Olivia's Smoothies

It has been 3 years (almost to the day!) since I first shared about green monster smoothies.  Michael and I use to drink them all of the time.  We haven't been drinking them lately, but we have passed on the smoothie love to Olivia.  She drinks them multiple times a week.

A "green monster" means different things to different people.  Basically it is a smoothie with whatever you want to put in it and then (usually) spinach as the green.  The purpose behind them is that it is a good way to get your leafy greens in.  You can't taste them and they go down so smooth.  Plus, who doesn't love a yummy smoothie?

I have been asked about Olivia's smoothie and/or green monsters multiple times  in the last few months, so I decided I'd just go ahead and share.

No two smoothies are exactly alike, but there are a few common denominators.

I always put a banana in.  I think it hides the taste of the spinach the best.  For Olivia, I sometimes use half of a banana and freeze the other part.  It depends on what else I am putting in it.  This time I used a whole banana because I was making her a smoothie as a meal replacement--breakfast.

You may remember that the doctor said to feed Olivia avocado.  Since she doesn't drink cows milk we had to be mindful of giving her healthy fats.  Well, she is not an avocado fan. So in the smoothie they go.  Depending on the size, I either put half of one or a quarter of one.

Next up is the spinach--stems and all.  I don't measure, I just put a fair amount in.  (Not too much though--I still have to change her diapers!!)  I have put small amounts of kale in, but it's not the norm.  It's a good source of iron though, so I do buy it occasionally.

Normally I put a little thing of carrots in, but Michael fed her dinner last night and gave them to her. She has refused to eat them for months now (which is why they go in the smoothie), but ate them fine last night.  Oddly enough, she has decided that mandarin oranges are no longer a favorite.  So I saved them from a meal yesterday and in they went.  I often joke with Olivia that she better not decide that she's no longer eating fish--or her smoothie is going to get really nasty! ;)

Lastly I threw in some frozen mango (sometimes it's peaches) and some orange juice and blended it up.  I have made it with milk in the past, but since she is liking orange juice these days I go with it.  It also helps hide any tastes.  I usually put her vitamins in here too.  I'm going to post about those another time.

Then I blend it all up

Mmmmm!

She loves them!  (Yes, she is wearing Christmas pajamas in April!)

One batch usually fills that take-n-go up and then there is enough for a half a cup refill.

I usually only give these for breakfast or an after nap snack.  I don't want to take the risk of any bad diapers during nap.

Other things that I have added--blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, apple (peel and all), pear (peel and all), a squash and pea food pouch she didn't like (didn't like it in the smoothie either), coconut, and a Lara bar (not recommended).  I plan on adding coconut oil to it, but currently the only coconut oil in the house is in the shower.  Yep, that's a whole other post too! :)