Peachy Green Smoothie

I really cannot believe how much I am enjoying green smoothies!  I was skeptical about all the claims that you cannot taste the spinach!  I mean, bananas and spinach?  Who eats that together?!  Well, apparently I do!  Now!

The other day I was throwing together a few make-ahead smoothie kits for the freezer.  I ran out of frozen blueberries for my Blueberry Banana Green Smoothie.  I was sure I had another bag of frozen blueberries stuffed in the back of the freezer, but as I was digging around trying to find it, I spotted a bag of frozen peaches and decided to give them a try with the spinach.

I have to admit, I had a tough time getting past the color!  I like that the blueberries dominate the spinach in color in the Blueberry Banana Smoothie, but there was no dominating the green color of the spinach in this one!  When it was time to pour the thick, green smoothie into a glass, I decided to use one of Joe's superhero glasses..the Green Lantern.  I think I need to find a HULK glass for my green smoothies!

Peachy Green Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1 frozen banana, in chunks
• a couple handfuls of spinach, about a cup
• 6 pineapple chunks, about 1-2 inches each
• 8 peach slices 
• 1/4 cup skim milk
• 1/4 cup plain fat free greek yogurt 
• 1/4 cup water (not syrup) from canned peaches (optional) 
• 2 packets Splenda or equivalent sweetener (optional) 
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract 
• 5-10 ice cubes (optional) 

Directions: 

• Blend ingredients until thick and creamy.  

Notes: 

• I like using canned peaches in my fruit salads.  I used no sugar added peaches that are packed in water.  I reserve the liquid for other recipes.  This was a great addition to this smoothie.  If you don't have it, you can omit it.  If more liquid is needed, increase the amount of milk or add just plain water.  
• In the smoothie pictured above, I didn't add ice.  The mixture was still thick and creamy.
• Also, I could have blended this just a bit longer as there were some small bits of spinach not fully blended.    
• This makes a lot!  I usually drink the entire thing since I like getting all (most) of my fruit/veggie servings into this single meal, but could easily serve two people.