

I blended it heaps more than the previous days.
I think that is why it is finally
GREEN !!

Green Smoothie ~ Day Two ~ Bonnie

Moving more towards green. Yesterday was pink. Today, we're more of a brown ...
Maybe tomorrow I'll finally get a green one ??

Although, after reading Khrista's post, I'm thinking maybe I need to blend longer.

Here's what I put in today's ...

One banana
handful frozen blueberries
half handful frozen raspberries
5 big fresh strawberries
1 whole roma tomato
agave nectar
and two or three cups of baby spinach

It was yum, and no, you can't taste the tomato ...

Green Smoothie - Day One - Khrista

My artsy portrait of Day One's green smoothie. :)

Stage 1: 5 oz. frozen strawberries, 2 frozen bananas, 2 clementines (peeled), 1 1/4 cups filtered water.

Stage 2: Fruit blended for approx. 3 minutes, agave nectar, and 4 cups organic baby spinach waiting.

Stage 3: In they go!

So pretty!

Stage 4: Blended for at least 3 more minutes.
In the end it made approx. 4 cups.
3 of which I drank, and my daughter drank the remaining cup.
Ready to pour...

My beautiful glass that I sipped on for about an hour. Held me over until lunch.

This was my lunch:

Fresh green salad with cucumber, grape tomatoes, diced fennel, sliced almonds, and crispy chow mein noodles. I know they aren't the best for you (I haven't actually checked the ingredients as this was in an unmarked baggy from a previous salad, I wonder if they are terribly awful?)
Neither was the Asian dressing I topped it off with.
Baby steps. :)

On the menu for dinner:
Equadorian Quinoa Vegetable Soup

My First Green Smoothie ...

.... was so NOT green !!!

I'm not sure why ... I had lots of spinach in it. All picked from our garden, I might add ...

We'll see how today's goes !

Here's what I put in the NOT green smoothie ...

1 frozen banana
handful frozen blueberries
handful frozen raspberries
a squeeze of agave nectar
a bit of vanilla
a couple scoops of the fruit salad I had in the fridge
(it contains rockmelon, strawberries, blueberries and kiwi fruit)
a cup or a bit more of water
and then the spinach

It was yum.
A bit tart though.
I'll use less raspberries next time ...

{30 days green}

I happened to see a link to this on Khrista's facebook today. It starts tomorrow and I am TOTALLY in !! And just in case you are wondering, the green in this challenge has nothing to do with global warming and everything to do with spinach !! I have been wanting to get back into my morning smoothie routine and since I love a challenge, this is just what I needed to kick my behind into gear ! Some of you may want to join me, and Khrista, who is also going to do the challenge. Here's what you have to do. I'm copying and pasting from the Happy Foody ...

"Last year I launched the Happy Foody 30 Day Green Smoothie Challenge…it was a huge success and helped many people change their eating habits. SO…we’re going to do it AGAIN! It’s the perfect time to kick start a healthier you…summer is coming to a close soon and fall upon us. Seasons are changing…and you can change too! Adding a green smoothie to your day is the BEST thing you can do to get on the path to a healthier you. When you drink a big green smoothie in the morning, it fills your body’s need for those vital nutrients to function throughout the day. You will slowly STOP CRAVING junk food. It’s like magic!

We will begin on August 17 and end on September 17. Here is what you are committing to:

• Drink at least 16 oz. of green smoothie per day (a quart would be even better!)
• Do some sort of activity every day. This could be an intense workout, or just dancing with your kids around the living room. It could be a 15 minute yoga session or a walk around the block.
• Add a green leafy salad to your lunch or supper (with light dressing…stay away from the creamier sauces).
• Stop drinking pop.
• Cut out all white sugar.

So who is in?! Leave a comment below with your intention and watch your life change. Feel free to grab the little icon from above and link it back to this post. Tell your friends. Tell your co-workers. Tell your family. Get yourself a green smoothie buddy. Can’t wait to hear your stories!

Be sure to join our Facebook group here for additional motivation and inspiration."

I am going to go for the quart a day smoothie to start my morning. I'm going to walk 30 minutes a day while the kids play at the park. I love salads ... the greener and leafier the better so bring it on !! I don't drink pop so no prob. Cutting out white sugar will be my biggest challenge ...

I hope to share some great smoothie combos as I'll be totally making it up. I did my shopping today and THEN read about this. Since tomorrow is the starting day, I'm going to have a be extra creative for the first week !!

PS ... If you don't know what a green smoothie is or how to make one ... check out this great video by the Happy Foody !

Bonnie's Breakfast Smoothie

I started making this smoothie using the Magical Breakfast Blaster recipe that I saw on Oprah, way back when I had the time to watch TV !
~

I have modified it quite a bit though so here is my recipe ... you can modify it to suit your tastes and nutritional requirements !

~

Ingredients:

1 banana

a handful of frozen blueberries

soy milk ( maybe 1 cup ?)

a handful of ice

cinnamon ( to taste, I probably use a tsp or a little bit more)

vanilla ( again, to taste, I probably use 1/2 tsp ?)

pyllium husk ( I use a dinner spoon full)

flaxseed (linseed) meal (1 tbls)

a handful of fresh baby spinach leaves

sometimes I add about 1/4 cup of fruit juice for a different flavor but not usually

Throw it all in the blender together. It will look something like this !

~

Blend. Pour into a glass and drink.
I love this ! For many reasons. Let me tell you them!

1. I can take it with me. Often, I make it, put it in a take away coffee mug with a lid and a straw and drink it on the way to dropping Jono at school. This keeps me from skipping breakfast ... something of which I have been a lifetime ( after my mom stopped making my breakfast ! ) offender.

2. It is nutritious ! Two serves of fruit. Blueberries are full of antioxidants ! Psyllium for fiber. Flaxseed for my Omega 3 and 6. Cinnamon is an anti-inflammatory. Spinach ...well, it's one of the foods you should eat heaps of and I get it every day at least once when I'm making these smoothies. Soy Milk for protein. And Banana ... I don't know what's good in a banana but I do know that I LOVE THE FLAVOR !!!! Potassium ... they have potassium, right ?

3. The kids love it. I often double the recipe so they can have a glass too !

4. It can be modified to suit tastes or nutritional requirements. Rory doesn't like the psyllium or flax in his. Says they are too earthy. The flax will thicken it so make sure if you are putting flaxseed meal in it that you drink it straight away. Don't let it sit for 30 minutes like Rory did !

Give it a try ... I'd love to know what you think. Of course, many of you are just coming into winter but here in Australia we've just passed the first day of SUMMER !! Smoothie season !!