Smoothies

I love smoothies. Not just in the summer but year round. They are easy to make, affordable, healthy and wonderful for a quick meal, and for me, often an on-the go meal. I recently had a client who asked about iron and how to get more iron into her son's diet. Now, please don't check out on this next comment. If you throw in a handful of spinach to any smoothie, you'll add iron. Not only iron but fiber, calcium, protein and many vitamins. Your smoothie WILL turn green but I promise you will not taste the Spinach. Now, if you throw in Kale instead, you will most likely taste the green. I know Kale is a huge "trend" green right now but when you compare the two, Kale isn't superior to Spinach, it's just different. So when doing smoothies, add Spinach, not Kale, unless you don't mind the "green" taste.

Another reason I add Spinach to my smoothies is I do not always eat my greens every day otherwise. Some days I go without making a salad or having vegetables. If I throw them into a smoothie, where I try to have a smoothie a day, I know I'm getting greens. By the way, Costco sells Organic Spinach in the bulk. Best place to buy it. Lastly, if I have a smoothie, especially for breakfast, I find it helps me keep a cleaner diet through that day. It's like starting your day off with a workout. If you do, your chances of staying on track eating wise is pretty good. For me, the smoothie does the same thing. If I start off with a good nutritious smoothie, I'll be more conscious of what I'm eating the rest of the day. 

Okay to the recipes: my favorite right now is of course the Pumpkin Pie Smoothie. All recipes are to serve 1 big glass. Eat it as a meal. 

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

½ cup pumpkin puree (again, Costco has a 6 pack of organic pumpkin puree right now)

1 banana

½ cup ice cubes

4 dates, pitted and chopped (trader joes, good place to buy)

handful of Spinach

*optional but I like-1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch ground nutmeg

 pinch of ginger

*Or sub Cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger for 1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie seasoning

The other smoothie I'll include in this entry is the Gingerbread Smoothie. It's almost a dessert in a glass. I love it! 

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 teaspoon unsulfured molasses

4 dates, pitted and chopped

handful of Spinach

1 Banana

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Pinch of nutmeg

½ cup ice cubes

Let me know what you think. Be creative. Toss whatever you like in a blender with preferably a plant-based milk. I'm not a big milker but if you drink milk, cool, you can use that to. Just try the Spinach. If you don't like green, just close your eyes and your taste buds will never know:) 

Enjoy!