Thursday, June 13, 2013

Frozen Green Dream



Welcome to the Festival of Food Carnival. This month, we celebrate Smoothies and Mocktails!  Hosted by Diary of a First Child and Hybrid Rasta Mama, you're welcome to join us next time, or if you have a previously published recipe you'd like to share, add it to the linky below.
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Smoothie season! When it is too warm for that bowl of oatmeal and just want something cool and filling to start the day. Well, I am here to share our favorite tip for making smoothies and our basic concoction.

We start with a handful or two of greens. Doesn't matter what kind. Spinach, chard, kale, bok choy, if it is in my fridge it goes in the blender. Herbs can be good, too. Basil, mint, and lavender have been favorites.

green smoothieThen some yogurt. I usually get honey greek in the tub. About 2 heaping tablespoons.

Then fruit. Whatever you like. Fresh kiwis, frozen berries, whatever you have. Even avocados can help pull together a creamy smoothie.

This is where the trick (from my sister, in case it seems like I am taking credit for it) comes in. Fresh and even frozen fruit can be expensive. Canned fruit is pretty cheap. Keep a couple cans of your favorites (especially off season) in the freezer. You can take the time to put them in freezer bags, but we just put the cans right in. Then when we are ready, run the edges in warm water and carefully use a knife to carve it out. Our favorite is pineapple, as it is particularly delicious and one of the easiest to find in it's own juices.

Then just blend, blend, blend. Every so often, depending on fruits used, I need to add some liquid. Coconut milk keeps it lighter, but sometimes some good raw milk really bulks it out right.

Pretty basic, huh? The things I have really taken away from jumping into the green smoothie world: it is hard to mess it up when you stick to flavors you enjoy, greens are almost never the forefront of the flavor so don't be afraid to really use them, and always pour half of what you think you might drink until you get used to them. They can fill you up faster than you may think.

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1 comment:

  1. super easy and flexible. I don't usually add greens to my smoothies - during pregnancy I tried adding spinach to my smoothies and even though it was washed, it still tasted dirt-y and gritty. But that could have been a pregnancy thing.

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