Playing Catch Up and the Not-So-Green Monster Smoothie Recipe

Hi friends! I think we need to play a little catch up, don’t you?

Here we go!

1. Are you in to Downtown Abbey? I started watching it a few weeks ago and have finally finished season one. At first, I didn’t think I was sophisticated and cool enough to “get it,” but after the third episode, I was hooked. The show makes me want to write in cursive, sit up straight and take tea. I heart Mr. Bates!

2. Speaking of TV, Jake and I have decided to cancel our satellite subscription and have moved on to streaming tv shows and movies through Roku. Since we rarely have time to just veg out and watch TV, I think it’s a good fit for us. I like it, but it’s going to be an adjustment. Most importantly, it’s going to save us a ton of money!

3. My best friend, Melissa, has started writing a blog! She’s a great writer and has a great story to tell, so check it out! (www.whenlovecame.blogspot.com)

4. On Saturday, our photo disc from {two}chics arrived in the mail. You might remember that a few weeks ago Jessica with {two}chics wrote a guest post about how to take great pictures of kids. (Missed it? Check it out here.) Here are a few of my favorites from the shoot:

6. I’m so excited about my first giveaway that’s coming up! I hope you come back to check it out!

7. Owen has decided to become an, ahem, selective eater over the past few weeks, and instead of force feeding him, I am now going to sneak vegetables in to his diet any way I know how. Brandy at Mannly Mama does a great Toddler Dinner segment on her blog, and I’ve gotten a lot of tips from her, but since she has an older toddler, Owen isn’t quite ready for some of her tried and true methods. Enter the Green Monster Smoothie.

I found the recipe on Pinterest, but didn’t follow it to a T, which is probably why Owen’s smoothie turned out blue instead of green. Anyway, you basically just blend up some fruit, yogurt, milk and spinach. (Melissa and I decided that you could add in carrots, too, since they’re kinda sweet, so I’m going to try that today.

Here’s the very unofficial recipe for the smoothie I made for Owen on Sunday:

Owen’s Not So Green Monster Smoothie

Half a frozen banana (chopped)
Three frozen strawberries (chopped)
A handful of frozen blueberries
A handful of baby spinach leaves
A splash of whole, organic milk
A small container of greek yogurt

Blend until smooth (hence the name “smoothie”) and enjoy!

Here’s a few lessons I learned, since I didn’t follow the recipe exactly.

1. It’s better to freeze the fruit you want to use so that you don’t have to include a lot of ice. I didn’t use any ice and it came out great.

2. BUT chop the fruit before you freeze it, or you’ll have a major traffic jam in your blender, which will result in you having to remove huge chunks of fruit and chop them anyway. So, better to do it before you have a huge mess on your hands. (Ha! Get it?) I know it’s probably the obvious thing to do, but I didn’t, so I’m sure someone else out there is as inept with a blender as me, right? I sure do hope so.

I plan to do this for Owen about twice a week. He loves it, it’s fun to make and it’s a great way to incorporate some much needed vegetables into his diet.

Do you have a good smoothie recipe to share? I think I’m going to start snacking with smoothies, too, so I’d love a new recipe!

All for now! Happy Tuesday!

Tagged as: blender, blogs, Children's Photography, downtown abbey, family photography, green monster smoothie, roku, smoothies, {two}chics photography