The Atkinsons

The "Green" Smoothie.

I've had some people ask me about my green smoothies, so I thought I would write a little tutorial about them. Here are some things you should know about the "green smoothie."

-It's not always green. If it turns out a different color you have not failed, in fact that means you got in all those healthy greens and fruits too!

-It's OK if your smoothies are mostly fruit. Fruit is REALLY good for you too! I went to a get a cold-pressed juice the other day and the guy was telling me "or you could get the really healthy one with all greens!" I wanted to tell him, they are ALL healthy! Anything with pure fruit or veggies is healthy and we need a balance of everything.

-Don't be afraid to throw anything in there. You don't have to follow an exact recipe (I mean I don't even follow A recipe) If you have some fruit that is going bad or you wouldn't eat it otherwise just throw it in the blender! That mushy banana is still good for you and you can't tell a difference in that smoothie!

-Lastly here is my personal philosophy of green smoothies (and life) when in doubt just do what makes sense. They always comes out with new studies that say this or that- ESPECIALLY with food, so for me I just do what makes sense. And what makes sense to me is that as much as you can you just eat fruits and veggies as they are, as they occur in nature. I understand the place for juicing, and I drink cold-pressed juices sometimes. I know you can get the nutrition of like 20 carrots in one drink, but do we need 20 carrots? And it just seems a little wasteful at times to me since you throw out some of the fruit/veggie at the end of making the drink. Also I think it's a lot more time consuming and harder than throwing some stuff in a blender. I am not trying to rip on people that juice, I think it is SUPER healthy and I drink them sometimes and really like them, but it's just not practical for my life.

Ok, so I apologize in advanced (and don't blame you if you stop here cause you just want someone to give you an exact recipe) but like I said I don't follow an exact recipe and although I had good intentions of measuring everything out it was just too hard with the daily demands of life and I would never get this post up! So, I have some basic guidelines and things that I know are good together- so here goes!

The Base- Here are the bases I use for my drinks. You can just use water for your base if you want or don't have anything else, but I tend to use other things such as Simply Orange Juice high pulp. A lot of people don't use juice because they think it adds an "unhealthy" part to your drink. I for one don't care, I use the healthiest juices I can find and I'm not opposed to using things that get my husband and baby to gobble down large doses of carrot, kale, spinach, broccoli, or avocado. I also quite frequently use a base of coconut water, sometimes I mix it half and half with the juice. I use other juices as well, Simply Apple juice, Cran, whatever. Base your "base" on the needs of your family. If they are sick try to go for a lot of citrus, dehydrated use the coconut water, if your baby need to poop maybe a prune juice. I also do other drinks that have a base of coconut milk or almond milk. Make sure you get the coconut milk that is in the carton like the regular milk because the canned milk has a think cream in it but the carton milk has the consistency of regular cows milk. (I get mine at Sprouts for those who are local.)

Next, the greens- There are a few basic greens that are good to put in smoothies. Don't go overboard because the goal is to get your baby/husband (and yourself) to enjoy these so that you will actually WANT to drink them. (I know, crazy right) So here are some of the greens I use, spinach (a no brainer) this is pretty much what everyone uses but that's because its so good for you and easy to mask in a drink. It's good to try to use a citrus when using spinach because it "unlocks" a lot of the vitamins so that your body can access and use them. (that's why cooked spinach is better for you than raw because the cooking process allows your body to get at the nutrients that spinach provides.) Kale is also good because it's masked well by other things. I add broccoli occasionally but beware it has strong flavor so only a few florets if you choose to add it. Avocado is one of my favorite things that add, I put in about half of one. It gives the smoothie a really smooth consistency, its very common in other countries to add avocados to drinks. I love it because little ones really need those good healthy fats (although Olive will seriously down like 5 avocados on their own if you let her) but not every baby will, and even babies that already love avocados the smoothie is a nice alternative to cleaning smashed avocado out of hair :) This isn't really a "green" but I also add a chopped up carrot to most my drinks, or a handful of baby carrots.(Carrots are already sweet so it doesn't take much to balance them.) Beets are also good but sometimes require more work because they bleed everywhere. I have not done this in a while but I used to make batches of steamed blended beets that I threw in the freezer and then I would add cubes of that to my smoothies. They are actually really easy to make and it doesn't take much time, I should really do it again. I don't tend to add any other veggies than those mentioned above.

Fruits- the fruits you add are what really give the flavor to your drinks and you can take it wherever you want. I have a big bag from Costco of every frozen fruit they have. Strawberries, blueberries, mixed berries, anti-oxidant blend, tropical fruit blend, or cherries. You name it, I do them all! I pretty much never add ice to my drinks, so what I like about the frozen fruit is you get that thick smoothie consistency without the ice! Sometimes I add just fresh fruit and leave it less thick (or you can add ice.) I put in any fruit I have laying around the house. I chop up apples and throw them in, they have a strong flavor so they will mask anything in there but will also really thicken the drink and sometimes float to the top so don't add too many thick things if you are adding an apple. I almost always add a fresh banana, or frozen if I put a half eaten one in the freezer. Sometimes I throw in fresh strawberries whole (greens and all) or blueberries or pineapple or even a cut up orange. Whatever is going bad, or Olive won't eat by itself or is in season. Throw in whatever you feel that day! That's what you taste in your smoothies, and the fruits have strong flavors and will generally mask any greens you've added. Mix it up so you keep drinking them, anything with a lot of natural color is good for you!

Lastly any extra additives- other little things I will add are oils, mostly citrus oils like lemon, grapefruit, wild orange, or lime. Oils are pure forms of these fruits that can help cleanse you system and infuse simple tasty flavor to your drinks. I also add flax and chia seeds to some of my drinks, they are good for clearing out your system as well. (if you know what i mean) Costco had a great mix of flax and chia seeds with cocoa and coco chunks in it. Delish.

Ok so in summery here are some (rough) recipes I make. Orange juice, carrot, spinach/kale, large handful of tropical frozen fruit or mixed berries. (this is the most common drink I make) This morning I made a drink with coconut water, half an avocado, handful of kale and frozen strawberries and blueberries. Often I make a drink with a almond/coconut milk base, strawberries, a banana, and two tablespoons of the flax/chia seed mix. You can also add just cinnamon and vanilla with a little agave to almond milk and maybe just a banana. It's a good treat after a yoga workout :) Another good "treat" drink after a workout, or anytime (my husband will just ask for these) is a drink with a coconut water base and just frozen tropical fruit. It's SO GOOD and remember, it's ok to do a smoothie with all fruit!

Hope this helps a little for people who have asked me (or haven't asked me) about it. Olive absolutely loves these and downs them in the morning. And I feel so good about giving her the things she needs in a non-stressful way and a way that she actually enjoys. When you expose your kids to these flavors and food they tend to crave them more when they are older and keep with the habits. (And then you don't have to feel bad when you get them a big sugar cookie every tuesday at the Provo Bakery.) I also love that I can hand this to my husband as he walks out the door and know that he is getting a good breakfast that will give him enough energy to pass up the energy drink (hopefully.) I didn't use to have the habit of making them for myself in the morning because it's already hard enough to get up at 3:30 in the morning, but I decided I need to take care of myself too so that I can keep taking care of everyone else. Ya know? Mom life. I hope this helps! It was long enough so I tried not to put really wordy explanations to things so let me know if you have any questions about anything.