a peek inside the fishbowl

Can you tell that I’ve been on a bit of a health kick lately? There’s the granola bar recipe (which the girls had at school yesterday and LOVED - yay!) but I’ve also been tinkering with my berry smoothie recipe. I finally figured out the perfect ratio of what:what in order to acheive a healthy fruit drink that (a) isn’t too sweet for everyday consumption (b) keeps THE PLUMBING in good working order, you know what I mean, right? *wink wink*

These are the proportions that work for my personal taste and plumbing.

Take:

- 1/2 cup of green tea, cooled (Make it with one teabag per cup boiling water. I use PC organic. If you prefer something slightly sweeter you substitute the tea with milk, pineapple, or orange juice, but the experts are always saying we should be drinking green tea, so do try the green tea. It’s an easy way of getting more of it into you system…. which is great for those of us who don’t normally drink it.)

Blend thoroughly with:

- approximately 1 handful of washed raw baby spinach leaves (Roughly two cups, loosely packed)

Whizz it around for a few minutes, longer if you’re planning on serving this to a kid who doesn’t know what you’re up to. In fact, you might want to hide the blender while you’re blending, because at this point it will be full of a very green liquid which looks like something an alien from the planet parsleycilantrobrusselsprout might sneeze up. That being said, you will be utterly amazed at how the taste of the spinach disappears into the other ingredients. (!) *

(This article suggests smoothies can be strained, a great idea for anyone who doesn’t like anything larger than a fruit molecule making a sudden appearance in their drinks.)

Quickly, without moving or breathing or making any additional noise add:

- approximately 1.5 cups mixed berries. (I use a PC mixture of frozen berries which includes strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries. If you use frozen fruit your smoothie will have the consistency of a milkshake. But do consider freestylin’ it. Do you have a banana that overly spotted? Throw it in. How about a pear that’s a bit squished on one side? Use that. If you just use the berries, your smoothie will be a lovely dark purple colour.

- 2 or 3 tablespoons ground flax seed. (It’s available in your local health food store or bulk store.)

- 1/3 cup yogurt.(I prefer to use a brand with live bacterial culture because it’s good for your tummy. Activa sweetened plain or vanilla flavours are both good for this recipe. I really just eyeball the yogurt, sometimes I end up with a bit more, but I measured it out and 1/3 cup works just fine.)

- if you’re making this for a kid, this part is TOTALLY OPTIONAL - add 1 scoop of Greens+ Berrylicious for Kids.I have some of this on hand and throw it into the mix every once in awhile. I like knowing my kids are getting a few extra molecules of foods they wouldn’t touch with a 10 ft. pole. e.g kale, brussel sprouts and sweet potato, among others. I take it where I can get it.

That’s it.

Whirl it all up, scraping down the sides from time to time, and pour into one big glass or two smaller ones. Your child will thank you for the lovely treat. And more importantly, if you’ve made this for yourself, your innards will thank you. TRUST ME ON THIS ONE. Isn’t it cool how you’re getting all this healthy stuff in one easy (not to mention yummy) drink?

Cheers! 

* I will be really annoyed if someone wanders over here and accuses me of being a “bad mom” because I’m “being sneaky” and “hiding stuff” in my children’s meals without their knowledge. (Yes, I saw what went on in the blogosphere when Jessica Seinfeld released her “Deceptively Delicious” cookbook.) If you are one of these people, do consider how annoying I will find your comment. To you I say this:

1) If the kid likes the healthier version of the smoothie, why not just go with it? (Remember the brownies I made?)

2) I’m also not saying we, as parents, should stop serving veggies and fruit in a traditional way. Some kids will never eat spinach/broccoli/berries/whatever, not matter how you serve it up, how much cheese sauce you pour on it, or how many times you try to persuade them to eat it.

3) As head chef, I’ve never reviewed my choice of cooking/baking ingredients with the kids, so why start now? When I make breaded chicken strips I don’t bother to tell them I make the bread crumbs out of toasted whole grain bread, nor do I tell them I’ve added several heaping spoonfuls of ground flax seed. I don’t think I’m tricking anyone, it’s just how things are made around here.

Ok. Done. :)

Let me know if you try the recipe!

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