Green smoothies to the rescue!

Here’s a yummy, healthy recipe for the whole family to try.  It was inspired by a recipe in Kiwi magazine, but because one of their ingredients was tough to find out in our neck of the woods, I adapted it considerably. But, that recipe was a great find for me, because I would never have considered putting spinach in a smoothie, especially one meant for consumption by my offspring.

Happily, this tastes good! REALLY good! Both the boys love it and ask for it all the time (even my super-picky 4 year old). I think the name helps sell it; my 7 year old thinks it’s totally cool and believes fully in its super-power qualities.

While I think the vivid green color of this smoothie is cool and wild and a little rock-n-roll, if your kids hate all things green, you could use a different fruit in place of the mango, like strawberries or raspberries; they’ll make it more of a brick red color. Also, be sure to use nice, ripe bananas; they’ll sweeten it up considerably. You can use fresh fruit in place of the frozen, but if you do, use ice instead of water to make it cold and frosty.

I keep a bag of frozen mango chunks and a bag of frozen banana chunks on hand at all times for just this reason. They’re cheaper at the supermarket when they’re super-ripe, anyway, so buy a few bunches, peel them, break them into thirds, and put them on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Throw that into your freezer and freeze them until they’re firm, then transfer the banana pieces to a big freezer bag. This way, they won’t stick together in a big clump. They’ll keep in a storage bag for about six months, but I predict you’ll use them long before then, anyway.

These have become a standard part of breakfast for the school year; whenever I get my kids to eat spinach for breakfast, I feel like a totally virtuous mom for the rest of the day. Halo, anyone?

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Green superpowers smoothie

2 c. (packed) baby spinach
2 very ripe bananas, broken into thirds and frozen
1 heaping cup frozen mango chunks
1 c. cold water (or soy milk for a calcium boost)
1/2 c. orange juice
1 T. honey or agave syrup (or more or less, to taste)

Throw everything except the honey/agave into your blender and blend, baby, blend! You may have to stir things up a few times to get it nice and smooth. Taste and add honey/agave if needed and give it another quick blend, or serve if it’s already sweet enough. Enjoy!

Serves 4.