hulk smash smoothie

Over the weekend I posted this photo of Lake drinking one of my 'hulk smash smoothies' and ended up getting a ton of requests for the recipe!

Listen, this recipe is nearly 10 years old and was originally created to get my eye gouging picky then sweet baby, Liam to ingest SOMETHING that was 

1. not french fries; 2. not covered in ketchup and; 3. borderline healthy.

When I first made it, my 3 year old, Avenger's obsessed toddler was SOLD when I presented him a GREEN drink that was going to make him 'grow muscles like the HULK'!

He quickly deemed it his 'HULK SMASH SMOOTHIE'... and ya know what?

...it didn't work.

At. all.

One sip and he was all, nah I'm good... ha!

BUT I blame that on his morbid-even-if-I-like-it-i'm-not-gonna-tell-you-I-like-it-in-fear-of-you-making-me-actually-eat-something-that-isn't-french-fries pickiness... not his ability to taste the boatload of spinach that I put in it ;)

Oh well. You win some and you lose some....

...and for me? Even though I've gone 5+ years banging my head against a door working through his pickiness, a super delicious and nutritious smoothie came of it that I make ALL THE TIME... So, thanks for that, Liam ;) 

Now before you're all 'hi I'm also picky like your someone just come and get him at dinner time beloved son' - give it a shot! My normal less picky of an eater (ha. Let's actually be real, he isn't picky at all #thankyaJesus) 18 month old drinks the mess out of these smoothies (how's that for a southern sayin'!)!

;)

I give you exhibit A & B:

See? No grimaces, no gagging... Just your averagely large toddler smiling away and enjoying a super healthy smoothie, not knowing it's a super healthy smoothie ;)

Alright. The recipe.

This particular bad boy (the smoothie, not the baby) is PACKED with yummy, spinach-y goodness, but you do you.  Pick your 'green veggie' fancy.  My personal favorite is substituting the spinach with Kale for a 'nuttier' flavor but maybe i'm a rare bird... Anyway, go crazy... no judgement here.

...unless you use something like iceberg lettuce.

...then I might look at you funny...

This will make about 24 ounces (Think a big glass for you and a little glass for your picky spawn sweet kiddo!)

SHOPPING LIST:

2 1/2 cups of baby spinach (or your choice of green goodness)

1 *frozen banana (little tip: whenever our bananas start to get overly ripen, I peel them and put them in freezer bags so they don't go to waste ;))

A handful of *frozen pineapple chunks 

A handful of *frozen mango chunks

1 cup of coconut milk 

1 teaspoon of black chia seeds 

DIRECTIONS:

In a blender, pack your spinach and coconut milk in and then add your frozen fruits and chia seeds.  Using the 'smoothie' or highest speed on your blender, blend until nice and smooth!

*NOTE: You can DEFINITELY use fresh, not frozen, fruits for this smoothie (we always just buy the big, bulk frozen bags!) - however, if you chose to use fresh fruits (or mostly fresh) - add a handful of ice cubes after you have blended your ingredients together, then blend your ice cubes in on your highest setting.

So sneaky, sneaky good, and a perfect, guilt free treat! 

See you tomorrow!