A familiar childhood treat is now (sort-of) Natural - Hello juice Otter Pops!!

This summer we discovered a treat that my kids love and I don't mind saying yes to.  A mommy friend brought a box of these juice treats to a pool party and I was surprised to see that they were Otter Pops!  

They had the original looking box and familiar flavors but without the old-school artificial dyes, sugar and general junk.  

Now I'm not saying they are healthy exactly, but they are made with water, apple juice and sugar (not HFCS).  And your kids won't end up with blue, red or green mouths! Which may be a drawback for some, ha!

The only trick was trying to find the juice version.  I went to a few major stores and grocery stores but no luck.  I finally found them at Costco (which by the way my friend had initially informed me they were from....whoops).  A big box of 80 pops for only $8, it's a steal!  

We are enjoying them at home and also with friends.  If we're having a pool play date I bring a bunch to share.  Lets just say they're a big hit!  And I love that any leftovers just go back in the freezer, no muss no fuss.

So go find some and don't forget to take a pair of scissors if you bring them to play dates, so much easier than using teeth...!

Road Trip Bags for School Aged Kids (aka how to reduce travel bickering)

Do you have summer road trip plans?  Ready to pack up your family and hit the open road?  It's all fun and games until the kids keep whining and the radio won't pick up a decent signal.  Or maybe that's just me?

I've shared other traveling tips in the past and now my sweet angels (ah-hem) are both school aged (5 3/4 and 9 1/2 yrs old). In preparation for a week long trip this summer that includes 3 separate (!!!) days of driving I prepared the following keep-em-busy-organized-and-fed bags.  Perhaps I should call it a KEBOAFB instead.  Hmm, still not working.  I'll have to think about that some more.l

Anyhoo, I have been preparing these bags-of-fun (ooo that's better) for a while now; picking up goodies at the Target Dollar Spot, dollar stores, clearance sales, etc.  

The bags are personalized for each of my precious pumpkins from Shutterfly using free codes so I only had to pay shipping.  They ended up costing $5.50 each.  Well worth it to me as they're:

1. Adorable
2. Fold able
3. Reusable
4. Easy to figure out which goes to which child! (aka no fighting)

Inside each bag I included (so far)

-new book(s)
-activity book(s)
-candy
-art supplies
-sticky note books ($1! on clearance)
-activity to do at the hotel (growing dinosaur eggs)
-a couple child specific goodies

Other things to remember/consider packing for road trips include:

*Game player packet w/charger (or extra batteries) and games.
*Headphones 
*pillows/blankets to get cozy
*ipods/ipads with individual playlists and games

I found this fantastic road trip book a couple months ago and put it away for this trip.  It has activities and car games to help make the trip more interactive.  You could also get car bingo or other road-trip specific books/games for travel. 

 

And don't forget snacks!  I made bags for each day of travel that were clearly marked.  And yes, I'm keeping Day #2/#3 somewhere else since my kids are awesome but not super-human.  If they had all the snacks in a bag they would eat them!

For travel friendly car snacks I recommend:

-Apple Sauce
-Snack Bars (I'm all about fruit/nuts lately, protein for the win!)
-Gummy Bunnies
-Hard candies (they can take awhile to eat, careful with the smaller kids for choking hazards)
-Pretzels (less messy than crackers)
-Nuts
-Fruit Tape
-Jelly Beans
-clementines

And don't forget to pack in a separate cooler:

-Cheese Sticks
-Yogurt Sticks (freeze them first if possible)
-sandwiches
-juice boxes/water bottles
-cubed meat chunks
-apple slices

You get the idea.  The more you pack ahead the less junk you'll be tempted to buy at a random 7-11 with questionably clean restrooms and selections that only included beef jerky, cheese in a can or candy bars that are most likely expired.  Just saying.

Now I'm not a travel scrooge, we'll plan stops for Slurpee's and M&M's here and there, I just prefer that the snacks be more healthy and less $$ if possible.

I plan on putting the bags-oh-fun in their carseats the morning that we take off.  I'm excited to see their reactions but preparing myself for the inevitable "no fair she got _____".  Sigh.  

ETA: Guess what they were a hit and I didn't hear them say "no fair"!!  Hooray. 

For more travel trips check out:

Road Trips with Babies & Pre-Schoolers
Traveling with a Toddler - Airplane Activity Kits
Drugging Your Kids and Other Ways to Survive a Red Eye Flight
Disneyland with Small Children - Tips and Tricks

Lavender Flavored TODDY? Why Yes, don't mind if I do.

It is true that I'm a *tiny* bit obsessed with coffee.  Although I have favorites (Hello Keurig!) I still find myself trying out new ways to make it.

So far I have at home:

• Keurig
• Stovetop Espresso Maker
• French Press
• Small Coffee Pot (4 cups)
• Cold Brew Packets
• Via packets for travel!

I've also done Cold Brew by using mason jars.  In the summertime I prefer iced drinks and I found that my previous low-budget Cold Brew method wasn't reliable (didn't turn out well consistently).  I can use my Keurig for iced by putting less coffee (6oz instead of 8) over ice but I do love me some Cold Brew.

At a friend's suggestion I ordered the Toddy from Amazon and it's A-MAZING.  Made delicious, consistent cold brew that stores easily in my refrigerator.  I add a little nutpods non dairy creamer, ice and water and I'm all set.  

Or if I want a little more flavor I use my homemade Lavender Simple Syrup.  I adore Lavender so this syrup is a special treat and was super easy to make!

Lavender Simple Syrup

2 cups filtered water
2 cups organic sugar
2 Tbsp dried lavender (food grade)

Bring to a boil all of the ingredients on the stove, stirring occasionally.  Once the sugar is dissolved remove from heat and let the mixture cool.  Once cool strain through a fine sieve into a jar.  Mixture will keep in the refrigerator for a few weeks.

I just added a small bit to my coffee as I've been cutting back on my sugar.  But even a little goes a long way.  And a bonus, my house smelled like lavender for awhile after making the syrup!



I highly recommend the Toddy, NutPods (creamy and dairy free!) and my syrup.  Two of the three are available at Amazon!

Now if you'll excuse me, mama needs another cup of coffee.  It is the fuel of summer break. :)

Starbucks "Pink Drink" Recipe

This momma loves caffeine but every once in awhile I get a caffeine-free drink at Starbucks.  This spring I followed the crowd and tried their "Pink Drink" which was a refresher with coconut milk.  I loved it because it was light and didn't have a lot of sugar.  So today after my morning hike I decided to make my own Pink Drink at home.  It turned out yummy!  Here's what I did:

Pink Drink 
Ingredients
1 can of berry sparkling water (I used Dasani but La Croix is my usual go-to)
1/4 cup of coconut milk (or almond if that's what you have)
1 tsp strawberry jam or preserves
sliced fresh berries (or dehydrated, that's what SB uses)
*sugar to taste

Directions
1. Combine coconut milk and jam using a frother, immersion blender or whisk.  Also add sugar if you like more sweet (1-2 tsp).
2. Add sparkling water.
3. Pour over ice and add berries.

Voila!  Yum city.

Instant Pot Popcorn Recipe

My little one helped me make popcorn in our Instant Pot one evening recently and it was a hit.  We used a recipe that had coconut oil and butter which we thought was fabulous but tasted "too coconut-y" to the other members of my family.  So if you're coconut oil shy then just use more butter instead.

It is such a simple recipe, and my Ikea multipurpose glass lid made it easy to see how the popcorn was coming along.  Although the actual popping made my daughter a little nervous, you can see above she chose to close her ears while watching. :)

If you don't have a glass lid for your Instant Pot look for the STABIL lid at Ikea, only $8.99!  Or if Amazon is your jam here is a universal cover option which you can use on your IP as well as other frying pans.  Or get the official IP glass lid if you only need it for your IP.

The popcorn comes out with a slightly brown color because of the coconut oil.  My daughter wasn't sure what to make of this at first, but after she tasted it she was all smiles!  

Instant Pot Popcorn

3 Tablespoons of coconut oil 
2 Tablespoons of butter 
1/2 cup popcorn kernels 

Instructions

1. Turn on SAUTE and press Adjust to raise temp to MORE. 
2. When display reads HOT, add coconut oil and butter. 
3. Wait about 1 minute then pour in corn kernels. Stir and make sure the oil is covering all the kernels. If not add more oil. 
4. Cover and in 2 minutes or so the corn will start popping. When about 2/3 of the corn has popped, turn IP off and let sit to finish popping. Add salt and any seasonings of choice.

My Magic Keeping It Cool Cup

I had to share the marvel that is my Starbucks cold cup insulated tumbler.  This thing is practically magic!

I live in Phoenix aka a oven where summer temps range from 90 - hell (125!!).  This week was no exception yet the mighty drink holder kept my drinks icy cold.  A-mazing!

For example yesterday I was running errands in and out of my car all morning.  When we left the house at 8am it was already 95 degrees outside, by 12:30 it was 110.  Yet at 12:30 after being in my hot van for 4.5 hrs my water was still cold.  I kid you not!

So if you live in a hot climate you must get this cup.

You're welcome!

And don't forget to bring it to Starbucks to get FREE refills!

3 Drinks for the Price of 1 at Starbucks :)

I am a fan of Starbucks and thanks to my many drinks a week I have "earned" a Starbucks Gold card through March 2018.  Ah-hem.  Anyway, a lovely perk of being a Gold Card member is FREE REFILLS (works for the lower Green level too).  Did you know this and more importantly do you take advantage of it?

I've sort-of-known about this perk but didn't take advantage of it fully until recently.  Here's what I'm talking about.  For the low low price of $2.93 I got not one, but three Grande drinks!  It was such a great deal I did it three times in the last week. 

Drink #1 - A "Misto" my go-to favorite winter drink.  It's basically a cafe au lait, 1/2 brewed coffee (I get the dark blend) and 1/2 steamed milk.  I ask for extra foam and 2 sugar in the raws (for a grande) and a "to-stay" cup whenever possible.  Because it's much better to drink out of a cup and the other customers give you inquisitive and somewhat envious looks.  This drink cost me $2.93 including tax.

Drink #2 - My first refill, a dark brew coffee (still grande) and I add 1/2 and 1/2 and sugar packets.  It rings up as $.50 but when you use your Gold (or Green) Card it zeros out.  Cost = FREE!

Drink #3 - After reading, chatting with friends or just chilling for a couple hours I'm ready to actually leave Starbucks so I ask for my next refill to go.  A (grande again) 2 pump peach green iced tea, easy ice.  Cost = FREE

How great is that?  The free refills FYI include: iced tea (not w/lemonade), iced coffee, hot coffee and hot tea.  No matter what drink you get first (even a frappuccino!!) you can get refills of coffee/tea for free with the Gold (or Green) Card.

If hanging out in a coffee shop for a few hours isn't in your schedule you can also get the refills while you do errands.  A few of my local grocery stores (including Target!!) have Starbucks inside.  I get an iced coffee when entering the grocery store and a refill as I'm leaving.  Two drinks for the price of one ($2.75 for a Grande Vanilla Iced Coffee).

So go caffeinate up before they change this reward!! 

Delicious Baked Sour Cream Donuts

I've got a new baked donut recipe to share!  Evidently I only make donuts when we have play dates because I haven't made them since the last time we had friends over.  I liked our last Cinnamon Sugar Donut recipe but thought I'd try a different one this time.

I LOVE making donuts for play dates since they are easy and a super fun snack with kids.  The weather has been amazing here lately (ah Arizona winters) so we ate them outside while the kids played.

Sour Cream Donuts

1 cup all-purpose flour 
1/2 tsp baking soda 
1/4 tsp salt 
Pinch of nutmeg 
1/2 cup sour cream 
1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus more for coating the doughnuts 
1/4 cup coconut oil 
1/2 tsp vanilla extract 
1 large egg 

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare donut pan by greasing it with coconut oil.  In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and pinch of nutmeg. Set the dry ingredients aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sour cream, granulated sugar, coconut oil, vanilla extract, and the egg. Switch to a spatula and stir in the dry ingredients.  Fill a plastic storage bag (or a fancy icing bag) with the batter and pipe it evenly among the prepared donut pan. The batter should reach about half way up the inside of each circle. Bake the donuts for 12–16 minutes until the top edges begin to turn golden brown. Remove the donut pan from the oven and let the donuts cool for about 5 minutes before tossing them in the extra granulated sugar.

I found that this recipe made 6 very full (and delicious) donuts with extra batter to spare so I made a bonus heart shaped donut too.

The girls loved the donuts! 

Too Much of a Good Thing at Starbucks

Earlier this summer I shared our favorite Starbucks drinks including a FREEBIE for the kids.  A "WC w/chocolate or WC only" would give my sweet girls a free tiny cup of whip cream (w/chocolate sauce dribbled on top if they liked).  This was a perfect little (Free!) treat for my girls while I ordered my favorite drinks.

However, over the last couple months I noticed that I was sometimes charged $.60 for our "WC only".  Not a biggie but I also noticed the cups were gradually getting bigger and bigger.

And then one morning this happened.

My friend and I had ordered 3 kids "WC only" to be added to our drive through order of grown up items and when we pulled up to the window this is what we got.  Wowza!  When we questioned the gargantuan size he replied that it was "always this size" and "policy".

Did I mention that we had 3 and 4 year olds in the car?  Can you imagine a 3/4 year old eating all that?  Fortunately my friend had a plan and she discreetly got rid of the majority of the cup while we drove down the freeway.  Let's just say I took the van through the car-wash the next day. Ha!

So this morning I asked my local barista what gives and how to avoid too much of a good thing at Starbucks.  She informed me that they'd recently changed the procedures for whip cream and that they had to charge for any dairy product over 4 ounces.  But..if I asked for a small shot cup of just whip cream I could still get it for free.

Phew.  

My little one was thrilled and we once again have matching red cups of reasonable sizes.

Thanks Starbucks!

National Coffee Day!!

Ah, one of my favorite not-really-holidays of the year!  Sure national donut day, daughter's day, dog day and underwater basket weaving days are pretty awesome, but Coffee Day?  Come on, that's the best one of the not-really-holidays!

So raise your latte, iced coffee, flat white (my new favorite) or whatever java you prefer in a toast with me today!

Just a few of my favorite cups of coffee from the last year. :)

For today's coffee freebies check out: 

Dunkin’ Donuts: Free medium cup of Dunkin’ Donuts hot or iced dark roast coffee. The limit is one per guest, and is available at participating locations.

Krispy Kreme: Free small coffee and original glazed donut. 

Panera Bread: Rewards members have been able to score a free coffee every day of September, so that deal will still be in place for National Coffee Day.

Whole Foods: Stores nationwide are offer 12-ounce cups of coffee for $0.25 through September.

Dutch Brothers (in AZ at least): Receive 9 stamps for ANY drink 20oz or larger at all Dutch Bros. locations! (which is one stamp off from a freebie!)

Once again Starbucks isn't giving out free coffee, because really they don't need to!!  However I did read that they are starting a program where they plant trees or something like that.  Perhaps your local barista can fill you in on the details. 

Rainbow Theme Birthday Party - Favors, Food and Decorations

My youngest had a Rainbow themed Birthday Party this year.  To see her Rainbow pre-school aged party games check out my entry here.  Today I'm going to show you the rest of our Rainbow Party details.  

Decorations/Favors:  

A rainbow theme is easy to decorate, you just need rainbow colors!  I bought our supplies at the Dollar Store, Target, Etsy and the Lego Store.

The party favors doubled as decorations.  I bought each child a helium balloon (dollar store) in as close to a rainbow as possible including clouds on each side. :) I had rainbow colored (reusable) straw cups from Target with their names pre-written on them.  They used them during the party and took them home afterwords.  

The reusable cups come with their own (short) straws which I included in the goodie bags to take home.  However, for party purposes I purchased rainbow colored paper straws from an Etsy shop to use instead.  They were cuter and who doesn't love a paper straw?  I cut out little cloud shapes to put through the straws, using a paper hole punch to make a place to push the straw through.

The goodie bags were white bags from Target.  A 10 pack was only $5.  I wrote each child's name on the front and had my girls decorate the bags with rainbow stickers (from the $ store).

Make a Lego Rainbow:

Our favorite but most time consuming party favor was the Make a Lego Rainbow.  I decided a little Lego activity would be fun to send home as the pre-K crowd is getting more interested in Lego, both boys and girls!  I found an image of a little Lego rainbow online and went to the Lego store to purchase bulk Lego in the correct colors.  This was a fun activity with the kids, searching out the correct colors and numbers of blocks. 

The Lego store sells bulk Lego in two sizes, we weren't able to get them all in the small container so we paid $16.99 to fill the large one.  There was space in the container after purchasing blocks for 10 kids, so I let my girls add whatever they wanted to fill up the cup for us to keep.  My birthday-girl picked out dozens of little "eyes" and stuck them on blocks, hilarious!

This is the Lego Rainbow that we created.  

If I had planned farther ahead I could have reprinted the photo of the rainbow to put into each goodie bag as a direction, but I waited until the night before (Ha!) so I hand drew little rainbows on 3x5 cards and colored them in with some help from my oldest daughter.  We included the "instruction" card in a plastic baggie with the loose Lego pieces, that way each child could make the rainbow themselves.  Super fun!

Other Rainbow Favors:

To fill out the goodie bag I added a rainbow art supplies according to the age of the child (paints, markers, crayons or pencils).  Also a small bag of skittles. 

Other Decorations and Food:

The party was in the morning so I kept the food simple.  We had Annie brand rainbow crackers and cookies, rainbow fruit cups, cake and ice-cream and a coffee bar for the grown-ups.  My daughter was very specific on what she wanted for a cake: white, white, white and a little rainbow.  I ordered our cake from Albertsons and added some bright candles.  Now...I could have make a vanilla cake myself but I wasn't up for the challenge this year.  I did make 3 different kinds of organic-chemical free ice cream though, that has to count for something. ;)

Decorations were simple, a Birthday Banner, birthday table cloth ($ store), napkins, horns and plates (Target) and of course a rainbow bouquet of flowers with a Happy Birthday Balloon inside (balloon $ store).  I used my vintage Pyrex rainbow bowls to hold food and prizes.

The rainbow fruit bowls were simple to make and perfect for a morning party.  I selected blueberries, green grapes, pineapple chunks and strawberries.  

This photo doesn't do them justice but trust me, they were delicious!  Double-Chocolate, Vanilla (Haagen Daz copy recipe) and Buttermilk.  It took me 3 nights to make them plus a dozen eggs, 3 pints of heavy cream and lots of sugar but they were worth it!

My birthday girl had a blast!

Our sweet friends.  Such a fun birthday party!  Check out our Rainbow Party Games.

For more Party Themes Check out:

Minnie & Mickey Birthday Party

Butterfly Birthday Party

Vintage Fisher Price Little People Party

Baby Girl - Sweet Pink 1st Birthday Party

Fairy Princess Birthday Party Games

Fairy Princess Party Decorations and Food

Hot Chocolate Party Favor - Easy Peasy!

My oldest nephew got married last weekend and they had the most delicious party favors.  Little individual hot chocolate sticks.  Each favor included a cube of chocolate and a cube of marshmallow on a stick with a tag that said "Bride & Groom's Names, Wedding Cocoa - The Perfect Mix".

When we got home to try them I guessed that they must be made out of fudge.  Just last month I posted an easy way to make a mocha at home using homemade fudge.  In my case it was my super simple 7 Minute Dark Chocolate Fudge recipe!




Ingredients
1 oz of Fudge (try my recipe!!), approximately 1 inch cubed
1 marshmallow 
- stick, cellophane square and ribbon to decorate

Directions on the tag should say to stir the stick into 8 oz of steaming milk.

What a wonderful gift idea to combine the fudge and a marshmallow (homemade or store bought)!  Perfect for a wedding or birthday party favor (hello Frozen themed parties!!!) or even a simple Christmas gift. 

I can't wait to make them myself.  Of course I'll need a different little tag since my wedding days are long gone.  Here are some ideas:

Frozen Party Theme

"A Sweet Treat to Warm Your Heart"
"Some People are Worth Melting For"

Christmas Gift

"Baby It's Cold Outside"
"Have a Cup of Cheer"

Happy Wedding Ryan and Mackenzie and thanks for the hot chocolate! :)

Yummy Antioxidant Green Smoothie Recipe

Last week my family once again had another plague in the house, this time in the form of influenza.  While I took care of my girls I worked hard to avoid getting their virus myself!  I did this with the basics (washing my hands, cleaning surfaces) but also by eating powerful nutrient rich foods and beverages.  

A favorite cousin of mine emailed me a yummy green smoothie recipe full of good nutrients and I gave it a try!  I made a couple changes to work with ingredients I had on hand, but it was pretty close.  I found it a tasty meal replacement and I could just feel my body absorbing the flu-fighting ingredients! :)

So far so good, no flu for me!

Antioxidant Green Smoothie Recipe (1 Serving)

1 cup kale (no stems),
1/2 cup coconut milk & 1/2 cup water (or 1 cup unsweetened coconut water)
1 frozen banana
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbsp almond butter

Mix it all up in the Vitamix (or blender) and enjoy. Simple. Good.

Be well!

My New (Easy At Home) Mocha Obsession

Over Christmas break I was taught the most marvelous way to make mocha (or hot chocolate) at home.  I had brought my 7 Minute Fudge recipe for a holiday get-together and one of my neighbors informed me that a square of my fudge would be perfect for hot-chocolate.  

Since my recipe is only chocolate, sweetened condensed milk, butter and heavy cream (yum) it melts with ease and creates the most delicious mocha flavor in my coffee.  Oh my it is good and oh so easy in my Keurig!

Directions
Brew Coffee
Add fudge square (start small around 1 inch square and add more as needed)
Stir
Enjoy!

I also add a little steamed milk to make it extra creamy.

So go make some 7 Minute Dark Chocolate Fudge and give it a try! :)

Turmeric Antioxidant Smoothie

Now that we're back to school its a great time to get back to smoothies!  Smoothies are such an easy way to pack in nutrients during busy mornings.  I saw this recipe pop up on my Facebook feed last week and decided to give it a whirl.  I bought a bottle of turmeric (ground) a few months back after reading about all its health benefits.  However, it pretty much has sat untouched in my spice cabinet since I don't cook Indian recipes very often.  This recipe is a simple and yummy way to get the benefits from turmeric without a lot of effort!

In case you haven't heard turmeric is part of the ginger family (rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant) and it is an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant that helps brain function, can help prevent and treat Alzheimer's, lowers heart disease and helps treat depression.  Sounds good to me!  Now of course one Turmeric smoothie a day isn't going to do all that but it's a start. 

Turmeric Antioxidant Smoothie
Ingredients
1 cup coconut milk (I used Silk Almond Coconut Unsweetened milk)
1/2 cup frozen pineapple or mango chunks (I used both)
1 fresh banana 
1 tablespoon coconut oil 
1/2 teaspoon turmeric (can be increased to 1 tsp) 
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 
1/2 teaspoon ginger 
1 teaspoon chia seeds 
1 teaspoon maca (optional) 

Add all ingredients into a Vitamix (or blender) and blend until smooth.  This is a great way to start your day full of antioxidants!

Vanilla Nectarine Agua Fresca Recipe

It's hot in Phoenix right now.  I'm talking hot hot.  Feels like an oven hot.  It was 120 degrees yesterday for goodness sakes!

So this is just the right time of year to try an Agua Fresca.  I've had agua fresca's in Brasil before, and although they used much more exotic fruits the formula is similar.  It's basically a chilled fruit puree/juice.  No juicer needed.

Add some sugar, a little vanilla and maybe a little wine and you're set for a nice refreshing afternoon drink.  I've tried it with nectarines but am thinking about branching out to other familiar fruits if this weather continues.  Sigh.  I have to remember that we chose to live in this hot-hot land and dream of cooler (but equally bright and lovely) winter days to come.

Vanilla Nectarine Agua Fresca 
3 nectarines, rinsed and sliced (about 3 cups) 
2 cups cold water 
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 
1 tablespoon sugar 
Ice (optional) 

Directions
1. Combine the nectarines and 1 cup of water in a vitamix or blender. Blend on high speed until smooth. 
2. Strain and return the juice to the blender. Add the vanilla extract, sugar, and remaining water, and blend. Serve chilled or over ice.

Beet Green Fruit Smoothie

Happy Earth Day!  Today we celebrated Earth Day by riding the bike to the park instead of driving the van.  It was 95 degrees on the way back home but still worth it.

Today seemed like a perfect day to share a new smoothie recipe with you!  I recently discovered a way to use the tops of beets, also known as Beet Greens.  I regularly receive beets in my CSA box and would usually cut off the greens and toss them.  To me they were the same as the tops of carrots.  

One day on a whim I googled "what to do with beet greens" and saw so many options!  Who knew? ;)  I decided to give the smoothie idea a whirl.  

Beet greens are easy to prepare.  You cut them from the beets, rinse, dry and slice into small ribbons or pieces.  The smaller the pieces the easier they are to store in the freezer and remove later.  Then place into a freezer bag and they'll be waiting for you the next time you make a smoothie.

Beet greens can be used in smoothies in place (or in addition to) spinach and kale.  They have very similar nutrients as spinach but with a slightly milder taste.  Basically you can't taste them unless you put a lot in.

Here is a recipe I made just this morning:

Beet Green Fruit Smoothie
2/3 cup beet greens (mine were frozen)
1 banana
1 orange (peeled)
1.5 cup fresh strawberries (keep the stems on)
2/3 cup frozen cherries (or any other frozen berry)
8 oz crushed ice
*optional 4 oz almond milk

Directions
Using a Vitamix (or other blender) start blending on 1 and move up to 10, then blend on high for about 20 seconds or until the consistency you prefer.  

So yummy!  Next time you have beets don't toss the greens, use them!

More Smoothie Recipes

Berry Banana Chia Smoothie
Chia Pineapple Banana Smoothie
Glowing Green Smoothie
Shamrock Kale and Fruit Smoothie