Eating His Greens!

Do you see the green?!!!!!

Okay, so you have to peer through the red around Levi's mouth to actually catch the green.  The kid loves all things red, but green....ha!  He won't touch green.  That is...until now.  Thanks to Hannah from Mulberry Spot, I've got Levi eating his leafy greens.  Her green smoothies inspired me to make one more attempt at getting the greens in this kid.  Y'all, I was seriously beginning to doubt that I would ever see the day.  Turns out that he LOVES them.  Of course, it probably helps that I tell him it's ice cream.  Teeny tiny lies are not beneath me.

Here's how I make mine...

Ingredients:
Kale (you can also use spinach)
1/2 a cup or so of juice (your choice)
Frozen bananas
Other frozen fruits

The amounts involved depend on how much you want to make.  This really isn't an exact science.

Trim the tough stems off of the kale.  Pack your blender with kale.  Pour in about 1/2 a cup of juice (you can use water but the end result isn't as sweet).  Blend until smooth.  If you are having trouble getting the kale to blend, add a little more juice or water.  Once the kale is well blended (it will look like a green juice) slowly add frozen bananas and/or other frozen fruits until you have as much smoothie as you want.

Using all frozen fruits creates a thicker texture which can be passed off as ice cream...if your kid is like mine.  However, feel free to substitute fresh fruits for a more smoothie-like texture.

Note: If you add colorful fruits, your smoothie will turn funky colors.  We don't mind oddly colored "ice cream" around here.  If you want it green though, stick with white and yellow fruits like bananas, mangoes, and pineapples.

And, for more green smoothie ideas, check out this ode to green smoothies.

P.S. This is an excellent way for pregnant mamas to get their greens too.  If you're like me, pregnancy = an uncharacteristic dislike of all things leafy.