Super Smoothies!!!

We love smoothies at our house! The different combinations are limitless but these are the basic recipes for  some of our favorites:

Super Immunity/Antioxidant Booster

1cup frozen blueberries
1 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon elderberry extract
I prefer organic blueberries. While researching for a college paper on nutrition, I learned that in one study, organic blueberries were found to have four times the amount of antioxidants as conventionally grown. Plus, blueberries are on the "dirty dozen" list, but they can be pricey. So when I can find them at a decent price I like to stock up. Or I use mixed berries. Otherwise, I stand by my usual policy that any produce, organic or not, is better than none and even when using conventionally grown produce you're still getting some great antioxidants and phytochemicals. I also like fresh squeezed orange juice, which has become much easier since I purchased a citrus juicer attachment for my kitchen aid mixer. Fresh juice contains more of the beneficial enzymes. If I do not have orange juice on hand, I just use whatever we have. This morning it was 100% fruit juice, cranberry grape. Other additions to this smoothie could be echinacea, cold-milled flax, or chia seeds. I also LOVE to add fresh baby spinach for a great iron boost! I have a really hard time getting Ty to eat leafy greens, but I can sneak spinach into this smoothie with no problem. The dark color of the berries covers the color of the spinach and the orange juice (vitamin C) helps aid in the absorption of the iron. And you can't taste the spinach at all!

Super Protein

1 banana
1 big glob of peanut butter (measurements not precise!)
1-2 TBSP cold-milled flax
1/2 cup almond milk (or more, to help blend smooth)
Handful of ice
This is a good one to have in the morning when we're going out for the day and I need to fill everyone up and make it last. Adding a tablespoon or two of coco powder would be good, too. I've also heard of adding avocado to smoothies with banana, but I haven't tried that yet. Sometimes I have to add a teaspoon of honey if the banana's not sweet enough, too.

There are a great many of powdered protein and powdered greens mixes on the market but I prefer real, whole food so that's what I use. We were having smoothies just about every day, but the boys started getting bored and not wanting to drink them. So, now I freeze them in the popsicle molds! The novelty of eating a popsicle versus the hum-drum smoothie is alluring to them. Silly boys!