The Green Monster Smoothie

My kids seriously ask for this everyday, and sometimes multiple times. It is the breakfast, snack, and even drink of choice around here. We were introduced to this drink this past summer when we visited my parents up in Washington state. We named it the green monster smoothie so that my son would be more apt to drinking it. There are many variations of this drink, and I find myself sometimes altering what I put in as well

 The kids love to help make it and guzzle is down within minutes. The little man always has seconds. I love it because I get lots of fruits and veggies down these kids all at once without a fight. Also, my son is more willing to try vegetables that he sees going into the smoothie. Awesome!

Ingredients:
1-2 cups water

1 pear cut up

1/4 of cucumber

2 handfulls of spinach

1 banana (best if frozen, if not just add ice for a better smoothie consistency) 

1 large spoonful of orange juice concentrate

1 large spoonful of greek yogurt (I do this for the protein, it is fine without, and works with vanilla protein powder as well)

Other things you can try that my family enjoyed

watermelon (I picked a kinda gross one the other day, but it worked great in a smoothie)

kale

some honey if you like it extra sweet

Mix it all up and enjoy this green monster. You'll love it and so will your kids.

Ah-Mazing Sugar Cookies

Cream together:
1½ cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
1½ cups sugar
3 large eggs (add in one at a time and mix)
5 tsp. vanilla extract

Then add:
 4½ cups all-purpose flour
4½ tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. salt
2 tsp. cream of tartar

Mix well. Roll into flattened balls and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. I also heard a secret that if you put your dough in the fridge for an hour and then roll it out, you can use a cookie cutter and they make the cute shapes and don't get all deformed. Don't let the edges of the cookies brown.

Now the kiddies and I decided to just add sprinkles this go around, but butter cream frosting is the finishing touch on these bad boys that really make them taste like the store bought thing (you know, the ones that they have at the bakery that they make for every holiday. Those things are addicting, and warning... so are these)

A good recipe for the frosting if you want to add the finishing touch, whip up the following:
1 c butter
4-5 c powdered sugar
Milk (about 7 T, you may need a little more or less, depending on the consistency)
1 tsp vanilla
add in some food coloring if you want to make them festive
frost cooled cookies and sprinkle if desired

Ah-mazing! Enjoy your homemade sugar cookie!