Friday Favorite: I Can’t Believe I’m Recommending This

Ok, let’s get something straight here.

I am not a health food girl.

For me, the phrases “this is super healthy” and “this tastes delicious” do not belong together in the same sentence. Or even the same paragraph, really.

Ok, so maybe I’m exaggerating a little. I do like some healthy food. I love fruit. And the older I get, the more I appreciate vegetables and fresh, whole foods. But generally speaking, my experience with “super” healthy foods that supposedly “taste awesome” has been…disappointing.

However, ever since Lily’s chompers first came in and she started eating table food, I’ve been making a much more valiant effort to incorporate healthy, whole foods into our home.

I believe our bodies are temples and we have a responsibility to take care of them and fuel them properly. I believe that what we eat can make a difference in our physical AND mental health.

I want to eat healthy…I just want it to taste good!

And I know the two things are not mutually exclusive – but it takes some experimenting to find recipes that are healthy and excite the taste buds.

So I was, admittedly, a little skeptical when I ran across this recipe for a “Green Monster Smoothie” the other day on one of my favorite food blogs.

Source: iowagirleats.com via Amy on Pinterest

 

I mean…really? A spinach smoothie?

And she swears that “it doesn’t taste healthy at all” and she “almost feels guilty enjoying one of these babies, as it tastes like a sweet, indulgent ice cream shake”.

REALLY?

I was skeptical.

But intrigued. So I gave it a try, and

OH. MY. WORD. SO. GOOD.

Now you understand why I had to give you all that background about me not liking healthy food because you need to believe me when I tell you that this ACTUALLY tastes good! I’m not sure I would go so far as to call it a “sweet, indulgent ice cream shake”, but it is HANDS DOWN one of the best tasting smoothies I have ever had.

However, I knew it still had to pass muster with arguably the most discerning food critic in our house.

This girl can eat her body weight in chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese but practically has to be force fed her vegetables every day. Fruit is not an issue, she eats MORE than the slot allotted on the food pyramid for that, but vegetables are an entirely different story.

If I could find a way to get her to eat spinach that didn’t involve plugging her nose and chugging glass after glass of water, well, I would be all over that.

So I made up this concoction with some slight modifications and let me tell you…it was a winner.

I lost count of the number of times she thanked me for “making her a special smoothie”. And she has asked me daily since then if I would make her another one. You bet, baby girl

You can find the original recipe here. This will give you a practically neon green looking smoothie. I wasn’t sure Lily would be able to get past the color, so I subbed 1 cup of frozen mixed berries for 1 cup of the spinach and it turned a beautiful, girly purple.

If you’ve got a little boy,  who knows? Maybe you can convince them the green will turn them into the Incredible Hulk or something and they’ll think it’s super cool

So that’s my Friday Favorite. A spinach smoothie. WHO KNEW?

What about you? Any healthy recipes up your sleeve that actually taste good?