Banana Nutella Smoothie (with Spinach)

So every week my children consume several cups of raw, fresh spinach.

How, you ask, do I accomplish such a thing with the pickiest kids on earth? 

Answer: Nutella (and banana and milk). And, yes, apparently I've become one of those people who just throws Nutella into everything willy nilly. You can make a different type of green chocolate smoothie. It's delicious, but by using Nutella, well, everything is just so so easy. 

It's not a perfect solution for encouraging spinach consumption, I admit, but I actually only use a little Nutella (1/2-1 Tbsp per cup or so of spinach); the banana is the main sweetener. In fact, you can make this perfectly delicious without the Nutella or with some peanut butter instead--feel free if you think I'm a big pushover of a parent. But do let me say, in my defense, that each serving (1-2 C spinach) has only 1/2-1 Tbsp Nutella. That's actually just about 9 grams of added, non-natural sugar (yes; the banana also adds some sugar, but I don't count sugars from fruits and I don't think WHO counts them either in their daily sugar recommendations). If I gave my kids a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios (which I regularly do), they would consume that much added sugar in a serving as well. And as far as I can tell there is no raw spinach in Honey Nut Cheerios. So, ha. 

For better or for worse, this is two of my kids very favorite smoothie and I'm just happy to have them eat it. I have to say though that this isn't one of those "hidden veggies" recipes. This smoothie is either very green or brownish-green, so, yeah, you may want to have them try it blind-folded first. We served it to some friends once and they looked at my like I was a crazy loon. But then they liked it and asked for it the next time they came. The end.

Banana Nutella Smoothie (with Spinach)
makes 1 smoothie
Cost: $.75
Nutella (generic): .15, banana: .15, milk: .15, spinach: .30

Note: This recipe is a template. You can use more or less Nutella, more or less spinach.

Note: The banana must be frozen for this to work well. When my bananas get too brown, I peel them and break them into pieces and throw them in the freezer (in a Ziploc bag--I don't just hurl them into the freezer). It's one of the best things I ever started to do. If you don't have frozen banana, you can freeze some quickly by slicing a banana into thin slices and putting them on a cookie sheet in the freezer.

1 frozen banana (must be nice and ripe)
1 C spinach (I usually use more, but try this for starters)
1/2-1 C milk
1 Tbsp Nutella (I use generic)

Put in blender and blend until smooth. If you're only making one serving (like this), you'll probably want a smaller blender. If you've only got a big one, double this recipe.

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