Green Monster: How I got my kid to have spinach for breakfast

Im 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 spinachand allbut 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 couldnt sleep as my sick husband was quarantinedin the bedroom and the couch wasnt working out too well for me. So (for no good reason I can thinkof besidesinsomnia induced hysteria) I looked up a recipe for a green monster. The search brought me to Angleas 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, nowI 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 cows 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 didnt 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 oldwho prefers green foods not be near her wanted more. She kept saying Lola Likes GREEN MONSTERRRRRRR!

Its sweet, does not taste like salad puree and is nutritionally amazing. I literally cant 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 hasalso 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 garlicand make a side with it if it turns out to not be your thing. But I think youll be surprised. And who doesnt 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. Dont let 20 seconds get in between you and the pretty. =)

Category: Nutrition Recipes