Romaine and Mixed Berry Green Smoothie

Ingredients

2 bananas broken into 2 inch pieces (I like frozen ones better)
1 tablespoon organic flax seed oil
1- 2 cups frozen blueberries or mixed berries
1 handful of romaine, tear apart to fit into blender
1 teaspoon of dried concentrated green powder (optional)
1/4 cup of dried or fresh coconut
Enough liquid, either purified water, coconut milk or nut milk to cover lettuce
Stevia to taste (optional)

Directions

   1. Put all ingredients in a high speed blender.

   2. Add enough water so that all ingredients are covered.

   3. Blend well, you may have to use a spatula and push ingredients into the blade, stop and start blender.

   4. You may want to add a little more water if you like your smoothie thinner.

This is a great way to add leafy greens to your daily diet. This recipe is a perfect green smoothie starter and as you can see from the picture - green smoothies aren't always green.  My granddaughters absolutely love this one. When they visited for a week this spring, they went home and told their mother they liked Nanny's green smoothies better. It was probably just the stevia but taste before adding the stevia to see if it needs sweetening. I will add fresh pineapple if I can find organic at a reasonable price. Lots of recipes for green smoothies call for adding raw ground or whole flax seed. This is a good way to get your Omega 3's, but flax seeds, in my opinion, make it too thick and yucky. I've had to throw out more than one smoothie when I was trying to decide whether to use the flax seeds or the oil. I also like to buy bananas in a bunch and freeze them in freezer bags just for smoothies. I break them into halves so they fit and blend nicely.

The beauty of green smoothies is you are getting not only the raw enzymes, but by "blending" the greens and fruit you are breaking open the cellular matrix which means your body will more quickly absorb nutrients and increase the bioavailability of the phytonutrients, antioxidants, fresh enzymes, minerals and vitamins. This recipe will fill a regular blender and if the grandkids aren't here to share it with me, I will sip on it through the morning and even into the afternoon. It's best to drink as soon as possible to retain all the nutritional benefits, but putting part of it covered and in the refrigerator while you drink the rest of it is still workable.

Most green smoothie websites and/or books will tell you that you need a Vita Mix blender. These are expensive and so far our high-powered Osterizer works fine.

Our granddaughters enjoying their "purple" green smoothies.