Many people know that they need to eat more fruits and veggies. But if you didn’t grow up eating them, you probably don’t like them…and it’s pretty difficult to consistently eat something you don’t enjoy.
Here’s my favorite way to get lots of vital vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber into both me and my kids:
A smoothie!
You don’t have to be a good cook, and you don’t have to hold your nose and choke them down. Just throw all the ingredients into your blender and push the “on” switch!
What you need:
- a good, strong blender (like a Vitamix or Blendtec)
- fresh fruit (whatever you like–we usually use banana, kiwi, apple, orange, peach, berries, etc)
- fresh baby spinach (or carrots, or both)
- frozen fruit (or ice)
- low-fat or fat-free yogurt (we use soy yogurt)
- a spoonful of frozen orange juice concentrate
- water
- optional (ground flax seed, soy protein powder…the options are endless!)
Dump all the ingredients into your blender, process, and then enjoy!
Tips:
- Add more fruit than you do spinach, especially at first–I usually do about 2/3 fruit : 1/3 spinach or carrots.
- If you don’t want it to look green, add berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc). They’ll turn it into a nice, rich, red color.
My kids and I enjoy a fruit-spinach smoothie almost every day. We change it up frequently based on ingredients at hand and what we’re in the mood for that day, but the above recipe is by far the most common at the Richie house.
We all need more fruits and veggies. Until you develop a taste for them (which CAN happen–I know from experience!), this is the easiest way to give your body the nutrients it needs. We eat lots of veggies at meal times, too–but this is our daily “treat” that I can always fall back on, just in case.
Smoothies are far superior to juice, because you’re getting the whole fruit–including the fiber and nutrients from the skin or peel. Whole fruits are much healthier than just the juice.
If you try it, let me know what ingredients or additions you put in and how it turned out!
Copyright 2017 by Laura Richie