Cherry chocolate green smoothie

Almond milk, sweet cherries, and cocoa powder disguise three cups of spinach in this kid-friendly green smoothie.

Mini Whipped is getting serious about eating her veggies. Initial determination sparked happier dinners as she tried new specimens and worked hard to get all her broccoli down the hatch. After a week or so, we returned to sour faces, gagging reflexes and deflated whimpering (from both of us).

A smarty-pants friend of mine suggested I try green smoothies. Though I’ve heard many sing the praises of green smoothies, I assumed they were using a juicer or had a fancy Vitamix blender. After some research, I found quite a few with spinach and decided to start there. Mini Whipped and I took a field trip to the produce section and decided together what to put in her first green smoothie. We started with a mixture of apple juice and water, added a half banana, some avocado, sliced apple and 2 cups of spinach. Her eyes got big as we packed and packed the spinach into the blender.

With great anticipation we poured the green liquid into a small cup. I warned her, “If you can stand to drink it at all, even if you can just choke it down, this will be the way you can eat your daily vegetables. We will just get it over with all at once.”

She took a sip. A smile spread across her face. She exclaimed, "Mom, I don’t just like it – I love it!" We both literally danced around the kitchen pumping our fists in the air.

And so began our daily devotion to green smoothies. I have used this website as a resource and inspiration for recipes. We have branched out beyond spinach and discovered that romaine lettuce can also be well disguised in the smoothies. I’ll continue to share winning recipes as we finalize our favorites.

Simple Green Smoothies had a recipe for a chocolate cherry smoothie that caught our eye. We found some frozen cherries and recently gave it a try. We have altered it slightly from their recipe. Mini Whipped told me that she didn’t want to hurt my feelings but actually thought it was too chocolatey and preferred the coconut water romaine lettuce smoothie. Hurt my feelings? It was music to my ears. My little gal is drinking down her veggies and liking it.

Cherry chocolate green smoothie
Makes 2 smoothies

2-1/2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk
3 cups baby spinach leaves
2 cups pitted sweet cherries (frozen if you want a cold smoothie, or room temperature)
1 banana
2 tablespooons unsweetened cocoa powder (I like Valrohna)
1 tablespoon agave nectar

Blend almond milk and spinach together until leaves are incorporated and smooth. Add all additional ingredients and blend for a minute or two until smooth. Pour into glasses and enjoy immediately!

Related post on Whipped, The Blog: Cinnamon Vanilla Milk