GREEN SMOOTHIES

My latest food thing is green smoothies. Yum! Patti inspired me when I was in Salt Lake, so I've been making green smoothies almost every day since I've been home. They are packed with good stuff and they taste delicious.

You can put whatever you want in a smoothie. The thing about green smoothies is that they include green stuff: spinach (my favorite--it has a sweet, mild flavor), collard greens, beet greens, any leafy greens. So if you don't like that kind of superfood in its leafy form, you can drink the nutrition! I happen to love all the leafy green foods, but I don't actually prepare them very often. Partly because my kids are not huge fans. But they love these smoothies!

Patti uses a Magic Bullet to prepare her smoothies. I've used that little processing wand you stick in the tall cup, which works fine, though if you have frozen fruit in there, prepare to work a bit. I was in Costco the other day and watched the demo of the Blendtec blender--the one with the jet engine that can mush metal (so they say, but who would want to eat metal?) I was tempted, of course, but reasoned that I should first wear out the plain old $20 Hamilton Beach blender I have at home before I drop $380 on a fancy gizmo. So this morning, that's what I used, and it worked great.

Here's what I usually put in my green smoothie:

as much spinach as will fill about 2/3 of the container
a few big strawberries
a handful or two of blueberries
half a banana
half an apple, maybe
some fruit juice, if I have any
a bit of Agave liquid sweetener
about 1/4 cup of chia seeds soaked in water
water, if it's too thick

Toss it all the blender, whirl away and voila! Instant power breakfast.

Google "chia seeds" to learn about this amazing little seed, packed with omega-3's, protein, fiber, and lots of great nutrients. Patti taught me to soak them in a jar of water overnight, then keep them in the fridge to use in smoothies.

Oh, now I want one! Don't you?