Super-Healthy Summer Smoothie Recipe

 

Since I am knee-deep in finishing up a really fun but big DIY project in my kitchen this week that has consumed most of my time but isn’t ready for its “reveal”, I thought today I would share how I make an easy, summer smoothie.

I have both my version and the variation I make for my kids, since after all they are kids and mine would win the picky-eaters-of-the-universe award. I do sneak some healthy stuff in their version and they are still a big hit in my house, so keep reading if you have kids around.

But first of all, here is the story behind these drinks. If you are a regular reader you know that I am battling chronic Lyme disease {you can read the whole story here}, and in my effort to beat it my challenge is to get my immune system functioning correctly again. My health regime includes many things in addition to how I eat, and I am going to put together a post in the next few weeks about why I eat the way I do because of the tremendous impact it has on my overall health. I am committed to giving my body all the extra nutrition I can to help it function in the best possible way it can.  So, for those of you reading this who may have any type of health condition–be it autoimmune, a disease, a chronic illness or just an unknown ailment, I’d highly recommend adding in as much pure, nutritional goodness as you can, it certainly can’t hurt! So, all that being said and not to scare anyone but here is what goes into my smoothie…

 

Yes, I basically take all this you see above and throw it into a blender! I am not going to give you a specific recipe since I vary it based on what I have on hand but overall they seem to taste very similar no matter what I include or omit.  I am sure I just lost the majority of you reading this post, but I promise once it is all mixed together it is really very good. For the most part, it tastes like a blueberry-flavored applesauce.

I always mix in a combination of green apples {usually 2 or 3}, a huge bunch of fresh spinach, some romaine lettuce if I have it on hand, about a cup of frozen blueberries and the juice of one lemon. I also add in a handful of cilantro because it has detoxification benefits which I need, though I’d consider this completely optional as it can be overpowering {skip that for kids, more on that in a minute} and not to everyone’s taste. I make sure that everything is organic and pre-washed. Sometimes I add some ice, but I don’t know that it’s essential, and since I store mine for a day or so, I often just leave it out.

 

Believe it or not, it all doesn’t look green mixed when mixed but comes out a nice dark blue color due to blueberries.  I do mix mine in a Vitamix, which I broke down and purchased primarly for this purpose, but for many months I used a food processor and it worked fine, too. I purchased my Vitamix here and feel like it was a very good deal:

 

 

I make a large batch of these every few days and store them in mason jars in the fridge, I drink one or two a day usually as a snack between meals. I figure the extra nutrition is only going to help, and I admit I feel completely virtuous after I drink one, not to mention it keeps me from snacking on less nutritious food. You can also do this in a juicer if you have one, but I prefer {and need} to have the calories from all the fiber a juicer would cut out, but that is another option.

 

 

OK, so that is the adult version but now that it’s summer, I also mix up a batch {or modify what I made for me} for my kids. They come in throughout the day hot and thirsty and I found that they were going through entirely too much juice or sports-type drinks and sugary popsicles, so it was easy to make extra of this for them to snack on, and even (yay) sneak more fruit into their diet.

 

 

I ordered these cute popsicle molds HERE, and just fill them with the smoothie mix and then freeze. For the kids I use an assortment of frozen berries–again the same blueberries but I add in other types too, just whatever I have on hand. I mix them up with apples, a handful of spinach {please don’t tell them that!}, lemon juice, a banana and possibly some avocado if I have it around.  To thin it so they can “drink” it, I add a small amount of organic lemonade. These have been a huge hit!

 

 

In addition to freezing them, I also have served this with dinner as a special “drink” like the batch below. These were a huge hit–my son and his friend came in from playing basketball today right after I photographed them and they polished these off in a matter of seconds with no clue they drank spinach {Shhh….!}

 

 

I have gotten in the habit of mixing a batch of these up every day or so, and just keep the ingredients on my shopping list so we’re always stocked up. Not only are they refreshing and really good for you but you’ll feel like you did something wonderful for YOU {I am going to go out on a limb and say we all need to do more wonderful things for ourselves! 🙂 }. I’ll be back with a follow-up post on my whole eating plan in the next week or two–once I dig out of this kitchen project out once and for all, yikes!

Have a wonderful day everyone!

 

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