Last week I started doing some research about how I could increase the amount of folic acid I'm taking in through foods, rather than through my vitamins, as my trusty old Flintstones had started making me slightly nauseous. I found that quite a few of the folic acid-rich foods are also acidic and they were therefore quickly crossed off my list--I'm struggling enough with my reflux these days! Through my reading, I found that spinach and kale are great sources of folic acid. Upon reading that, I remembered seeing posts about green smoothies floating across my Google Reader. I asked friends, searched online, and chatted with some people and got a good idea of what, exactly, goes into a green smoothie. The answer? Just about anything with some spinach!
I gathered information and, armed with that, headed to the grocery store. I decided on my grocery store when I saw that Meijer had spinach and strawberries as part of their $10 for 10 items and get the 11th item free promotion. I picked up some wheat germ at the suggestion of a coworker and passed on a flaxseed (which apparently has mixed reviews for pregnant women) and grabbed some Greek yogurt. Last night I took some almost-spoiled strawberries, washed, and froze them. They'll be perfect for smoothies.
This morning in the midst of running around getting Baby Girl and myself ready for the day (The Hubby had to go to work very early, so I was totally thrown off--he usually does most of the prep in the mornings!) I retrieved my smoothie maker from the basement and started tossing in ingredients. It took awhile to figure out the proportions of ingredients to make it into an actual drink, but once I got there, it was actually pretty yummy. I'll be trying more flavors in the future (only used strawberries today) and also might try my actual blender. The smoothie maker didn't do a great job chopping up the spinach or strawberries in places. Although the chunks of strawberries weren't unpleasant, the chunks of spinach sort of were...
I'm pleased to report that this also gets the Baby Girl Seal of Approval. She saw my drink and wanted to try it, so I let her. She even came back for a second drink! Her only complaint was while I was blending. She came into the kitchen and said, "I can't hear the TV." Kiddo, Mickey Mouse can wait--mama is making something yummy!
Have you ever had a green smoothie? If so, what do you put in yours? If you haven't tried it, it's a great way to get extra nutrition into your breakfast and you can't even tell there's spinach in there except for the green color!
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We do smoothies every morning. DH is currently adding different things in his to get extra added veggies, like carrots. He also puts in a protein powder in his (I don't need the extra protein), but that's not recommended for pregnant women, so it wouldn't work for you! He has a recipe that uses Spinach, peanut butter, a banana, greek yogurt, and Almond Breeze milk. It's pretty tasty.
I do not recommend clementines in your smoothie. My blender wasn't able to cut up all the little pieces of it. I also don't recommend almonds because it leaves little "bits" in your smoothie and doesn't go down as easily.
We like using a splash of oj in ours, too. Easy way to get a little vitamin c and calcium (if you use the kind with calcium added). But, you're totally right...I've never been able to taste the spinach at all in my smoothies.
You mentioned kale...have you ever tried making kale chips before? Just spread it out on a cookie sheet, add some spices and bake until they turn crispy. Delicious. And an easy way to get folic acid and stay away from potato chips! :)
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