Category Archives: Beverages

Kid Friendly Green Smoothie

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This is one of my toddler’s favorite Green Smoothies! Perfect for those days when it seems like your kids hate your cooking and won’t eat anything but snacks and air (it seems!). We like this one too, the peanut butter addition is good! I like to add a scoop of protein powder to this for my breakfast – I like Vega Whole Food Optimizer or Ultimate Meal powder. I make this in my Vitamix, best blender for Green Smoothies! I get most of my smoothie ingredients from my CSA box, delivered weekly from Abundant Harvest Organics and Squeeze Play Organics!

Kid Friendly Green Smoothie

  • 2 ripe bananas – can use frozen
  • 1/2 organic apple, core removed – granny smith is good, gala and fuji too (I get THE BEST apples from my CSA!!)
  • 1 pear, seeds removed (CSA Delivery favorite!)
  • 2 dates, pits removed (Halawy are my favorite!)
  • 1 heaping teaspoon of peanut butter
  • 1 small cucumber
  • 1 or 2 handfuls of fresh spinach (extra here, again from my CSA!)
  • 1 large leaf of dinosaur kale (without thick stem)
  • 1/2 cup of almond milk, hemp milk, coconut milk or soy milk
  • 1/2 cup of orange juice (or just add an extra orange)
  • Optional but really good – mint leaves, ginger, celery
  • Blend & Enjoy!

Learning how to use a straw cup

I let her lick the peanut butter spoon... as you can see!!

The BEST Green Smoothie

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My CSA goodie box (from Abundant Organics) arrived this morning so I decided to make up a new green smoothie recipe. I threw this together and it turned out to be super delicious! Both my hubby and toddler slurped one down and asked for another, we may need to run to Sprouts for more greens!

I’ve been going back and forth from juicing to blending because I can’t decide which one I like better. A VitaMix blender really makes the difference when it comes to blending, most (if not all) other regular blenders don’t hold a candle to the VitaMix! Costco has the best price I’ve ever seen so if you’re looking to buy one, check it out!

So here’s my BEST Green Smoothie Recipe

* 1 orange, peeled

* 1 frozen banana

* 1 bunch chard

* 1-2 stalks of mint (stems, stalks… whatever you want to call them – about a handful of fresh mint)

* A 1.5″ by 0.5″ chunk of fresh ginger

* 1 small gala apple, remove seeds

* 1 cup vanilla, unsweetened coconut milk (I suppose you could use any kind of milk but this one is tasty!)

* Stevia – I used my favorite Kal Stevia, 2 tiny scoops

Blend all together and drink! YUMMY!!

*UPDATE*

I made this smoothie again today – I used parsley and cucumber instead of chard (just realized I’m out!) and it was really good too!!

Hey There Sweet Stuff!

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We usually have some sort of iced tea ready in our fridge at all times. My Dad gave me this special loose-leaf green tea from his acupuncturist, I cold brew that one in the fridge. I also make batches of green tea/lemon zinger in my Iced Tea Maker. We both love our iced tea but can’t drink it without sweetener. I hate all that weird chemical sugar and I feel like I have to dump so much regular sugar in to get it to where I want it to be, same with my hubby.

Have you heard of Stevia? It’s an all natural sweetener (actually it’s an herb) that’s like 200-300 times sweeter than actual sugar with zero chemicals and ZERO CALORIES. Stevia is made from a plant and it’s simply awesome!

Stevia is an all-natural herbal product with centuries of safe usage by native Indians in Paraguay. It has been thoroughly tested in dozens of tests around the world and found to be completely non-toxic. It has also been consumed safely in massive quantities for the past twenty years.

I recently purchased this Kal brand Pure Stevia Extract and I’m in love! You can even cook with it! I’ve added it to coffee, tea, oatmeal, breakfast quinoa, Skinny Girl Margaritas (sorry, they aren’t very good without it!) and I’ve even tried baking with it… it’s awesome!

Kal brand Pure Stevia Extract

It’s $18.82/free shipping for 3.5 ozs on Amazon – which sounds expensive but this bottle has about 3500 serving in it! The scoop inside is so tiny and if you use any more than that little scoop its way too sweet.

Tiny Scoop!

There’s NO unpleasant aftertaste and NO CALORIES!! It also won’t raise your blood sugar!

I LOVE my new juicer!

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I absolutely love my new juicer!

My first batch of juice was a carrot, kale, pear, apple and ginger blend… it was so good! I fed the pulp to my dogs, they enjoyed it as well. I plan on using the pulp in soups and stews in the future as not to waste anything.

This beauty is the Hamilton Beach 67650 Big Mouth Pro Juice Extractor.

This juicer is the top rated best buy on Consumer Reports and at $68.54/free shipping on Amazon, it’s a great deal! I can’t wait to juice everything else in my refrigerator…

Hamilton Beach 67650 Big Mouth Pro Juice Extractor

Breakfast To Go

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The makings of a fast breakfast

In order for me to get my two kids out of the house early enough to walk/run to Stroller Strides (exercise class with your stroller) I have to eat fast. I have to eat something that will stick with me because I won’t get another chance to eat again for awhile.

I rotate protein powders/meal replacements because I can’t have the same thing every day.

Right now I’m about halfway through this Vega Complete Whole Food Health Optimizer – a little on the expensive side but it averages out to be about $3.00 a meal so that’s okay. The taste is a little earthy so I mix it with vanilla almond milk, frozen berries, banana and a little stevia powder (Kal brand is the best!). Sometimes I add greens (kale, collards, chard) if they are wilting in the fridge, sometimes a carrot or celery. Add a little flaxseed oil and chia seeds (think cha-cha-cha- chia!) and presto… I’m full until lunch! Plus I am getting about 30-35 grams of protein and 21 grams of fiber.

Most people do not get enough fiber – you generally need between 35-45 grams per day. Chia seeds are very high in fiber and an excellent source of calcium, iron and magnesium. Almond milk has almost half of the calcium you need on one day in one serving plus it tastes so good!