Green smoothies: An Apology

I have to make a public apology to regular commenter Elizabeth. When we were having this discussion back in May about sneaking healthy things into your family's food, she emailed me to say that she's started putting a little frozen spinach into fruit smoothies. She claimed that you couldn't taste the spinach at all. I attempted to be polite, but just couldn't imagine how you wouldn't taste spinach in a fruit smoothie.

I was wrong. Elizabeth is right. You can put spinach (and I'm assuming other greens) into a fruit smoothie and you won't taste them.

I'm thrilled about this discovery, because my kids are great about eating red and yellow and orange vegetables, but leafy greens are a crapshoot. El Chico will eat any kind of greens slathered in ranch dressing, but it's mostly about the dressing, and I'd rather have him just eating the greens.

In the past week I've made the following smoothies that went over like gangbusters with my husband and my toddler (El Chico wasn't willing to drink anything green, and drank some of the last one but stalled out to play with his matchbox cars):

#1
Half a bag of baby spinach
A big handful of frozen mango chunks
Half a can of coconut milk
A splash of water to get the blender started.

#2
Half a bag of baby spinach
A big handful of frozen mango chunks
Half a banana
Enough unsweetened cranberry juice (thinned with water, because unsweetened cranberry is too strong) to make it blend.

#3
Half a bag of baby spinach
A big handful of frozen raspberries
A banana
Enough water to get the blender started.

#4
Half a bag of baby spinach
1/5 to 1/4 of a pint of Stonyfield Farms After Dark Chocolate frozen yogurt (the richest chocolate frozen yogurt I've ever had)
A banana
Enough milk to make the blender run.

I hid spinach in a chocolate banana milkshake. Bwahahahahaha. I am drunk with power.

You can't taste the spinach. Am I the last one to know this? What should I try next? Parsley?

Comments

[Kate]

Ohhh, this is good to know.

Miss M has finally started to get very fussy about eating (like almost nothing after 4 pm, only a slice of bread & a cheese stick for lunch, etc). Partially molar related, I think. But anything you can drink with a straw is good in her book.

How big are your bags of baby spinach? For comparison's sake.

[cagey]

Bookmarking this for future reference. Yeehaw! So far, my nearly 11 month old hasn't had issues eating Real Veggies, just Baby Veggies.

We primarily keep an Indian kitchen and I have to say that veggies Indian style are infinitely more appealing than American style. I just haven't seen nearly as many Indian mothers complain about the veggie problem as American problems. Just saying, that's all. :-)

[Kelly]

Hurrah!

Seriously, my daughter (aged 3) used to eat raw spinach for lunch and dinner sometimes. She is still a veggie and fruit lover by preschooler standards, but her love of wielding power sometimes trumps my love of her eating great foods. She's become a lot more picky, seemingly overnight after her 3rd birthday, about eating.

I'm gonna try some of these smoothies, and report back. BTW, where can one get frozen mango chunks? The grocers around me carry berries and peaches, but no mango.

[Moxie]

Kelly, peaches woudl probably work, too. I get frozen mango chunks at Whole Foods and at Trader Joe's.

Kate, I use 6 ounce bags of spinach.

Cagey, help us out! How do you prepare your vegetables?

[joline]

I keep chopped kale on the freezer door and add a little to our smoothies. Not quite equivalent to a half a bag of spinach, but in a strawberry smoothie, it disappears entirely!
I dont know how I would feel even about drinking something green! But a red smoothie with greens hidden inside, priceless!

[Kate]

#3 is a big hit :-)

And as an added benefit (if you are me and requested to match shot for shot with your toddler) tastes entirely like berries and not like banana. Slightly earthy undertone of spinach, but she did not notice.

Moxie, you're a rock star!

[Amy]

These types of smooties were a staple when I was doing the SB diet since you have to eat 5 cups of veggies a day and even for a veggie lover lime me getting veggies in a breakfast can be tough. Kale works too (it is a tad more bitter so a little nautral sweetener like some agave nector helps). It is also a great way to get some soy into your diet if the kids don't dig tofu. My "power shake" staple is Silken tofu, frozen kale or spinach, a whole mess of frozen berries (trader joes very cherry berry blend is a favorite) a little unsweetened yogurt, 2 tablespoons ground flax seed, and a little agave nector, vanilla soymilk or 100% pomengrate juice for sweetness. My husband turned his nose up at first but he is a convert now.

[Brooke]

I've never done that, although I did make chocolate beet cupcakes this weekend. You kind of get an earthy undertone, but I was told at church that they tasted like dark chocolate cupcakes.

[Charisse]

Ooh, I need to try these! Right now the only way Mouse eats dark greens is in frittatas, which we basically only do on weekends. (Eggs are good for getting in mushrooms too...maybe a mushroom smoothie? hmmm)

[SusieJ]

We just tried (purchased) yogurt smoothies on the toddler today, but yogurt smoothies have been a staple for me for years. (2 c. yogurt, one defrosted 12 or 16 oz bag frozen fruit, blend) I need the spinach too!

[Anne]

add me to the book marking this for use later group. Who knew, spinach in a smoothie! Genius I tell ya.

[Caroline]

The First Years "Take and Toss" (who tosses, by the way) straw cups are brightly colored and camouflage the color of a smoothie. And they're really spill-proof, so smoothies are our favorite car snack. I've been putting avocado in my toddler's smoothies for a while now, and I'll be trying spinach next. Thanks!

[ikate]

I'm excited about this for me! I like very few veggies and get board with the of what I'll eat myself. I'm due in a week and will have to give the spinach a try as I begin breast-feeding!

[Leah]

I think chocolate and banana may just be the best dessert combo out there, spinach or no. But seriously,these sound really good and for someone who is mildly lactose intolerant - high in calcium! (Dark green veggies always taste better than Tums for calcium though, no matter how they're made!)

[ValleyGal]

Brilliant. And, for people who have kids with food allergies, this is a great way to get some "desserts" out there that they can eat!

[Sarah]

Thanks for this awesome idea. My two year old and I tried this today...I just mixed up what we had around so it was baby spinach, frozen mango chucks, peaches, a banana, papaya juice and a bit of honey. It came out a very interesting greeny-yellow color but she actually drank some (not a ton, but if even a smidgen of spinach went in her I'd be happy!). I got everything ready and had her load it all in the blender and I think that helped encourage her to drink it. I wonder now, what other veggies, besides carrots which she'll usually eat, could go in a smoothie and taste good??

[Carly Scholz]

Wow! I love this Idea! My 2 year old will eat just about anything she can help make. I've used Bolthouse Farms Green juice to make homemade popsicles which the kids LOVE. If you can past the sludgy look, the juice is pretty tasty.

[Katy]

Here's a recipe that I think I read years ago in Parents magazine, but I've never tried it. It's for brownies with almost an entire box of spinich in them. I'm not sure how much spinich you'd get if you only had one. But I am amused by exchanging the usual substance one hides in brownies for something that's actually good for you.

Here's the link to the recipe:
http://www.parents.com/parents/story.jhtml?storyid=/templatedata/parents/story/data/6216.xml&catref=prt104

There's also a great book with a ton of similar recipes: Stealth Health: How to Sneak Nutrition Painlessly into Your Diet
by Evelyn Tribole. You can find it on Amazon.

I'm definitely trying the smoothies - for all of us because we all need more greens. What a great tip!

[Jill]

I'll be honest, I expected that at the bottom of the chocolate, spinach and banana smoothie that it would have not milk, but rum! It would be good for mom or dad that way;) !

[Moxie]

Hmmm. I think if I added rum, I'd add some amaretto, too.

[reesh]

Green smoothies are really catching on and it's really great to see. I started drinking them when I was pregnant and have noticed such drastic changes to my digestion and energy levels that I now drink one every single morning without fail. Even if we go on vacation I bring the blender. My 7 month old daughter loves them, in fact it was her first food. You can mix it up with the greens and use Kale, Swiss Chard, beet greens, romaine lettuce, carrot tops, and yes even parsley!! There is also a fantastic book written all about green smoothies and the many benefits they have. It's called Green For Life and it's by Victoria Boutenko:
http://www.rawfamily.com/products1.htm

[Elizabeth]

Hi Moxie, just saw this! I missed it when it was fresh! I'm so glad the green smoothies are working well. This post was a reminder for me to start giving my daughter her spinach'd-up yogurt again...we've gotten out of the habit. I like to try different yogurt things - our latest is goat's milk yogurt - and she hasn't found a yogurt she doesn't like, smoothie'd or custard-style, unsweetened or YoBaby.
Mmmmmm, smoothies. Any color of the rainbow, gotta love 'em. :-)

[Elizabeth]

Oh, and I can't take the credit for the spinach smoothie idea: a local LLL leader gave me that tip! I was as surprised as you are that you can't taste it.

[wix]

Oh no!! did you see this?? http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/09/22/tainted.spinach/index.html

[Brenda]

Ahhh but did you see the "new" studies that show that mustard oil kills listeria and e. coli (among other nasties)

I can't find any good links but it was on the news. Apparently it doesn't take a whole lot to kill the e. coli. Also I used to work in the food industry and I never, ever buy the bagged salads. Occaisionally I will eat the organic ones in the clear tubs, but seriously the amount of processing that goes into a bagged salad, plus what they do to some of them to prevent wilting, browning, turning slimey and extend shelf life is just wrong. It isn't really that hard to wash your own greens now is it? (And yes I know in this case they suspect the contamination happened in the field)

http://www.saskmustard.ca/mustard/health.html

[Katie]

You're definitely not the last :) I just found this out today and googled 'spinach kale green drinks' or something and was directed to this post!

[anita]

I recently bought the small Hamilton Beach mini blender, crazy about it and getting addicted to smoothies. I usually add a handful of spinach to the usual half of banana, a few strawberries, any kind of juice and my 1% milk, maybe a half of yogurt, some honey and a small amt of vanilla. I just improvise so far. I'm thinking of tossing in a few spoonfuls of jelly that I'm not using, also possibly a few spoons of apple sauce. Some of these items are just to use up items in the house, and the smoothies all taste great.

[Henrietta]

Nice site! Big thanx to webmaster!
;)

[Bartlomiej]

Today was a complete loss, but oh well. I don't care. So it goes. Nothing going on , but shrug. Not much on my mind these days. Such is life.
;)

[John]

Don’t walk behind me, I may not lead. Don’t walk in front of me, I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

[Christine]

If you go to www.rawfamily.com- You can see an interview and discussion all about green smoothies and how healthy they are for you. What about the problem with e-coli in the spinach. I guess the safest is growing your own! I plan on trying green smoothies to improve my health and energy levels. I have been drinking juices made in a juicer with carrots,celery, and apple and they are great too!

[Janet]

We love spinach smoothies. You can freeze the spinach. I buy the regular dole bags at walmart wash and dry. Buy gallon size freezer bags. Put half spinach, cup of frozen fruit, 1 banana, and/or fresh honey, and/or molasses, 1/2 cup any 100% fruit juice, or water, or any type milk (coconut, soy, rice, cow).

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If you go to www.rawfamily.com- You can see an interview and discussion all about green smoothies and how healthy they are for you. What about the problem with e-coli in the spinach. I guess the safest is growing your own! I plan on trying green smoothies to improve my health and energy levels. I have been drinking juices made in a juicer with carrots,celery, and apple and they are great too!

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If you go to www.rawfamily.com- You can see an interview and discussion all about green smoothies and how healthy they are for you. What about the problem with e-coli in the spinach. I guess the safest is growing your own! I plan on trying green smoothies to improve my health and energy levels. I have been drinking juices made in a juicer with carrots,celery, and apple and they are great too!

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If you go to www.rawfamily.com- You can see an interview and discussion all about green smoothies and how healthy they are for you. What about the problem with e-coli in the spinach. I guess the safest is growing your own! I plan on trying green smoothies to improve my health and energy levels. I have been drinking juices made in a juicer with carrots,celery, and apple and they are great too!

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But seriously,these sound really good and for someone who is mildly lactose intolerant - high in calcium!

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But seriously,these sound really good and for someone who is mildly lactose intolerant - high in calcium! I've been putting avocado in my toddler's smoothies for a while now, and I'll be trying spinach next. Thanks!

[Michelle Romero]

I love the great and simple green smoothie recipes... I love mangoes & thus excited to try your recipes ASAP. Thanks!

But if you'd like to try some cilantro and parsley, they can be very strong and overpowering. Initially place only a small amount and always mix w/ spinach or romaine lettuce ( spinach gives out a sweet taste & the Romaine is neutral in flavor ) to balance out the strong taste of the cilantro or parsely, add more to your liking or once you've developed a taste for it. Citrus fruits is your key to killing the green taste, add freshly squeezed lemon juice or in my case I use tangerines.

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Half a bag of baby spinach
A big handful of frozen raspberries
A banana
Enough water to get the blender started.

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