Last week Presley was at a naturopathic doctor appointment getting her blood drawn for a food allergy test. She has had issues with itchy scalp which left her head and neck with scratched and scabs. She was even sent to the school nurse to be checked for head lice, I checked her too because I couldn't figure it out. Her traditional doctor wanted to put her on a steroid, because she didn't know what it was (no thank you) and I was exacerbated having several home remedies with no success.
Dr. H asked me if she eats many berries. I said yes but not during the winter because I can't buy them organic. He said sure you can in the frozen section. I don't normally shop in the frozen section, unless it's coconut ice cream it was my understanding that frozen foods lost their nutrients. Yeah, I was completely wrong- shocking I know- hee hee. The berries are frozen as soon as they are picked so the breakdown of the fruit and nutrients is stopped therefore making them better than fresh ones (that are picked then transported to the store).
Dr. H said that making her a smoothie would help her get all of those great antioxidants berries are known for plus this solved our recent problem with her being bored with breakfast choices. I did a little research, asked a few of my friends what they put in theirs and then I started playing around with the mixtures. I'll add our favorite mixtures at the bottom. We're only 4 days in so I'm sure we'll come up with plenty more. Presley gets a different mixture than Mark and I, she likes hers sweeter than we do. One thing I've learned is you almost can't go wrong. That is unless you put fish oil in it!...
In picture #2 that is a powder of dried greens and lots of other goodies I have once a day. My girlfriend Kristin (hi!) had told me about it and she puts it in her smoothie. I had another friend, Heather (hi to you too!) check with her naturopathic group to see if they gave it the stamp of approval (because I just recently found out my previous fish oil has heavy metals in it= bad for me). She let me know that her group gave it a glowing review and she was now going to buy it too.
Day one I put this in my smoothie, and it didn't taste bad but it did change the taste of the smoothie. It reminds me of eating grass as a small child (you did that too right?) or wheat grass shots at Jamba Juice. What I have decided to do is take it like I do vodka, as a shot. I make a little shot with the green powder with 4 oz of chocolate almond milk, mix and chug it with a fruit smoothie chaser. This is not something I give Presley, well I tried but she wasn't going for it. But she takes her fish oil by the spoonful without too much complaining so I'll pick my battles.
The hardest part is cleaning my blender (not hard at all). Tonight tried my Magic Bullet that I had used for making Presley's baby food and it works like a dream and it's $45 at Costco. The great thing about the Magic Bullet is it's small and it helped me with making smaller portions.
If you don't think your kids will go for it, add a little flavoured yogurt. It for sure makes the mixture sweeter. We're thinking Presley has a dairy allergy so we are staying away from that but she does love chocolate almond milk in her smoothie and the banana makes it sweeter too. Presley eats a lot of fruit so it's one of the reasons I never did this before. But what I'm realizing is it's a great choice when fresh organic is hard to find and I can now give her some greens in another meal.
I have another girlfriend who does a lot of juicing and she's going to share some recipes (Hi Erin!). I'm so lucky to have such a great network of healthy friends that are willing to share with me. Thank you ladies.
Presley's smoothie:
1 cup chocolate almond milk
1 cup trader joes organic frozen berry (strawberries, blue berries, raspberries) mix
1/2 banana (doesn't need to be organic)
1 teaspoon almond butter
12 of a banana (these don't need to be organic)
1 teaspoon chia seeds
1/4 teaspoon pro biotic
spinach (I just grab a small amount)
My Smoothie:
1 cup almond milk unsweetened
1 cup trader joe's organic frozen berry (strawberries, blue berries, raspberries) mix
1 teaspoon almond butter
1 teaspoon chia seeds
1 teaspoon flax seed
1/4 teaspoon pro biotic
spinach, kale or brussel sprouts (those are the best greens for you so those are the ones I use)
If it's a little thick just add more almond milk. I'm still messing with the mixtures so my measurements may be a little off.