Green Smoothies

Many years ago I made my first green smoothie in my Vitamix.  I used a couple of handfuls of spinach, 1 1/2 cups of orange juice, one orange and some ice.  We loved it!!!  I don't really enjoy just drinking plain orange juice, but I really enjoyed it this way.  We made them occasionally, whenever we had spinach in the house, which was not all the time.

The fall of 2008 our family was heavily involved in a major musical which our stake was putting on.  My husband wrote it and was also directing it.  All the children (other than the baby at the time) were involved to one degree or another.  I did not participate, but stayed home with the baby, and kept the house running, made sure everyone ate healthy food, got enough sleep, stayed clean and gave much needed support.  I knew that it was very important for us to remain healthy that entire fall, and especially towards the end of October and through November for dress rehearsal and performances.  Starting in September, I gave everyone Dr. Christopher's Anti Plague every single day.  We also drank more and more green smoothies as the weeks went on.  We found that we really really loved our green smoothies.  We stayed healthy that entire fall…not a single cold or cough, no throwing up…nothing.  I am sure that Heavenly Father blessed us, wanting our project to be a success.  However, I also know that Heavenly Father  wants us to  do all we can as well.  We did that.  We did all we could to be healthy and then let him bless us.

Since then, green smoothies have become a staple in our home.  We eat them for breakfast more days of the week than not, and sometimes even make them for lunch or to go with dinner. 
 
I've learned a lot of things over the years that help me to make my green smoothies more interesting. We almost always add bananas to our smoothies.  They add sweetness and creaminess and you really don't need any other added sweetener.  My green drinks are now no longer always green.  They range from deep purple to a sickly brown or swamp green, depending on the ingredients.  I have also learned to experiment with lots of different greens - our favorites are spinach, cabbage (red or green), kale, collards and lettuce.  I also learned that you can freeze your greens to use in your smoothies.  I buy the huge Costco bags of spinach then freeze them in ziplocs. More often than not I just throw the whole bag straight from the store into the freezer. You can just break off chunks to blend up.  When I find a sale on some of the other greens, I buy lots and freeze those too.  I never have greens go slimy and bad in the fridge anymore now that I have learned to freeze them if I am not using them quickly enough.  We grow a green smoothie garden filled with different varieties of lettuce, kale, spinach, collards and beets.  We freeze as many as we can so that we don't have to buy greens again until the dead of winter.  Even now we are still using greens that we froze earlier this fall.

We buy our bananas at Costco as well.  They are typically cheaper than even the sale prices at our grocery stores.  They laugh at us in the checkout line as we regularly buy 7-8 bunches at a time.  Our whole family loves to eat bananas plain and with all the smoothies we make I try to buy enough that I can freeze some of them for times when I cannot get to Costco.  The amazing thing is, I rarely can freeze more than a few.  We eat them all before I get around to it.  (To freeze the bananas I peel them and break them in half and freeze them in ziploc bags.)  Another favorite ingredient at Costco is the Frozen Mixed Berries.  They cover up any green taste in a smoothie very well - a bonus for those who are new to green drinks.  We also use Costco's frozen blueberries, strawberries and mixed fruit.   I did some price comparison on frozen fruit between Walmart and Costco.  Costco won hands down.  We also like to buy our grapes and mangoes at Costco.  The Costco mangoes cost a little over a dollar apiece but they are always gigantic and guaranteed to taste good.

….Oh yes, another ingredient I always add to my green smoothies is flax seed.  I use a couple of tablespoonfuls per blender container.  Be sure to blend your drink thoroughly so you don't taste any grit.  Be aware also, that when you add flax, you will want to drink your smoothie right away.  If you don't, the flax will make the smoothie thicken and get a little gelatinous.  I'm picky when it comes to textures in my food and I don't like the jelly-like consistency.

Here is our basic template for green smoothies:
1/2-1/3 blenderful of greens
2T flax seeds
2 bananas
Fill the rest of the blender with fruit
Water and or ice as needed.  I usually add a cup to a cup and a half of water and don't need ice as some of my ingredients are usually frozen. A general rule is to use about 50% of the blender filled with greens, the other half with fruit.

Needless to say, we've gone from having green smoothies once in a while, to having them almost every day. We now always have greens in the house, in the fridge and in the freezer.   If we don't have one for breakfast we'll make one (or two blenders full for our huge crew) for lunch.  I've even been known to serve one with dinner when I didn't have time to cook.  Scrambled eggs and lots of green smoothie is a nice easy dinner. Even Sophia loves "num" as she calls it.  Occasionally when we have overindulged on a holiday or at a family party it is fun for me to hear my children say, "Mom - I think tomorrow all I want to eat is green smoothie and whole wheat bread."  They are listening to their bodies.  The sweets and treats were fun, but when it is all over and done, they want the good wholesome stuff to get their bodies back in shape.