Day Eighty

In an attempt to commemorate yesterday's junior high indulgence, I thought making a Bloody Mary. My one and only smoothie with Mustard Greens (inedible) was so peppery that I thought to myself "Hhhmm, that would make one kick @$$ Bloody Mary." Except here's the kicker: I'm not normally a big fan of Bloody Marys so I'm not so sure how, in my mind, this was a good idea. I've had one really really good Bloody Mary in my life. ONE. That was probably about 15 years ago or so. What in the name of Henry made me believe I could recreate it? So today I tried:

• 3 roma tomatoes
• 1 carrot
• 1 stalk celery
• 2 mustard greens leaves
• 1 handful of spinach
• 5 large strawberries
• 1 apple
• water
• ICE

It was bad. Like not just "oh, well that's not very good." More like, "Oh Holy mother of Greg, what the hell WAS that?" Just in case it was just me, I took a cup to my husband and said "here try this before I dump it out." He took one sip and made me swear on our marriage that I'd never do that to him again. I guess he didn't like it. In fact, he wouldn't even talk to me until I took the cup out of the room and brought him something to "wash that awful taste" out of his mouth. So, we're drinking the rest of yesterday's smoothie and I'll make up another one later tonight. Live and learn. : )

Day Fifty eight

I did not make or even sip a smoothie until 10pm tonight. But no fear, I got the whole quart in at one sitting. But now my stomach is sloshing a bit. EEK. I still haven't brought the spinach in from the garage, and I was unwilling to experiment with mustard greens again tonight. So I made another neon pink smoothie instead:

• 2 c coconut water
• 2 c OJ
• 1/4 of a frozen beet
• 1 carrot
• handful of frozen strawberries
• handful of frozen pineapple

I really enjoyed this one. The subtle hint of pineapple was very refreshing!

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!"

Day Six

Oh how I wish I wish I had a camera to show you today's smoothie. Its neon pink. Truly. Like Wet 'n Wild lip gloss circa 1984. Honestly. Husband isn't too excited about the broken camera. I mean there are three of them sitting on the desk in front of me right now. They are all dead. I can't understand why he's upset. I'm doing my best to butter him up for a new one though. Preparing his favorite meals, offering "special favors". Oh sorry. TMI? (I'm KIDDING! Hi Mom!) :D

Ahem, ok on to the smoothie! We're nearing the end of the first week and you know what that means, right? It means we're nearing the end of my produce supply. The kids requested a "smoothie that isn't green" today. Oh, did I mention we're a homeschooling family? No? Ok, so we're a homeschooling family. And smoothies are a big part of our day. We took a month long break ~ from school AND from smoothies during the holidays and getting back into our routine this week has proven to me more challenging than I thought. So, in an effort to get them more on board with the smoothies (they are required to drink them, but honestly Mommy has a much better day when I don't have listen to the whining and negotiating (can I just drink two tomorrow?) and mumbling and the grumbling) I decided to honor their request. They just said it couldn't be green (or have leaves in it *snicker*), they didn't say it couldn't be choke full of healthy goodness! So I grabbed some stuff out of my freezer and off we went!

• The rest of the box of rice milk (approx a cup or so)
• one apple, chopped
• a handful of mixed frozen fruit (strawberries, pineapple, grapes & peaches ~ bag bought at walmart)
• a handful of frozen cherries
• a carrot
• a 1/4 of a beet (frozen)
• some OJ to keep it all movin' in the blender
• a squirt of agave

A beet???? Yes, a beet. I buy a bunch at a time, trim of the greens (keep those for green smoothies!) and cut the beets into quarters then put them in a ziploc and into the freezer they go! I don't use them all of the time, but they do show up in smoothies occasionally. They do have an earthy flavor and while I don't mind it, a little squirt of agave is enough to mask it for the kids. Enjoy!