It is MARCH!  That means SPRING is around the corner!  I adore Spring and Summer.  The first of March means it is time to go pick up some shamrocks (oxalis) in celebration of St. Patty’s Day.  The wonderful holiday based upon wearing green, going to festivals where kids get their face painted and wait in long lines for balloon animals…all while parents wait while getting tipsy.  It is a beautiful day.

March is also time for another wonderful thing.  Shamrock shakes!  Not the poison kind with the dyes, chemicals, antibiotics, etc…the REAL KIND.  There are numerous recipes floating all over the Internet, and seriously…it is hard to make a bad shamrock shake.  I am a great cook, but a not so stellar baker.  I can’t follow a recipe.  I don’t think it is in my DNA.  I struggled slightly with even making this recipe, so please think of it as a guideline. That along with all other recipes I post.  Part of the reason for this is using real food.  Take a banana.  No banana is the same size.  No potato is the same size.  No zucchini is the same size.  Although technically a banana could be weighed or measured, I ain’t got time for that.  No one should.  It is a waste of time.  It is a smoothie.

Here is a basic recipe that I use on the fly for a shamrock smoothie.

2 bananas (frozen is BEST)

2 cups any milk (vanilla almond milk is best)

one handful spinach

small handful mint leaves OR a splash of organic mint extract

one splash organic vanilla extract

PUT IN VITAMIX AND BLEND.

After blending I add 10 Medjool dates and blend briefly.  These are the “chocolate chips” to my kids.

Taste the smoothie to see if it is sweet enough, pepperminty enough, etc.  Other sweeteners can be added.  Raw honey, or pure maple syrup would be what I would recommend.  I omit the banana and use vanilla coconut milk  ice-cream sometimes for special desserts. (omitting banana also gives a greener color)

I don’t particularly like shamrock shakes with avocados, but they can be added for additional nutrition for kiddos as well.  I do this when I have an abundance of ripe avocados, which is almost never because my entire family loves them.  We were going out of town so I used them in this shake or they would have gone to waste.

It is really hard to go wrong with a shamrock shake.  Experiment a little!

 

Here are some additional links to shamrock shakes.  I intend to add a little whiskey to mine next week, for a grown up shammrock shake!