I’m all for the regular enjoyment of fruits and vegetables but sometimes I feel like I need to draw a line. And a line I drew when I heard about these “green monster” smoothies. I mean I like spinach and all but the idea of pureeing it with a banana and drinking it sounded… well does spinach puree with banana sound good to you?
Recently my sister got a rad new blender and has been making crazy smoothies for her breakfast everyday. She swears they give her tons of energy. *Still not interested*
Last night I couldn’t sleep as my sick husband was quarantined in the bedroom and the couch wasn’t working out too well for me. So (for no good reason I can think of besides insomnia induced hysteria) I looked up a recipe for a “green monster”. The search brought me to Anglea’s site which is a “spin off” of her blog created because she received an overwhelming amount of questions from all over the world about her green monster smoothies.
Well, now I was curious. So this morning I made my first green monster. She lists several interesting recipe ideas but she calls this the “no fail” virgin one so I gave it a whirl. The recipe is below, reprinted with her permission:
Ingredients:
- 2 cups organic spinach
- 1-1.25 cups milk (your choice of cow’s milk, soy, hemp, almond, rice, etc)
- 1 tablespoon flax (optional)
- 1 banana
- ice
Directions:
1) Flax, 2) spinach, 3) banana, 4) milk. The reason for this order is so the heavier ingredients weigh down the flax and spinach and keep it from flying up around the blender and sticking to the side. Blend everything on the highest setting for 1 minute or so. Finally, add ice and blend on the ice setting. Pour into a large, fancy glass. Sit back, gulp it down, and be prepared to have endless energy!
I didn’t have flax but I threw in some chia seeds instead.
Surprisingly I loved it. I have a ton of energy today. My now recovering husband had one (to my shock) and my 2 year old who prefers green foods not be near her wanted more. She kept saying “Lola Likes GREEN MONSTERRRRRRR!”
It’s sweet, does not taste like salad puree and is nutritionally amazing. I literally can’t imagine having anything else for breakfast now. AND Angela says since drinking these she has seen “a HUGE increase in my energy, along with a decrease in cravings for sweets. My skin has also become more clear and my hair and nails started growing like weeds!”
So I give it a whirl! You can always wilt the spinachwith some garlic and make a side with it if it turns out to not be your thing. But I think you’ll be surprised. And who doesn’t want more energy, thier kid to eat more vegetables, smoother skin, long hair and nails and improved nutrition?!
Drink some green and get your pretty on.
Love, Mama
***UPDATE*** VERY IMPORTANT: immediately after preparing your green monster– before you drink it– rinse out your blender. It takes about 20 seconds but not doing it results in a sticky mess that will totally screw up your awesome new breakfast routine. Don’t let 20 seconds get in between you and the pretty. =)
Woohoo! This is such a great idea! My 20 month old son has recently sworn off ALL vegetables (he doesn’t even fall for the sprinkle of cheese trick anymore. He will literally pick each morsel of cheese off his veggies and eat the cheese and leave the veggies! Grrr!) So this is a great way to get him his veggies in disguise!! He LOVES smoothies so I think we might have success with this trick! THANK YOU!!!
Totally random question, do you think this is sip-able through a regular sippy cup??
Hey Kasey! Lola is the same way! In fact I really had no intention of feeding this to her, I just thought I’d try it (and it would be gross) and see what all the hype was about. She asked for it! It is pretty thin so a regular sippy cup would be fine. If he doesn’t like the color you can add blueberries which makes it purpleish, in which case I would just add more milk to make it thin enough for the sippy. Let me know how it works out!
Wahoooo!!! I’m not crazy after all, eh? I’ll have to try this one out!
I’m game. Hesitant, but game.
Winks & Smiles,
Wifey
I made my first Green Monster this morning thanks to your post! I used spinach, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, one banana, ice, and a small squirt of local honey. It was awesome and thanks for turning me on to Oh She Glows! I’ve already found a ton of recipes I want to try. I’ll just make them non-vegan!
Just wanted to report back that I made the Green Monster for Max-Man this morning and he loved it! He sucked the whole thing down and then started doing his signs for “more please”. I think we found a winner!!! THanks so much for the idea, Erin!
I love GMs!! I think a lot of people think that the idea of spinach in a smoothie is crazy until they try it and then they usually fall in love. And I think that it is fantastic that you are encouraging a healthy and balanced diet for your family
I started having GM’s about 6 months ago in an attempt to stop shoving toast in my face every morning. Not only did I enjoy it, replacing the toast helped me lose 6kg! Try adding a bit of honey, or cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. I also add a scoop of my fave protein powder for even more of a nutrition boost!
@Sarina Those are great suggestions!
Update: Lola now wakes up and immediately asks for her green monster. That alone makes me so happy I can’t even begin to describe. Now when she gets her hands on some awful fruit snacks I smile thinking about the fresh spinach she had for breakfast! =)
OK I am now addicted! My 9 month old helped me finish mine off with a big green mustache and my 7 year old who claims she is allergic to veggies had one for breakfast this morning. yay!!
OK – I guess I’ll officially have to try this. Will stock up on bananas and spinach at the next grocery store run.
Great way to get more fruits and vegetables into your day. I find that if I do not start with breakfast there is no way I am going to get them all.
I drink these religiously!! haha. Different variations. Some with bananas, coconut milk, almond milk, rice milk, raw almonds, berries. I make this one occasionally for myself, and my nieces and nephews–water, local lemons, some organic honey and organic spinach. The ratios have to be almost perfect for it come out with that sweet, lemony, frothy goodness they like so much. They say they like the “green mustaches” they get from it too
. Also, I tell the boys they will be strong and big like the Hulk if they drink it, so it’s a pretty easy sell. And what little boy (or guy) DOESN’T want to be big and strong like The Hulk?!
I make mine with frozen banana or mango, coconut milk, chocolate protein powder, a sprinkle of cinnamon, and flax. Sometimes I add cooked or uncooked oatmeal if I need more carbs. Love!
If I dont have ice..can I use frozen berries?
of course!