Are you a smoothie drinker? We are. We don’t make them daily, but a few times a week is totally normal for us. We love smoothies for after school snacks, and we love them for a quick morning breakfast. I would say especially in the mornings. When we’re feeling rushed, or have a morning time crunch, smoothies are our fastest breakfast. Partly because in general, I’m not big on measuring smoothie ingredients. I tend to throw in whatever’s in the freezer or fridge and adjust proportions as I go. : )
When I’m deciding what should go in the smoothie, the rainbow is my general guideline. If I can fit in red, orange, yellow, green and blue/purple ingredients, that’s terrific. And when I can, I call it a Rainbow Smoothie.
Today I’ve got two Rainbow Smoothie variations for you. I asked my kids to describe the difference, and they said one is creamy, and one is refreshing — and that they loved them both! Each includes wholegrain oats. They make the smoothies more filling, so that it really feels like breakfast in a cup. And though I mentioned I don’t typically measure my ingredients, I did measure these so that I could give you a good starting point, and then you can add more or less amounts of ingredients as you see fit.
#1 Refreshing Rainbow Smoothie
Ingredients:
– 5 large frozen strawberries
– 1 persimmon, cut into chunks or wedges
– 1/2 cup frozen pineapple (or about an equal amount as the persimmon)
– a handful of spinach
– 1/3 cup frozen blueberries
– 1/4 cup old fashioned oats
– 1 cup water
Throw everything in the blender and mix it up till smooth. You can add more or less liquid if you want the smoothie to be thicker or thinner.
For the next one we switch out the persimmons and pineapple for cantaloupe and bananas. And use milk instead of water. That combo of banana and milk is what brings the creaminess.
#2 Creamy Rainbow Smoothie
Ingredients:
– 5 large frozen strawberries
– 1 wedge of cantaloupe (about the same amount as one banana)
– 1 frozen peeled banana
– a handful of spinach
– 1/3 cup frozen blueberries
– 1/4 cup old fashioned oats
– 1 cup milk
Once again, add everything to the blender and mix it up till smooth, adjusting the quantity of milk as you prefer.
Note: Do Yourself a Favor and Prep Ahead
I think the think that makes smoothies so fast for us on busy mornings is that we have prepped ingredients in the freezer. Sometimes I buy bags of frozen fruit, other times, if I can see our fresh fruit is about to turn and we won’t have time to eat it, I’ll rinse and prep it for the freezer (See: My Guide to Freezing Fruits & Vegetables).
When I’m really on the ball, prep Smoothie Packets in freezer bags. I combine all the ingredients in one bag — even things I don’t normally freeze, like the oats — and then stack them flat in the freezer. Which means I can simply you empty the contents of the bag into the blender in the morning super quick. We get a good breakfast, even when we’re crunched for time.
Now I’d love to hear: Are you a smoothie drinker, too? What do you like to add to yours? Any favorite go-to ingredients? And how often do you make them?
This smoothie looks delicious. We make smoothies every morning for our kids but this flavor combination looks incredible!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
All those colors make for a good flavor combination!
I love Smoothies really much!
Green smoothies are the only way I can currently get one of my twins to eat green veg and certain fruits. I am super grateful for smoothies! I still offer vegetables, but supplement with smoothies.
Don’t you love that? You can add so much green to a smoothie!
Hi There,
Probably not the venue for this request but… am wondering if you could do a post on kids and social media. I am a high school teacher and have two little ones. One is one, the other four. I am struggling with the idea of social media and my kids (students and my own) and how to teach responsibility. I am horrified by some of the behaviours of my high schoolers and feel that your kids have a respect for both themselves and social media as a whole. How did you do this? Please help!
Oh and I would love smoothies but… My four year old doesn’t like “mixed foods” right now :)
Hi Carly! I love this idea for a post. My husband and I have talked about screen time here on the blog, but we haven’t really covered social media specifically. I’ll add this to my Ask-Design-Mom queue.
Thanks the “measured” smoothie recipes. I have tried to wing it with ingredients and let’s say it has not been my best work. Probably silly but….do you use a regular blender or the famous Vitamix? We had a Vitamix and I found we weren’t using it but now am rethinking my decision. Our mornings can be swamped like everyone’s so smoothies just may be the ticket. Thanks for your advice.
PS. Speaking of morning starters….Your articles are always informative and inspirational. A feature on demystifying the world of tea for coffee-drinkers like myself would be great. Thanks again!
I’ve actually never tried a Vitamix, though I know they are adored. We use a Waring blender we’ve had for many years. We’ve replaced certain parts — like the blade and the feet, but the engine is still going strong!
Oh! And I love your idea for a post about demystifying the world of tea. Adding it to my list!
Prep is the key! We are a household of two teachers and we leave the house pretty early, and a rainbow smoothie in the morning helps us get through a busy day, every day! I generally do all the chopping and preparing of ratios on Sunday night so I can just throw it in the blender in the morning. For all the skeptics out there, the first time I made a smoothie with greens, I didn’t like it! There are lots of recipes out there but I played with our ratio until my husband and I were both satisfied with the taste and color…which also takes some getting used to while drinking!