Green Smoothie Recipes

Since I've had a few requests for more info about green smoothies, I thought I'd better follow through and post some ideas!

For our typical 4 person smoothie, we add:
2 ripe bananas (ones with brown specks tastes the sweetest).
3 handfuls or more of raw spinach (Costco's organic) &/or kale &/or swiss chard (any work but these have the best taste to us)! (If your family is new to green smoothies start out with one handfull and maybe 2-3 ripe bananas and work up).
2 handfulls of baby carrots (we get the huge bag of organic from Costco) or more.
1 orange or 1/2 a lemon or some fresh pineapple (get creative - whatever you happen to have)
1-2 cups of frozen mixed fruit or berries (organic berries are best b/c berries tend to be high in pesticides)
1/4 cup ground flax seed (flax meal)
water (probably about a cup)

We usually blend the greens and the bananas down with some water first and then add all the other ingredients.

**The "base" to a green smoothie at our house is greens and bananas with water. Add whatever your family likes and keep a variety. Play around with ratios.
**For added sweetness we sometimes add 1 teaspoon of almond butter (Other healthy sweetners include real maple syrup (grade A or B), raw honey, or agave. These won't cause a spike in blood sugar, inhibit immune response, or act as toxins to your system (as sugar and artificial sweetners do, respectively). You can also add applesauce, yogurt, or kefir.
**This is the first thing the kids taste in the morning (other than plain fruit), but we also have these in the afternoon/evening. Sometimes we add a tomato or other veg.

Hope this helps you get started! Happy blending.