The Green Monkey

"Is this green?" asks the 7 year old.
"It kinda looks yellow." replies the 9 year old.
"Nope, it's green. Look at it. It's green." insists the 7 year old.
"Yes it's The Green Monkey!" announces the oh so smart Mama!
"The Green what? I'm gonna try it." says the 7 year old... "This is AMAZING Liam! You HAVE to try it!"
A triumphant smile comes over the Mama's face. What a great way to start the day!

The Green Monkey arrived one morning when I was making the usual peanut butter and banana smoothie that my kids enjoy. I decided to add a bit of spinach to it and sneak some vitamins and minerals in. I started with just a bit...no need to freak 'em out too much. Once they were on board with the green color I added more and more and now it is a nice, rich green color.

Give it a try and let me know how it goes!

The Green Monkey
1 banana
1 Tbl natural peanut butter
1 Tbl ground flax seed
milk of choice (I use rice milk or almond milk)

Add everything into the blender and blend away. Add as much or as little milk to get the desired consistency. You can double it or triple it to feed more little ones (or big ones).

Nature's Sports Drink

I've always disliked the idea of giving my kids sports drinks with their artificial colors, flavors and God knows what else is in there. Sometimes when they are out playing baseball and football in the blazing sun, I feel like they need a bit more then water though.

I have known about coconut water for a while. When I was eating raw, I used to buy the young coconuts at my local market, chop the top off and add the water to my smoothies or drink it. The kids liked it too. The problem is that it isn't too practical to bring a coconut and big knife to the games so my kids could drink it.

Well, that problem is solved. They have started selling coconut water in single serving containers, like a juice box. There are several different brands and they even have some flavors like pineapple, acai, peach mango and more. I bought mine at Whole Foods and the kids really liked it. So do I.

So what is so great about coconut water? Well, first of all it is natural, it comes straight from the coconut. No high fructose corn syrup, no sugar, no colorings, flavorings, or chemicals. That alone is something you don't hear much about when it comes to sweet drinks.

Secondly, coconut water is amazing stuff. It is similar to plasma and in WWII it was given to soldiers intravenously when supplies of plasma were low. It has more electrolytes then the sports drinks that are out on the market and has 15 times more potassium. In fact it has more potassium than two bananas. Potassium is essential for the body's growth and heart function. It helps kidneys function normally and helps keep a normal water balance between the cells and body fluids among other things. It is high in vitamin C, low in sodium and even has a bit of fat to slow down the metabolism of sugar. It also contains lauric acid which is used to heal the digestive tract.

So instead of reaching for those neon colored, artificially flavored sports drinks, try a little box of nature's sports drink. Let me know what you think.