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Jen's Smoothie
(serves 2)My good friend Jen has been making smoothies for her 2 kids for breakfast for a couple years now. Over the years she has been tweaking it and now she will brag (facebook status style) that she "makes a mean smoothie" and you know what? She really does. I had her send me the recipe last week and I've been making it for about 5 days now. I have done a little tweaking of my own just to suit our personal tastes but this smoothie is going to stick around this house for awhile. What I like about it:
-It is ridiculously chock full of vitamins, protein and healthy fats. What a great way to start a kids day!
-Its a way for me to get a full serving of leafy greens and 2-3 servings of fruits not only into Neko but also MYSELF!
-It really, truly, honestly tastes really delicious...promise.
Ingredients:
2/3 c. goat or cow kefir: plain or flavored
1/3 c. vanilla yogurt
1/2 c. orange juice (100% juice)
1c. frozen fruit: blueberry, raspberry, strawberry, mango, or peach are good ones to try (today I did a combo of frozen strawberries, mango and blueberries. Also this week I have used frozen Acai berry packets which are delicious and super duper good for you!)
1 Tbsp. healthy oil - I used a flax/sunflower blend but even olive oil would be good
1 heaping spoonful of almond butter
1-1/2 c. of some sort of leafy green--baby spinach, red or green kale, red or rainbow chard (I've been using red chard this week)
1/2 large banana
Add all ingredients to blender. Blend until smooth. Add some milk or more juice if smoothie is too thick. Blend again until desired consistancy. Serve!
Ingredients that Jen includes that I left out are:
-3/8 tsp. evening primrose oil (I omitted because I'm not sure what its for. Knowing Jen its for something good but I didn't take the time to find out what.)
-3 tsp. liquid minerals
-powdered kids multivitamin...either 2-3 rainbow light packets or 1-1.5 kids Emergen-C multi
I left out vitamins/minerals because Neko takes a multi, an omega-3, an immunity booster and calcium all in gummi vitamin form.
-electrolytes
I took a video of Neko enjoying her smoothie to prove its goodness! :o)
-It is ridiculously chock full of vitamins, protein and healthy fats. What a great way to start a kids day!
-Its a way for me to get a full serving of leafy greens and 2-3 servings of fruits not only into Neko but also MYSELF!
-It really, truly, honestly tastes really delicious...promise.
Ingredients:
2/3 c. goat or cow kefir: plain or flavored
1/3 c. vanilla yogurt
1/2 c. orange juice (100% juice)
1c. frozen fruit: blueberry, raspberry, strawberry, mango, or peach are good ones to try (today I did a combo of frozen strawberries, mango and blueberries. Also this week I have used frozen Acai berry packets which are delicious and super duper good for you!)
1 Tbsp. healthy oil - I used a flax/sunflower blend but even olive oil would be good
1 heaping spoonful of almond butter
1-1/2 c. of some sort of leafy green--baby spinach, red or green kale, red or rainbow chard (I've been using red chard this week)
1/2 large banana
Add all ingredients to blender. Blend until smooth. Add some milk or more juice if smoothie is too thick. Blend again until desired consistancy. Serve!
Ingredients that Jen includes that I left out are:
-3/8 tsp. evening primrose oil (I omitted because I'm not sure what its for. Knowing Jen its for something good but I didn't take the time to find out what.)
-3 tsp. liquid minerals
-powdered kids multivitamin...either 2-3 rainbow light packets or 1-1.5 kids Emergen-C multi
I left out vitamins/minerals because Neko takes a multi, an omega-3, an immunity booster and calcium all in gummi vitamin form.
-electrolytes
I took a video of Neko enjoying her smoothie to prove its goodness! :o)
7 comments:
Looks delicious! Where do you find frozen Acai berry packets and liquid minerals?
I found the Acai packets in frozen foods section of Whole Foods market. It was by the waffles.
As for liquid minerals, I have no clue. I'm not sure what exactly they are or where she gets them but I will ask her to let us know!
Thank you! I give my daughter a multivitamin and juice plus, but I've always thought she needs more minerals. Can't wait to hear where to get some! =)
OMG...talk about a nutritional powerhouse. Definately going to try.
About the Acai packets...were they actual berries or powder or what? Did they have a 'brand name'?
What Omega 3 do you give your daughter? Just curious. We're doing Lil Critter...but I am sure there is something better out there.
TIA - Shannon
The Acai packs can be found here:
http://www.sambazon.com/products/smoothiePacks/
I'm giving her the Lil Critter's as well and yes, I'm sure there are better. She really likes them though and asks for them daily. This makes them a hit with me.
I'm so happy to see my little pal Neko enjoying her smoothie! I have really had fun playing with this...we change it up here and there, but the best part is that we are all getting a whole salad in a cold and frothy drink.
Celeste asked me to answer a couple of questions, so here it goes...
-The evening primrose oil is an essential fatty acid that is often used for hormonal imbalance in women and in treating eczema for kids, also rheumatoid arthritis and other things. It promotes immune function and is an anti-inflamatory. It was recommended to me by a nutritionist/body chemistry scientist friend of my uncle's. I'm going with her recommendations because I felt that I was fumbling around in the dark with suppliments for my kids and I wanted to go with a plan.
-I get the minerals from her website actually, which is bodybio.com. They sell a variety of individual minerals, but I get the Pre-Mixed Liquid Minerals. I am lucky to have gotten a doctor's discount in the past because my uncle is good friends with the people who run this company, but even at 25 bucks a bottle, it's not that bad. It lasts a long time. Even if you're giving them minerals 3 days out of the week, that's a good thing.
-I also use thier BodyBio balance oil which is a 369, 4:1 ration of Omega 3:6. It's a good oil. I even give it to them straight in a spoon if we're not doing smoothies that day and they like it.
-I think you could probably find a similar liquid mineral thing at your local health store.
-The best thing about smoothies is that you can do whatever you want with them, make them your own. :)
My older daughter has had pneumonia three times since last October. We're working with Children's Hospital to determine an underlying cause, but it was also really important to me to do whatever I could to boost her immunities, etc. With that in mind, I make a super smoothie for our family each morning as well. It's very similar to these- I add 1 or 2 teaspoons of extra probiotics (I use Udo's Choice Infant/Toddler). I also add between a teaspoon and tablespoon of "Mother Necessity Essential Greens." (http://mothernecessity.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=3) I use some blend of fruits from the Grotto book, and I always use the Sambazon Acai packet. The Acai is unsweetened, so depending on what fruit I'm using I sometimes add a drizzle of Agave to sweeten it a tad. Our family is vegetarian, so it's really important to me to make sure we're getting the right fats, so I also add at least a tablespoon of Flax oil. I've noticed a huge difference in all our skin and hair in the last month and a half, as well as our energy levels. And hopefully our daughters are better able to fight off all the germs she's encountering at preschool and beyond.
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