{Guest Post} Eat: The Green Smoothie

Today's guest post comes from my super good friend, Jessica Lagomarcino. Jessica lives in Louisville with her hubby, Lee, and they have a bun in the oven that should be making her appearance in a short couple months. Jess is also a gifted photographer (which will be evident from the great photos in the post, because, really, how many people can make a blender full of fruit and spinach beautiful?) and you really must check out her work at her blog. 

I recently celebrated my birthday with a weekend trip to her house, and this is where I first experienced these smoothies. They are del-ic-ious. With St. Patrick's Day right around the corner, what better time to make them than now? This is a recipe that you will want to keep around long after this weekend though. Enjoy! 

I remember hearing about these "green smoothies" a year or two ago and thinking "heck, no!-- those must be for the die-hard, raw food, way-better-than-me-nutrionally type person". And yet, here I sit, writing a blog about one of our new favorite breakfast treats, the green smoothie.

I've seen moms around the internet title this a "Green Monster smoothie," which I think would be especially exciting for little boys. And one thing I can promise: they will love the taste. This smoothie does NOT taste like drinking salad for breakfast! First: the cast of characters.

The great thing about this "recipe" is that there is no measuring required (that's how I love to cook!) and it is completely customizable. This is just how we make it, but feel free to substitute and experiment. You will need: frozen fruit, baby spinach, Kefir (a drinkable yogurt product), orange juice, and vanilla whey protein powder. This is one healthy snack! My husband attests to the probiotics in the Kefir and all the extra nutrition in the fruit and veggies to "powering him up" every day and really helping with his overall general health.

First step: add some frozen fruit to a blender. Any sort will do! The frozen-ness gives the smoothie the thick, ice cream like quality it has. I fill my blender about 1/4th full with fruit. Disclaimer: I have only tried to make this in my WaringPro commercially rated blender (which I LOVE). It works great in our blender, but you may need to do a bit more stirring and helping your blender if its not as strong.

Next comes the vanilla protein. I usually include 1/2-3/4 of a scoop. This adds some more sweetness, and of course, protein! (You may want to leave out this ingredient from your kids' smoothies; most pediatricians discourage extra protein in a child's diet for a variety of reasons).

Then I add the Kefir. I don't add very much of this, maybe 1/4 of a cup, simply because I don't really like yogurt and don't want to taste its flavor. Feel free to add more if you want!

Next comes the baby spinach. I add TONS of this. I promise, you don't even taste it, and it's so good for you! You can also use other types of greens such as regular spinach or kale, but they will also taste more "green." You can just pack in the baby spinach, or even add more once you've blended for a bit.

Then add some OJ. The more you add, the thinner your smoothie will be. I add maybe 1/3 of a cup to start, and then usually add some more later in the blending stage if my smoothie is too thick.

Next step, blend it up! I have to stop it a couple times and stick a spoon down in there to get the spinach down toward the blade.

I tend to blend mine until I get the 'whirlpool effect' that you see in the photo below on the right. That way you know everything is getting down to the blades and you won't have any stray pieces of spinach that you're chewing on :).

Next: pour and enjoy! Oh, and try to keep yours in the cup when pouring, unlike yours truly. It's harder than I thought to pour and take photos at the same time!

Voila! Hope you enjoy your green smoothie!

Thanks again for sharing this with us, my sweet friend!