Strawberry Spinach and Pineapple Swirl Smoothie (Dairy Free)

I found my favorite (and my kid's favorite) green to use in a smoothie... spinach.   We saw a "swirl" style smoothie in a kid's eating healthy pamphlet at the local grocery store. So of course I was asked about a hundred times if we could make one before I could even get home from the grocery store  I knew it had strawberries and spinach for the swirl, but they only added milk to both parts.  I knew that was not going to fly with my kids.  So, I decided to improvise with what I had in my fridge and freezer and it was one of the best tasting smoothies ever..  I tried to do the swirl... it came out okay for my first time.  My son was suspicious about the spinach...I guess being comforted with all that green made him rethink if this was a good idea.   At the end, the spinach won him over because he had two glasses of smoothie.  Both kids made me promise to keep all these ingredients in my fridge at all times so we can do the smoothie swirl anytime.  Hey.. it's fresh fruit, spinach and juice... this Mom is not complaining. :)



Ingredients:
2 cups frozen cubed pineapple
2 cups fresh strawberries
3-4 cups mango juice
2 huge handfuls of cleaned baby spinach
sweetener of choice (sugar, splenda, agave or honey) to taste -optional

Directions:

In a good blender blend the frozen pineapple, 2 cups of mango juice and fresh strawberries.  If you are having trouble blending it, add a little more mango juice.

Remove 3/4 of strawberry smoothie into a pitcher.  Add remaining mango juice to the 1/4 of strawberry smoothie in the blender and add the spinach.  Blend until smooth.  Add sweetener if needed.   To create swirl, first add the thicker strawberry smoothie to glass 1/3 of the way. Then follow some spinach smoothie and repeat with the strawberry.  Top off with some spinach and  use a straw to gently swirl to create a variation of colors.  Drink cold. Enjoy.

 

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