Finally! Healthy Nutrition Made Easy: Learn How to Prepare Delicious Green Smoothies That Your Family Will Love!

by | Green Smoothies, Kids, Smoothie Recipes

If you are looking for easy healthy recipes and an super-easy way to add super-important nutrients to your everyday diet, you are truly lucky to have found this page!

Because what you will learn here – if you just try it and stick with it – will likely change your life and health for the better (really, I don’t exaggerate one bit – because it happened to me a few years back).

Introducing…Green Smoothies

You probably heard about green smoothies by now, as everyone is raving about them. You may call them blended drinks, green shakes, green smoothies, green fruit smoothies, drinkable salads or salads straight from your blender.

It doesn’t really matter what you call them — as long as you drink them!

The fact is that if you are having problems with eating a healthy diet, and especially if you have picky-eaters in your house who will not eat a green vegetable if their life depended on it – this is a perfect solution to your problem.

The idea to blend various kinds of leafy greens, fruits and vegetables to create a liquid soup with a baby food consistency is not new. About 5 years ago that Victoria Boutenko (from the Raw Family) greatly popularized the concept of the Green Smoothie.

The Green Smoothie is essentially a blended salad made with fruits and leafy greens, with some optional water, blended at high speeds to smooth consistency. Generally, hard or savory vegetables such as carrots or tomatoes are avoided, or only added in small quantities. Only fruits, leafy greens, and some vegetables are included.

Many of you may cringe at the idea of adding spinach or kale to a fruit smoothie, thinking these greens belong to a salad or dinner side-dish and not in a sweet drink.

However, the fact remains that this is the EASIEST, FASTEST, and TASTIEST way to consume large amounts of greens on a regular basis.

Just think about it: it’s MUCH faster to drink the same amount of greens in a smoothie than that it would take you to prepare and consume (and that includes chewing properly!) the same amount of greens, fruits and vegetables in a salad or other dishes.

Great things I love about smoothies is they only take about a minute to prepare (with a good blender, such as Blendtec or Vitamix), and a minute or two to drink.

And, when you make a green smoothie, the smoothie making blender will do the chewing for you!

There is really no excuse not to have them!

Important: Quick preparation does not also mean quick consumption. Do not just gulp down the entire glass of smoothie quickly. It is recommended that you drink your smoothie SLOWLY – mixing it with your saliva for best digestion and assimilation of nutrients.

Benefits of Green Smoothies versus Green Juice

Drinking freshly made juices made from vegetables, greens and fruits is an EXCELLENT way to add important nutrients to your diet. Juices contain super-concentrated nutrients that the body can absorb almost instantaneously — there is no need to digest anything! This gives the body a rest, while flooding it with great nutrition — great for people who have serious health problems and want to heal quickly.

However, juicing may or may not be an ideal solution for you.

One problem is that you may be skipping juicing — and therefore not benefiting from it — because it’s more work. I used to do a lot of juicing in the past and I still try to do it, but let’s face it – it is quite time consuming and really messy. My problem is over since I started making green smoothies. Making smoothies is a super easy way to eat lots of greens, and a great alternative to juicing. It is much faster, less messy, and you also get fiber in addition to juice, so you get that feeling of satiety. If you can discipline yourself to make fresh juices regularly, great! Otherwise, stick with green smoothies, or — I believe the best solution is to drink both!

Another problem with juice is that you leave behind the valuable fiber that slows down the absorption of nutrients and provides the feeling of fullness. This can be seen as a benefit, but can also be a problem ;-). Drinking a juice is not a “satisfying meal” in itself. So if you juice, then go on to eat junk food because you feel hungry, it’s better to have a green smoothie, that will leave you satisfied for longer.

Fortunately, whichever option you choose, you cannot go wrong. Whether you are making vegetable juices or blending green smoothies, you are doing your body a huge favor.

So, How Do You Make A Smoothie?

Let’s start with some great ingredients for your smoothie creations.

Great Ingredients For Your Green Smoothies

GREENS: kale, bok choy, chard, spinach, parsley, romaine lettuce, iceberg lettuce, mint, basil, cilantro, or other.

FRUITS: bananas, pears, apples, mango, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, peaches, kiwi, pineapple, melon, papaya, watermelon, grapes, or other.

VEGGIES: cucumber, celery, avocado (small amount only).

Some fruit and green combinations you may want to try:

  • Spinach with bananas and strawberries
  • Spinach with apples, bananas, and some lemon or lime juice
  • Spinach, bananas, peaches, mango
  • Romaine lettuce with bananas
  • Romaine lettuce with cucumber and bananas
  • Romaine and celery with blueberries
  • Parsley and ripe pears
  • Parsley, celery, apple and pears

Add 1-2 cups of water and blend until smooth. Adjust proportions to your liking. Try to experiment with different greens and fruits. Fruits are added for sweetness, so make sure they are really RIPE, especially bananas. Beautifully ripened bananas look like this:

green-smoothie-before

Okay, so I need to add more spinach here, but I really love sweet taste of bananas!

In the beginning, when you are just starting out with the green smoothies, you may want to add just a little bit of mild tasting greens (such as spinach), to let your taste buds get used to the taste. Start adding more greens of various kinds (many of them are stronger tasting) later on.

Greens to add to your smoothies: spinach, arugula, Swiss chard, dandelion, kale, collard greens, beet tops, and whatever else you can find in the store or in your garden. Young, tender greens are better. Iceberg lettuce, although not very green at all, can be used too.

This is what a green smoothie looks like:

spinach strawberry smoothie

Don’t be discouraged by the “greenness” of this drink. It tastes delicious, trust me on this!

Just try it for yourself, OK?

(Plus, if you really don’t want the green color, you can easily make it into a purple or red smoothie by adding lots of mixed berries, and fewer green ingredients).

mixed berry smoothie

Green Smoothie Recipes

Here are more ideas for your delicious green smoothie creations. Feel free to adjust the quantity of ingredients:

Spinach-Apple-Banana

  • 1 head of spinach
  • 1 apple
  • 1 banana
  • 1-2 cups of water

Spinach-Raspberry-Strawberry

  • 1/2 head of spinach
  • 1/4 cup of raspberries
  • 1/2 cup of strawberries
  • 2 cups of water

Pinapple – Mango – Romaine

  • 1 small pineapple, peeled, cored, and chopped
  • 1 large mango, peeled, cored, and chopped
  • ½ head romaine lettuce
  • a tiny piece of fresh ginger

You may want to add some water.

Personally I don’t really love Romain in my smoothies, but sometimes it works well. You’ll just have to try it for yourself. If you don’t care for it, substitute a different green.

Kale – Banana – Berry

  • 2 leaves kale (kale is rather strong tasting, so you may want to start with less)
  • 2 bananas
  • 1 cup of strawberries or blueberries or raspberries
  • 1 cup of water

Apple – Mango – Lettuce

  • 5 pieces of green leaf lettuce
  • 1 ripe mango
  • 1 apple
  • 1 cup of water

One note here on using frozen fruits in your smoothies. Personally, I don’t like smoothies that are really cold, so if I’m using a lot of frozen ingredients, I add some hot water to the mix to make them room- (or rather – stomach-) temperature. I know that many people like frozen drinks, but drinking a lot of frozen smoothies is not really that healthy, in my opinion.

I admit – I am totally hooked on green smoothies!

However, I never use exact recipes – I constantly experiment by adding different ingredients, depending on what sounds good to my body each day. Even thought some concoctions taste more delicious than others, I haven’t been completely disappointed yet!

Now that you know how to make some basic easy healthy recipes for green smoothies, you can experiment with other variations on this theme. When you are ready, start incorporate other, stronger tasting greens into your smoothies.

green smoothies

Submit Your Smoothie Recipe!

When you find a taste you love, why not submit your favorite smoothie recipe in the comment section below!

Find more smoothie recipes and tips on my blog.


10+Easy Spinach Recipes for Smoothies: How To Make Yummy Spinach Smoothies Your Family (& Kids) will Devour!

by | Green Smoothies, Kids, Smoothie Recipes

Let’s face it – with our busy schedules, we don’t always have time to sit down and eat a healthy salad or prepare proper healthy dishes that the whole family would enjoy.

So I have a solution for you! Below are some super-easy smoothie recipes. Choose one that you like and whip up a quick green smoothie for yourself (and your family). It will give you energy, and fill your belly for a couple of hours with all the right foods.

Spinach is typically thought of as a lunch or dinner ingredient in a savory recipe, so spinach in a fruit smoothie may sound strange at first, but – even if you don’t enjoy its taste by itself  – the other ingredients will mask the flavor, I promise.

If you haven’t been eating your greens every day, simply jump-start your day with a green smoothie, so that before you even start your day, you’ve already sucked down your veggies, greens, and fruit to boot.

And better yet? So have your kids and other family members.

Benefits of Spinach

Do I even have to talk about the benefits of spinach? We all know it’s good for us. Spinach has been cultivated in many parts of the world for hundreds of years, not just as a food source, but also as an important medicinal plant in many traditional systems of medicine.

Spinach benefits cannot be overstated. In the past it has often been regarded as a plant that helps restore energy, increase vitality, and improve the quality of the blood. The main reason for this is that spinach nutrition provides twice as much iron as most other greens.

Other nutrients it contains include calcium, magnesium, potassium, vitamin A, and the B-complex vitamins. It is also a good source of Niacin and Zinc, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Vitamin K, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Folate, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Copper and Manganese.

Spinach, just like other greens that contain chlorophyll and carotene, is a remarkable protector against various diseases, including cancer, anemia, digestive problems, skin problems, as well as acting as a mild laxative. Women who are worried about osteoporosis should consume spinach because it is a rich source of calcium and vitamin K.

In fact, when compared calorie for calorie to other vegetables, some say that nothing is as nutrient dense as spinach, while also being very low in calories.  And no, you don’t have to worry about the oxalates in spinach hurting you.

Spinach is Super Low In Calories & Super Dense in Nutrients = Great For Weight Loss!

Spinach, it’s really low in calories, so it’s an excellent ingredient for all weight loss smoothies, as well as meal replacement smoothies.

1 cup spinach, raw (30g) = 7 calories (!)
1 bunch spinach (340g) = 78 calories (!)

The great thing is that once you try a spinach smoothie recipe, you’ll be consuming lots of it and it won’t matter anymore if you or your picky-eaters at home don’t enjoy munching on spinach salad!

Just adding a few spinach leaves to a your smoothie recipe, is so easy, tastes delicious, and it’s also incredibly good for you!

spinach for smoothie

Health Benefits of Spinach

A bunch of spinach has a mere 78 calories, while providing 10g of protein.

So, how do you prepare a spinach smoothie?

When preparing spinach smoothie recipes, as in the case in most other greens, feel free to experiment and include a wide variety of other fruits and veggies.

By experimenting with different combinations, you will be able to come up with something that you and the whole family will love. You’ll even have an easier time getting your children on board to adopting a healthier diet.

The great thing about spinach is that it’s mild tasting, so it’s a perfect starter green for green smoothies. Even the most picky eaters won’t mind a few leaves of spinach in their fruit smoothie (use some deep colored fruits, such as berries, or colored glass containers to mask the green color for those most green-resistant eaters).

Generally speaking, Vitamix or Blendtec blenders will do a great job with any type of greens, including the tougher greens such as kale, collard greens, or celery tops. These smoothie makers will give you smoother liquid, compared with other blenders.

However, even if you have an inexpensive blender you can make spinach smoothies without worrying about rough texture – spinach is soft enough, so most blenders will handle spinach well.

First, when buying fresh spinach it should be dark green and free from any evidence of decay. Choose spinach that has vibrant deep green leaves and stems with no signs of yellowing. The leaves should look fresh and tender, and not be wilted or bruised. Avoid those that have a slimy coating as this is a sign of decay. Slightly wilted spinach can be revived to freshness by dipping it in cold water.

Do not wash spinach before storing as the exposure to water encourages spoilage. Place spinach in a plastic storage bag and wrap the bag tightly around the spinach, squeezing out as much of the air as possible. Place in refrigerator where it will keep fresh for up to 5 days.

Prior to preparing a smoothie, wash spinach under running water. If using non organic spinach, you may want to soak or spray it with a biodegradable wash, then rinse. Use a salad spinner to dry.

The leaves can be used as is. You don’t need to remove the stalks, as you would for a salad.

Put the leaves into your smoothie blender together with your fruits and veggies – bananas, strawberries, apples, celery, etc.

That’s basically all there is to it!

Spinach Smoothie Recipes

Here are a few green smoothie recipes with spinach for you to try!

I encourage you to experiment mixing spinach with other fruits, greens and vegetables. Also, I’m really not good with exact proportions, so you will need to experiment with quantities, to get that perfect green smoothie for your taste.

spinach smoothie recipe

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Spinach-Pear-Celery Smoothie Recipe

Spinach-Pear-Celery Smoothie Recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 pears
  • 2 stalks of celery
  • 2 cups spinach
  • 1 1/2 cup water

Instructions

  1. Blend well all ingredients in your blender. Pour into glasses and enjoy!
https://greenreset.com/spinach-recipes-for-smoothies/

More Green Smoothie Recipes with Spinach

Spinach-Mixed-Berries

2-4 cups of fresh spinach
a handful of strawberries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1/4 blackberries (fresh or frozen)
1/4 raspberries (fresh or frozen)
(OR 1 cup of mixed berries from BJ’s)
2 bananas (fresh or frozen)
1 1/2 cup water (more or less, to desired consistency)

For the Mixed Berries Smoothie I usually use frozen organic mixed berries I buy at BJs – a big 3 lbs bag for $9.99 – they are amazing in smoothies – and this is simply my favorite smoothie!

Spinach-Blueberry

1 large banana, ripe
1 cup blueberries, frozen (or Wild Blueberries from BJ’s)
1 cup oz spinach, fresh
1 1/2 cups water (more or less, to desired consistency)

This is my son’s favorite. For this smoothie, I’m using frozen Wild Blueberries from BJ’s – a big 3 lbs bag for $7.99 – they are amazing in smoothies – and this is simply my favorite smoothie!

Spinach-Mixed Tropical Fruit

1 large banana, ripe and peeled
1/4 avocado
6 oz spinach, fresh
1/2 cup pineapple, fresh or frozen
1/2 cup mango, fresh or frozen
1/2 cup grapes, fresh or frozen
1/2 cup strawberries, fresh or frozen
1 1/2 cup water (more or less, to desired consistency)

For this smoothie, I’m using frozen mixed fruits from BJ’s – a big 5 lbs bag for $9.99 – great value and taste!

Spinach-Pear-Celery

2 pears
1 stalk of celery
1 cup spinach
1 cup water

Spinach-Peach

6 peaches
2 handfuls of spinach leaves
2 cups water

Spinach-Kiwi

1 banana
2 peaches
2 handfuls of spinach leaves
1 cup water

Spinach-Watermelon-Strawberries

One half small seeded watermelon, peel and all
10 strawberries
1 bunch spinach
1 cup water

Spinach-Mango Green Smoothie

1 large banana, ripe
1 cup mangoes
1/2 cup strawberries
5 oz spinach
1 1/2 cups water

Spinach-Banana-Orange Smoothie Recipe

2 large ripe bananas
2 oranges
2 large handfuls of baby spinach

Spinach and Cantaloupe Melon Smoothie Recipe

1/2 cantaloupe melon
1 cup of spinach

Spinach-Tomato

Here is a savory recipe for a spinach-tomato smoothie:
4 ripe plum tomatoes
1 handful of spinach leaves
4 leaves of basil leaves

One note here on using frozen fruits in your smoothies. Personally, I don’t like smoothies that are really cold, so if I’m using a lot of frozen ingredients, I add some hot water to the mix to make them room (or rather – my stomach) temperature. I know that many people like frozen drinks, but drinking a lot of frozen smoothies is not really that healthy, in my opinion.

I admit – I am totally hooked on green smoothies!

I never use exact recipes – I constantly experiment by adding different ingredients, depending on what sounds good to my body each day.

Although some smoothies taste more delicious than others, I haven’t been disappointed yet!

Note: Because of the high oxalic acid content of spinach, some experts recommend to keep your spinach intake down to once or twice a week. While I don’t subscribe to the view that greens (including those rich in oxalic acid, such as spinach) are dangerous, if you have any health issues such as kidney stones, speak to a qualified doctor or nutritionist about your concerns and any changes to your diet.

can green smoothies devastate your health with oxalates?

Now that you know how to make some basic spinach recipes, you can experiment with other variations on this theme. When you are ready, start incorporate other, stronger tasting greens into your smoothies.

For all my blending recipes I use Vitamix. If you don’t already own a VitaMix, I strongly encourage you to check out what this machine is capable of! For more information about VitaMix you can go directly to the VitaMix website. You may also want to read my post about the Best Blender.

I LOVE my VitaMix and highly recommend investing in one if you are ready to make serious changes to your diet. I have had mine for almost 5 years and use it daily!

If you decide to purchase Vitamix – be sure to use Promotional Code 06-004554 to get free shipping.

Spinach Smoothie in Vitamix

The Making of Spinach Smoothie: Inside of my Vitamix

Questions? Comments? Suggestions?

If you have a favorite recipe, why not submit it here in the comment section of this smoothie recipes blog for others to enjoy too!

I also welcome any comments, questions and suggestions. Thanks!


Toxic Chemicals and Disease: Are Our Children Canaries in a Coal Mine?

by | Health, Kids

“Canary in a coal mine” is allusion to caged canaries mining workers would carry down into the tunnels with them. If toxic gases such as methane or carbon monoxide were present into the mine-shaft, the gases would kill the canary before affecting the miners. Signs of distress from the bird indicated to the miners that conditions were unsafe.

Hence, the phrase “canary in a coal mine” is frequently used to refer to a person or thing which serves as an early warning of a coming crisis.

Our environment contains a growing list of chemicals, many of which are known causes of human illnesses.

From the water we drink, to the air we breathe, to the food we eat, we are being exposed to hundreds to synthetic chemical compounds that are brand new to our planet that did not even exist 20 years ago.

Are our children like “canaries in a coal mine” in the increasingly toxic world we live in?

One thing that we can all do is to get educated and start taking action. Toxic Substances Control Act
Just like canaries, our children are significantly more vulnerable than adults, as these chemicals affect their developing bodies in more ways that are still difficult to fathom.

So, our children are growing up as a part of a giant experiment with potentially devastating consequences.

How will these chemicals affect their development, their health, their ability to achieve their full potential? Will our children end up paying the price for our negligence for the rest of their lives?

And is there anything that we do about it?

Step 1: Ignorance Is NOT Bliss

Step one is to get educated about the problem.

Ignorance is NOT bliss when it comes to our health. Not knowing about a disturbing issue will NOT cause it to go away!

Did you know that of 60,000+ chemicals that were grandfathered by TSCA law only about 200 were ever tested for safety directly by the EPA? 

The Toxic Substances Control Act (ToSCA) of 1976 mandated the EPA to protect the public from “unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment” by regulating the manufacture and sale of chemicals. One might think that Environmental Protection Agency exists to protect the public from dangerous and potentially carcinogenic substances, but thousands of chemicals were never tested by the EPA because they were not considered an “unreasonable risk.”

So, contrary to what the name implies, TSCA does not separate chemicals into categories of toxic and non-toxic. Rather it prohibits the manufacture or importation of new chemicals that are not on the TSCA 60,000+ Inventory grandfathered when the law was passed!

As a parent I find it deeply disturbing, not to say scary.

Listen to the interview with a world-renowned pediatrician and environmental health expert Dr. Leo Trasande, who will explain how chemical exposures put our kids at risk, how much environmentally-mediated illness costs our nation, and what steps we can take to protect our children from harm.

Listen to the Green Street Radio or download the mp3 file here here.

Of course, there is huge money at stake for the manufacturers. The titans of the cosmetics industry are hard at work fighting common sense laws that would keep toxic chemicals out of everything from bubble bath, mattresses, clothing to lipstick.

But the costs to the society and the environment that we are all paying can no longer be ignored.

Step 2: Start Taking Action

Starting with the smallest action – “voting with your purse” and not buying the products that contain toxic ingredients. Many of the toxic cleaning products can be easily substituted with safer alternatives, for example, baking soda, vinegar, lemon juice are great for household cleaning needs.

But ultimately we can’t shop our way out of this problem.

Help spread the message – tell others about what you learned.

Write to the companies that are using toxic products to let them know your concerns.

Write to your elected officials demanding their support for the bills that promote positive change.

Join or support an organization working to increase public awareness and change the laws.

Our children are completely dependent on us to take action and make the right decisions for them!

More Resources:

Tell Congress to Stop Industry’s Trojan Horse Bill  “The Cosmetic Safety Amendments Act of 2012” was recently introduced by Representative Leonard Lance (R-NJ). According to the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics organization “This is a classic Trojan horse – it may sound like a step forward on the surface but the “fine print” inside the bill would allow industry to continue placing profits over public health.  This bill would put into law the current system that allows the industry to “self-regulate” the safety of cosmetics which has resulted in carcinogens in baby shampoo, lead in lipstick, formaldehyde in hair products, hormone disruptors in fragrance and mercury in face creams. It would also handcuff states from taking action to pass locally tailored policies to protect the health of their own state residents. ”

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics – The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is a coalition effort launched in 2004 to protect the health of consumers and workers by securing the corporate, regulatory and legislative reforms necessary to eliminate dangerous chemicals from cosmetics and personal care products.

EWG’s Skin Deep database: EWG’s Skin Deep database gives you practical solutions to protect yourself and your family from everyday exposures to chemicals.

Toxic Chemicals in the Enviroment

Toxic Chemicals in the Enviroment : How do they affect our kids and what can we do about it?

Questions? Comments? Suggestions?

If you have a favorite recipe, why not submit it here in the comment section of this smoothie recipes blog for others to enjoy too!

I also welcome any comments, questions and suggestions. Thanks!


Smoothie Recipes For Kids (and Adults): Healthy Green Smoothies Even Picky Eaters Can Enjoy!

by | Featured, Green Smoothies, Health, Kids, Smoothie Recipes

My son has been drinking green smoothies since he was four and he really loves them (although he sometimes complains that I give them to him all the time, LOL).

However, your children (and quite possibly your adult family members too) may be resistant to the idea to trying smoothie recipes with any green ingredients added.  If that’s the situation, don’t despair!

In my experience, green fruit smoothie recipes for kids are always a success!

But, yes, you may need to use some tricks to encourage their consumption initially.

Let’s face it. Unhealthy foods are everywhere. Children are assaulted by less-than-ideal food choices wherever they go: birthday parties, convenience stores, street vendors, fast food joints, etc. Sodas, cakes, cookies, pizzas, fries, hot dogs, candy, ice cream. There is no escaping them. Not even school cafeterias are free from them.  No wonder their taste buds get used to very sweet-salty-fatty foods.


The scary statistics is that 40% of the calories US children eat are nutritionally empty!

Getting children to eat healthy, balanced meals is a concern that MANY parents have. They are especially concerned about the lack of fruits and vegetables their kids are eating and it is no wonder… modern convenience foods marketed to kids are lacking in nutritional value. As a result children are not developing tastes or cravings for the nutritional powerhouse foods they need, namely fresh vegetables, fruits and leafy greens, as well as healthy whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds.

The great thing about green smoothies is that they disguise what might otherwise be considered unwelcome ingredients, including healthy leafy greens that may be eaten rarely or avoided completely.

With green smoothies, healthy nutrition is easy. With a few simple smoothie recipes, you can easily turn your blender into a tool for creating super-healthy fruit smoothie recipes for kids!

How to Get Your Kids to Love Green Smoothies?

Most kids and adults love these smoothies from the first sip and may never know they are drinking their vegetables unless you choose to tell them!

However, if you can’t get your kids to eat spinach or kale in their dinner salad (that is, if they even eat any salad at all), you will probably be doubtful whether you’ll be able to convince them to have a green smoothie – or any drink that has even a hint of green (except maybe a green Gatorade).

So, here is a motivational technique to get your kids (and yourself) to eat a lot of greens.

If your child refuses to drink green smoothies, start by making smoothies that don’t look green at all. 

Start with preparing mostly sweet smoothies with lots of fruits or natural sweeteners. Children naturally love sweet taste of ripe fruit.

Then start incorporating celery in green smoothies. Celery hardly changes the color or taste of the smoothie and would be a great way to get children to start eating more of this nutrient-rich vegetable.

Start with a half or even a quarter stalk of celery. This is getting your food in the door. Your child may be suspicious about what is exactly in the smoothie, so don’t even tell him/her or let them see what is inside the blender.

Even if they don’t love it, they will not hate it either.

Once your child gets used to the celery, start adding small – and hard to detect – quantities of other greens.

Adding other color-changing ingredients, such as blueberries, will also help mask the green color that some children may find problematic.

With time, everyone in your home should get used to the taste, and even prefer it over the no-veggie version, which may start to seem too sweet and lack certain tartness. Our taste buds are really quite adaptable!

The key is to make the change gradually. Human taste buds are highly adaptable little organs, and you can reprogram them gradually. The taste buds aren’t sensitive enough to notice an addition  of a small amount of new ingredients and reducing sugar.  Over time, they’ll learn to enjoy the true flavor of fresh, healthy food and the lovely tastes that fresh vegetables, greens and fruits have to offer.

The good news is that taste buds adapt very quickly and within two-three weeks your child should be really enjoying more green smoothies.

More Tips to Make Sure Your Kids Drink Their Green Smoothies

Here are a few more tips to help you to get you started if you have picky eaters in your house:

* Start with preparing mostly sweet smoothies with lots of fruits. Add only a little bit of mild tasting greens (starting with celery or spinach). You may also add natural sweeteners, if you feel the smoothie is not sweet enough for your child.

* Use sweet, ripe fruits that your child loves. For example, strawberry, pineapple and blueberry are all time favorites.

* Use well ripened bananas for creamy texture.

* Think how to make the smoothie making and drinking fun. One way that may work well for younger kids, is to come up with a cool name for your smoothies. Some ideas are: Bey-blade Blaster, Enter the Dragon, Shrek’s Favorite Smoothie, Cinderella’s Cocktail, Transformer’s Fuel, or other, depending on what your child’s favorite’s characters are at the moment.

* Use a pretty glass with a straw and a cocktail drink umbrella.

* Or use a non-transparent cup with a straw to completely mask the color of the drink.

* Ask your child to drink green smoothies before the child eats other things. My son drinks a green smoothie first thing in the morning, before he eats anything else. He usually gets another glass 1 hour to 30 minutes before dinner.

* Educate your children about the benefits of drinking green smoothies. Explain it to them in simple terms. You may be surprised how eager they are to learn.

* Freeze green smoothie into a Popsicle.

* If nothing else is working, consider a reward system. Although, I am not in favor of reward systems, especially when it comes to food, however, if your child is highly defiant, and all other methods have failed, you may find that using some kind of incentive is effective. Just, please don’t use junk food as treats for reinforcing good eating habits!

For best results, it’s important invest in a quality blender. The reason being you really want a your green to be as smooth as it can be, and not all blenders will be able to handle the job of blending, e.g. kale or collard greens, to perfection.

Most likely, your child will refuse to drink anything with touch pieces of kale or celery stalk. Read my review best smoothie blenders and comparison of Blendtec vs Vitamix. Both are excellent blenders for making green smoothies.

Also, although I recommend that you start with spinach in smoothies, add different greens as well. It’s important to rotate your greens, and not use the same ones all the time.

Smoothies for Kids

My son loves green smoothies. No, really. He is squinting because he doesn’t want me to take a picture 😉

Delicious Smoothie Recipes for Kids (& Adults too!)

How about a healthy strawberry pineapple smoothie recipe to start off with?

The tangy taste of pineapple adds a wonderful flavor to smoothies. If you learn how to pick a pineapple that is ripe, you will also get a sweet-tasting smoothie. Cutting a pineapple ahead of time and storing the slices in an airtight container in the fridge will save time when making the smoothie. Canned pineapple often comes with added sugar or preservatives, so using it may not be such a good idea if your focus is on healthy nutrition.

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Green Smoothie Recipes For Kids

Green Smoothie Recipes For Kids

Ingredients

    Strawberry Banana Smoothie Recipe
  • 1/2 cup strawberries
  • 1 banana
  • 1/2 cup of spinach leaves
  • 1 cup water
    • Healthy Strawberry Pineapple Smoothie
  • 1 cup fresh pineapple cubes
  • 1/2 cup strawberries
  • 1 banana
  • 1/2 cup of spinach leaves
  • 1 cup water
  • One to two drops of vanilla essence
  • One cup of yogurt and add a teaspoon or two of honey for sweetness (optional)
    • Blueberry Pudding
  • 2 cups blueberries
  • 1 banana
  • 1 stalk of celery
  • 1 cup of water
    • Kiwi-Mint-Spinach Smoothie Recipe
  • 2 kiwis, peeled
  • 1/4 small lime, peeled
  • 1 banana, peeled
  • 5 to 10 mint leaves (optional, to taste, if your child enjoys mint)
  • 1/2 cup fresh spinach
  • 1 cup of water, almond milk, or other non-dairy milk

Instructions

  1. Blend well and enjoy!
https://greenreset.com/smoothie-recipes-for-kids/

Optional Ingredients

Sweeteners. My 8-year-old finds fruit smoothies pretty sweet on their own, so I never add sweeteners, but he’s been drinking smoothies since he was four. If you are just trying to convert your kids to drinking greens, you may want to sweeten their smoothies a bit. Experiment with adding agave syrup, maple syrup, a few dried figs, or any sweetener that your child will like.

Ice. Many smoothie recipes call for ice cubes. Personally, I’m not a fan of adding ice cubes to smoothies, except in the summer. So even if I use frozen fruits, like I often do (for example, I often use mixed berries in smoothies), I usually add warm water. In my opinion, drinking a cold smoothie is not great for our body and digestion. However, many people will not drink a smoothie unless it’s ice cold.

Also, feel free to experiment and mix and match the ingredients! Have fun!

 

How to Make Smoothies That Are More Filling

Although many adults (and sadly, many children as well) are drinking green smoothies to help them lose weight, my son is very tall and thin, so I try various ways to add more calories to his meals.

I often add nuts, seeds and/or quick oats to smoothies to make them more filling.  My son is at the age when he is growing very quickly and burning lots of calories, so I want him to have adequate amount of nutrition during the day.

One of the recent favorites in my home is this Banana-almond nut smoothie – check it out!

banana-nut-butter-smoothie03b

Really, any smoothie recipe can be adjusted to be more filling and have more “staying power” by adding one of the following ingredients:

  1. Substitute part of water with non-dairy milk or yogurt: oat, rice, soy, almond, hemp, coconut water, or raw nut or seed milk. Experiment with various kinds of milk. Skip cow’s milk, and try one of the various non-dairy milks available today: almond milk, organic soy milk, hemp milk, rice milk, coconut milk, or other.
  2. Add avocado. In addition to healthy fats, it adds wonderful creaminess to smoothies.
  3. Add 1/4 cup nuts or seeds, such as walnuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, or ground flax seeds. Pre-soaking your seeds and nuts is recommended, but not required.
  4. Add 2-3 tablespoons of seed or nut butter. Almond, peanut, cashew butter, tahini, etc. Avocado, whole nuts and nut butters and milks will add some healthy fats to your smoothies. These fats to improve absorption of nutrients, as well as will slow down the release of the fruit sugar into your bloodstream.  Don’t overdo it, use these ingredients sparingly.
  5. Add 1/4 cup up to 1 cup of whole grains: oats, cooked brown rice, quinoa or other whole grains. Oats don’t need to be cooked (I use the one-minute quick oats). Other grains will need to be prepared in advance.  If you have leftover grains, even better!

Questions? Comments? Suggestions?

If you have a favorite recipe, why not submit it here in the comment section of this smoothie recipes blog for others to enjoy too!

I also welcome any comments, questions and suggestions. Thanks!