Have you joined the green smoothie revolution yet? I love them. We all know we have to eat greens, but sitting down to a large bowl of spinach is not always possible (or fun). Green smoothies are a great way to get a big dose of vitamins and minerals in a form that is easy to digest. They are different to freshly squeezed juices, because you use the whole food and the fibre is still intact. They are fantastic if you feel a cold coming on or you are feeling a bit rundown. I absolutely love the flavours in this one I have come up with. Not too sweet, but with a nice zing from the mint. If you don’t like mint, this recipe is also really yummy with a half a lime (with skin) instead of the mint.

I need to mention green tea. I hate the stuff. It tastes like grass to me!! But, I know the health benefits are substantial. So, I was looking for ways to drink it, without drinking it. Then it came to me – hide it in a smoothie! Genius (if I do say so myself!). Now, if you want to get reaaaaaaally tricky, you could make up a heap of green tea ice cubes and use them!

Ready to make it? This recipe will give you enough smoothie for two to three large glasses.

Pineapple Green Tea Green Smoothie

Vital Stats: Gluten Free, Grain Free, Nut Free, Egg Free, Vegan

Okay, so this what you need:

300g of fresh, ripe pineapple

1 pear

large handful of baby spinach leaves (I like spinach because it doesn’t have a strong flavour – in fact, you can’t even taste it!)

half a handful of fresh mint (I throw in the stalks too)

1/2 cup green tea (made with two organic green tea bags and cooled down)

2 teaspoons of Inliven (or other green powder), optional

large handful of ice

So, this is what you do:

Chop up the fruit roughly and chuck everything into your thermomix or strong blender. Whizz the heck out of it. I like to go slowly up to speed 10 and then blend for about one and a half to two minutes, just to make sure it’s all smooth. Pour into glasses :

the mummy glass or

the kiddy glass !!

Actually I use the kiddy glass a lot too. It’s a fabulous insulated BPA free tumbler from Oggi with a screw on lid and a non-spill straw. You can get them from kitchen stores. Perfect for green smoothies on the go too. Sip one on your way to work in the car instead of that coffee!

Now, a chat about kids and green smoothies. Is it universal that kids have an aversion to green? Or is it just that their young palates prefer sweet things? Anyhow, I had to use all my clever mum tricks on mine before they grew to love green smoothies.

Spinach in my drink??? they cried ! Are you serious??? I am sooooo not drinking that !!!

The next time I made a green smoothie, I put it into stainless steel travel mugs. Here darlings, try this lovely smoothie I made you – just keeping it cold in the travel cup.

Mmmmmm yummy they say. Open the lid I say! Ha Ha…… green smoothie. One point to Mum!

Now, they happily drink green smoothies (as long as I use spinach – some other greens are really bitter and they really make a fuss about that!). Try it out on your kids – you might need a bit of clever marketing – younger kids might think alien juice is pretty cool! It is a fantastic way to boost their daily nutritional intake or to use as a meal replacement if they are feeling a bit sick.

If you would like some more ideas for green smoothies, the fabulous Jess Ainscough at The Wellness Warrior is giving away a FREE ebook filled with over 80 green smoothie recipes. I downloaded it. Awesome.

So, if you enjoyed this, let me know! Do you have a favourite green smoothie recipe? I would love to hear it.

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