Smoothies

So after reading Victoria’s post on her Lily love Lola blog I was inspired to try a green monster smoothie which she discovered on this website.

It contains spinach, banana and milk and she said that it didn’t taste like spinach but like banana which is good because I’m not a fan of my veggies but I love bananas.

So off I trotted down to Asda for some spinach and couldn’t wait to try it out. I only have a hand blender so couldn’t use ice in the smoothie as it would probably break it so in went spinach, banana, milk and I blended it together.

It turned out looking like this (ok this isn't my photo):

Photo from: http://greenmonstermovement.com/

After looking at it for about 15 minutes and having the odd sniff (hmmm it defiantly only smells of banana) I took the plunge and had a gulp.......and you can taste the spinach but only just, the banana defiantly masks the majority of it but it is drinkable. I think next time I’ll make a smaller one as I’m not a smoothie fan anyway but I’ll defiantly try one of these again.

Nutritional benefits

Spinach:

• Very High in calcium (strong bones and teeth)
• Folic acid (helps for health red blood cells and reduces neural tube defects in unborn babies)
• Vitamin K (helps blood to clot which heals wounds)
• Iron (makes red blood cells)
• Rich in vitamin c (helps to absorb iron and helps to boost your immunity)
• Fibre (helps the digestive system)
• Carotenoids (antioxidants)
• Full of energy

Bananas:

• High in potassium (reduces high blood pressure)
• Contains vitamin B6 (boosts immunity)

Milk:

• Very high in calcium (strong bones and teeth)
• Source of vitamin A (important for immunity and helps vision)
• Vitamin B6 (helps to store and use energy and helps blood to move oxygen around the body)
• Phosphorous (strong bones and teeth and releases energy from food)
• Magnesium (converts food into energy and regulates the gland that produces hormones for bone health)
• Protein (helps repair cells and to stimulate growth)
• Zinc (makes new cells for the body, helps to process carbs, fats and protein and helps to health wounds)
• Riboflavin (helps to absorb iron, produce plant steroids and red blood cells and helps eyes, skin and the nervous system healthy)

Overall the green monster is a great way to get all your essential vitamins and minerals and to help with your daily 5 a day fruit and veg intake.

Hope I haven’t bored you all to death with the mini biology lesson!

(Facts from: http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/healthydiet/nutritionessentials/vitaminsandminerals/)