Smoothie love

A few years ago my mom gave me a blender for Christmas, and to be honest, I haven't used it that much since then.  Until now, that is.  I have a new-found love for smoothies!  And my kids go nuts over them!  The best part is that I can have a whole salad in a smoothie - I can drink it down conveniently while holding my baby at the same time.  This has become a favorite start to the day and gives me such an energy boost!

I haven't really looked up any recipes, I've kinda been creating my own based on what I have in my fridge at the moment and what I know is healthy.  I wanted a chocolately smoothie this morning, so I came up with this:

1 banana

2 tbsp cocoa

2 tbsp ground almond

2 tbsp wheat germ

a cup (or more) of vanilla soy milk (I try to only use organic soy products if I use them)
and here's my favorite part...

2 generous handfuls of fresh spring mix greens

Blend it to the consistency you like and drink up the goodness!!  A few cubes of ice makes it frosty cold and slightly more liquid.

If you like, you can always add peanut butter to this recipe to give it more of a nutty chocolately flavour.  And I prefer my foods with very little sugar or salt - I like to actually taste the food, not the seasoning - but you could add a little honey to this smoothie if you like the sweet.

I've found that mixing fruits and veg along with some fruit juice and greens makes a pretty tasty smoothie.  My kids love these and think they're special treats (well...they are).
My son, especially, sometimes has a hard time eating salad with a meal because the texture of the leaves is weird and takes some getting used to, so adding greens to his smoothie is an excellent way for him to get the same nutrition as he would get from a salad, and he doesn't even know it.  :)