Back in June, I posted about some smoothies we’d been enjoying. And in that post, I mentioned that I wanted to (eventually) try a “green smoothie” — i.e., a smoothie containing greens, specifically spinach. I also said that I’d let you know if I worked up the fortitude to actually give one a try.

Well, I did. Finally. Almost three months later.

I know, I know. Spinach in a smoothie? It sounds…questionable. Maybe even disgusting. I mean, I’m a fan of spinach. I enjoy a summer salad with spinach and strawberries and feta cheese. But spinach in a smoothie? Drinking spinach? Well, it gave me pause. Which is why it has taken so long for me to actually make one…and drink it.

The verdict: Not bad. Not bad at all.

Here’s what I combined in my blender:

1 banana
1/2 cup plain, lowfat yogurt
1 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1 dash of sugar
A gigantic handful of baby spinach
Some water (1/2 cup?)
Ice

I blended it for…um…quite a while. Because, while I was willing to try a green smoothie, I wanted to make sure that the green part was completely and utterly pulverized. I was not interested in drinking chunks of spinach.

I did not take a picture of the final smoothie, but that’s probably for the best. It was rather, well, mud-colored. Not exactly attractive. The spinach and the cocoa combined to make a not-too-lovely shade of smoothie. But that was okay. I didn’t have to look at the smoothie in order to drink it, right?

I poured some for C., who specifically asked if he could try it. I was impressed. Not many 10-year-olds would ask for some of their mom’s spinach-drink — at least not the 10-year-olds I know.

We started sipping.

The taste? Much like a plain ol’ chocolate-banana smoothie. I didn’t taste spinach at all. There was certainly a taste of “something” in addition to the chocolate and banana, but it wasn’t strong, and it wasn’t offensive. C. drank all of his, and I drank all of mine. We agreed that we liked it. And considering that this recipe is an awesome way to get all kinds of nutrients into myself and my tween, I consider that a major success.

In the interest of full disclosure, I made another one of these chocolate-green smoothies a few nights later, and Chad tried some as well. While he drank all of his, he did not seem impressed. But it could have been the color — the color was really and truly unappealing. But if you can look past the color, and you have a good pulverizing blender, give it a shot.

In the comments of my last Friday’s Fave Five post, Keyley (who happens to be my sister-in-law — hi, Keyley!) asked me to share my favorite smoothie recipe. I was so glad she asked because I have been at a loss for blog post topics am always happy to spread cold, refreshing, fruity goodness around a little.

I’ll list several of our favorite smoothie concoctions, but I have to give a few caveats first:

1. A smoothie only makes my “favorites” list if C. likes it, too. I tend to make smoothies in bulk, for all of us to enjoy, and as a way to get extra nutrients into my 10-year-old. Therefore, these smoothies are fairly simple — nothing too exotic, nothing too crazy.

2. We have a very serious, heavy-duty Blender-with-a-capital-B. We’ve had other blenders — purchased at Target or a department store. And while they’re fine for some things (like mixing a banana and some yogurt), we’ve discovered that a heavy-duty, though admittedly pricier, Blender allows us to do so much more.

For example, my first recipe includes an orange, and all I do is peel it — the seeds go in along with the rest of the orange, the blender pulverizes them, and you’d never even know they were originally there. Also, I sometimes throw an apple into my smoothies — an entire apple. I remove the stem, but the core, peel, and seeds all stay intact. In one of our previous blenders, this would have been a recipe for a lumpy, gritty, disgusting disaster, but in the new one, you can’t even tell.

All I’m saying is that, depending on your blender, you might have to make some adjustments.

Anyway, on to the recipes:

Banana, Orange & Carrot Smoothie

1/2 banana
1 orange, peeled
1/2 cup orange juice
2-3 baby carrots
1 cup ice

Combine ingredients in blender and blend well (start on a low setting and then increase to high; blend on high approx. 30 seconds). This is probably my personal favorite right now — refreshing, naturally sweet, and tastes similar to an Orange Julius. Yum.

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

1 banana
3/4 cup milk
Big glob of peanut butter (adjust to your liking — I probably use 1-2 Tbsp)
1 cup ice
Optional: Sometimes I include an apple, or exchange vanilla yogurt for some of the milk

Combine ingredients in blender and blend well.

Refreshing Fruit Smoothie

1 cup hulled strawberries
1 banana
1 cup red or green seedless grapes
1 cup ice

Combine ingredients in blender and blend well. I wasn’t sure if I’d like a smoothie without any kind of added yogurt or juice, but I really love this one. It’s just pure fruit juce, but I think it has a great taste.

Strawberry Ice Cream

Okay, this isn’t a smoothie, but it’s delicious. Not entirely healthy. But did I mention that it’s delicious?

1 cup milk (I used 2%)
1 pound frozen unsweetened strawberries
Up to 1/2 cup sugar or other sweetener (I used between 1/4 c and 1/2 cup)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla flavoring

Combine in blender, blend until smooth, but don’t over-blend (or it will start to melt). I have no idea if this will work in every blender — I found it on a site dedicated to our brand. I was skeptical, but it really worked. The frozen strawberries provided both the flavor and the coldness, and the blender whipped it into a yummy, soft-serve consistency strawberry ice cream. We drizzled it with chocolate syrup and devoured it. Three of us split it, but it could certainly stretch further — we were all stuffed after eating it.

And here’s a smoothie I’d like to try, but haven’t quite worked up the guts to…yet:

Cocoa Green Smoothie

1-3 cups baby spinach (start lower and work up to 3 cups)
1  banana (frozen, or use fresh and add some ice)
1 cup milk
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp sugar
Add water if needed to help the blending

Spinach in a smoothie? I know! Sounds weird. But I’ve heard that you can hardly tell it’s there, and just think of all the added nutrients I could get my kids to consume. I’ll let you know if I manage to try this one…

Writing this post made me crave a smoothie, so I just made one and thought I’d share a picture. Here’s the Banana, Orange, & Carrot smoothie, right before I made it quickly disappear.

If you have a favorite smoothie or cold blended drink, please share! I’m always looking for new ones to try.

So. I haven’t been on the computer much lately. But I have been decluttering. Which is quite surprising.

Surprising? you ask. What’s the big deal about decluttering?

Well, the big deal is, I’m usually trying to find ways to avoid most forms of houswork. I’m uptight and particular about many things, but a spotless and clutter-free house is not one of them. So when it comes to housework, I procrastinate and rationalize and practice advanced avoidance techniques. It helps that I have a high tolerance for dust and concealed piles.

Yes, I said concealed piles. I like the kitchen counter to be cleared off. I don’t stack things on the coffee table. But give me a closet or a cupboard, or pretty much anything that closes, and I’m likely to stash stuff there with little concern for the number of items accumulating.

Until this week, apparently. This week, I was seized by the overwhelming urge to just clean some things out. Certainly not normal for me, but I went with it.

It all started with the hall closet.

When we moved to this house, I decided that in addition to coats, the hall closet would be used to store things like light bulbs and extra school supplies and board games — things that we might need at any given time, and wanted to have handy. I bought a little two-drawer organizer, set things up and kept it that way for the past four years.

But on Monday, I decided that I actually need the vacuum cleaner in the hall closet. At this point in our family’s development, it seems that I have to vacuum our main level twice-weekly daily constantly. (Apparently, my kids can generate more  than their body weight in crumbs and itty bitty scraps of paper on a daily basis.) Currently, however, the vacuum lives upstairs, in our bedroom closet. And lugging it up and down the steps all the time makes me grouchy tired. Things would be so much easier if I had it readily available on the main level of the house.

Great. Problem solved.

Except it’s a small cloest, and there was no room for the vacuum.

Okay, so all the stuff in the closet had to move elsewhere. I quickly decided that the cabinets under the half-bath’s sink would be the perfect place for light bulbs and the other random household supplies that were currently in the closet. Perfect.

Except for the fact that those bathroom cabinets were full of…well, other stuff.

So I started there. Within an hour, the half-bath cabinets were streamlined and organized, ready to welcome my handy two-drawer organizer from the hall closet. Another hour or so later, the hall closet was happily housing the vacuum. In the process, I also generated a large garbage bag full of junk that could leave the house entirely.

But did I stop there? Oh no.

On to the storage room.The storage room is the half of our basement where I stash anything that doesn’t have a home, along with clothes from C. that I’m saving for L., books that don’t fit on the bookshelves, holiday decorations, and about a million other things. It is a scary place, because I’ve been somewhat less than organized in my stashing.

I’m currently in the process of going through every single item, storing like things together, and actually labeling containers. I started months ago, but I have a feeling it will never actually be done.

Monday night, I attacked seven more boxes, filled a bag of clothes for the local mission, set aside a basket of toys to give away, and produced another two garbage bags full of, well, garbage. Whew!

You’d think that would be enough for a housework-avoider like me, but oh no!

Last night saw me finally dealing with the “to-file pile.”

Confession: I hate filing. I like things to be filed, but I hate the process. So I tend to let the to-file pile grow. And grow. And grow. Until I literally cannot fit another item on it. It stays hidden in our computer armoire, where I can be careful to not look at it. But anyone who stops by our house is likely to see it, since the armoire doors are often open. So I’m perpetually embarrassed about it, but still manage to not do anything about it for months at a time.

Here’s what it looked like last night at 8:00 p.m. (And no, I can’t believe I’m posting this for all the world to see.)

And here’s what it looked like at 10:30 p.m.

Ah, much better. I love when it’s all cleaned up. So why don’t I file more often? I have no answer for that.

Not surprisingly, there’s no point to this post. Except: I’ve been decluttering. Which isn’t much of a point, if you ask me.

But I do have to admit that purging the closet and cabinets and storage pile and computer armoire has been — if not “enjoyable” — fulfilling. It feels good to know that the piles aren’t actually taking over my house, and that I’ve gotten rid of a whole bunch of stuff that was either expired or unnecessary or useless or extraneous. Who knows — with my new lightened load, maybe I’ll actually have room in my brain for blog posts.