Day Eleven

My kids are addicted to juice. As a new mother, that didn't know any better, I got them started on juice habit way too early. In an attempt to repent for my prior mistakes, I've switched them from apple juice to V8 V-Fusion. Its not a perfect solution, but its better than the other alternatives. They love this stuff and it does have a decent amount vitamins and minerals, so I don't feel overly guilty about it. Probably the most frequently question I'm asked is "why don't you just drink a V8?" This question, along with any others you may have will be answered in an upcoming Q & A post. I've been collecting your questions and now's the time to ask any more that you may have! They don't even have to be about smoothies! Anything you want to know!

Ok, back to business. I have one son who will eat his weight in fresh fruit and cherry tomatoes. However, this one does not like smoothies. Go figure. I allow him a little lenience because he does get a lot of raw goodness in otherwise. My older son, however, would live on PB&J and chicken nuggest if I allowed it. Thankfully, he's the one that loves smoothies. I just love it when things work out for me this way!

So, in an attempt to find the perfect smoothie for my youngest son (ie, one he'll actually drink without arguement) I decided to try to recreate his beloved V8. The flavor I modeled today's smoothie after was the Strawberry Banana. These are the ingredients as listed on the side of the bottle:

reconstituted vegetable juice blend (water and concnerated juices of sweet potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, beets), reconstituted fruit juice blend (water and concentrated juices of white grapes, oranges, apples, strawberries and clarified bananas), contains less than 2% of the following ingredients: natural flavoring, banana puree, malic acid, vitamin c (ascorbic acid), citric acid, vitamin e (apha tocopheryl acetate).

Ok, not too bad. But I'm quite sure I can do better with my vita-mix. So this is what I blended:

• A handful of butternut squash chuncks (purchased at costco) (approx 8 1" cubes)
• 1 medium carrot washed, unpeeled
• 5 -6 cherry tomatoes
• a small piece of beet
• 1 cup of water
• 1 cup of oganic OJ
• 1 whole apple
• 2 bananas
• 2 large handfuls of frozen strawberries

And guess what??? My youngest gave it a thumbs up! He didn't drink a lot of it, but he rarely drinks or eats much in one sitting. He's more of a grazer. But he liked it and asked if I'd make it everyday. I don't think I'll go that far, but this recipe is definitely a keeper. My husband enjoyed it, despite the fact that it wasn't green. But he did say "just don't tell me what's in it". I told him not to read my blog. To which he answered "I don't". LOL! So go smack your forehead and say "Doh, I coulda had a V8!"