My children love smoothies… and so do I.
I sometimes make smoothies as a meal replacement, and when I do, I try to make them as healthy as possible. My ND gave me a recipe for a smoothie called “Primordial Ooze,” but I just couldn’t get past the consistency. It had hemp seeds, cilantro, parsley, avocado… in addition to other things. Obviously, from the name, one could probably guess it was very ooze like. I just couldn’t do it.
So… I revamped the recipe to make it more “kid and Megan” friendly. For all of you parents out there, my children love the revamped version. It’s a great way to sneak some more veggies, fiber, and some good Omega 3′s into their diets.
2 cups unsweetened almond milk
5 medium to large frozen strawberries
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1/2 a ripe banana
handful of spinach
1 1/2 tsp ground flax meal
1 tsp dulse flakes (dried seaweed)
Put all of the above ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. If desired, add more almond milk to adjust the consistency.
This will make about two servings (or a large glass for me, and a mini glass for my mini-me!)
I’m sure many of you are curious about the dulse flakes (dried seaweed). You really can’t tell there is seaweed in this smoothie… promise. What I can tell you are that dulse flakes contains high levels of iodine, as well as calcium, iron, manganese, magnesium, potassium, and zinc. It has vitamins A, C, E, and most of the B vitamins, including B6 and B12. So, as you can see… you can’t go wrong adding a teaspoon of seaweed here, and a teaspoon of seaweed there. Especially when you can sneak it in your diet without noticing it.
I purchase my dulse flakes from my ND’s office (Soaring Crane Clinic), although, you can also order them through Mountain Rose Herbs.
If I am eating this as a meal replacement, I normally grab a handful of nuts to go with it.
Megan
Oh I tried primordial ooze once too…it took me all day to gag it down! One thing about it is that it got me working on my creativity and I discovered that cucumber works really well in fruit smoothies too. You just have to make sure not to add too much or it will taste like cucumber. Kelp powder is also available at Summit Spice and Tea in Anchorage.
I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who had a hard time with the ooze factor! Thanks for the great suggestions. I'll have to try the cucumber!
Yum, spinach smoothies! I love mine and times where I used to crave chocolate or a good hard drink I find myself craving it instead…I go heavy on the spinach (fill the salad spinner, take out enough for Dan's lunch and put the rest in my smoothie) and use the frozen mixed fruit from costco…First time I fed one to Dan he called it 'death by vegetables!' Funny as he is vegetarian…