Shamrock Shakes (healthy version) for St. Patrick's Day
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all of you! I have always loved St. Patrick’s Day, even as a wee little girl. It always seemed like a wonderful day to be happy and joyful, a day of celebration! I have always loved the color green and green is everywhere on this lovely day! Seeing this beautiful color always reminded me of spring and new life on its way after a long cold winter.
I wanted to give you some history about this special day that we celebrate tomorrow. St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated every year on the anniversary of St. Patrick’s death on March 17th. The Irish have observed this religious holiday for over 1,000 years, since the 9th or 10th century.
St. Patrick was born in Roman Britain. His name was Maewyn Succat at birth but after he became a priest, his name changed to Patricius or Patrick, which derives from the Latin term “father figure.” He was kidnapped from his birthplace and taken to Ireland at the age of 16. Years later, he escaped. Eventually he returned to Ireland after becoming a priest and was credited for bringing Christianity to the Druid culture.
The famous legend is that he explained the Holy Trinity using the three leaves of the native Irish clover, known as the Shamrock…hence wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day is good luck. St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated in many countries today, including North America, Canada, Japan, Australia, Russia, and Singapore.
One of my favorite memories of St. Patrick’s Day when I was little was going to McDonald’s and getting a Shamrock shake every year, a tradition. Can you believe it? Yes, this is the truth! I admit it! In fact, the only time my little ones ever went to McDonald’s in their life was to celebrate this happy day with a Shamrock shake.
After doing a bit of research we found that a medium size Shamrock shake at McDonald’s has 19 tsp of sugar and 54 different ingredients, including high fructose corn syrup, artificial colorings and flavorings.
Let’s celebrate this happy day with a healthy “Shamrock” shake that is just as yummy and only has 6 ingredients…not 54!
SHAMROCK SHAKE (Healthy Version)- celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with drinking something green J
*This shake gets its beautiful green color from avocado and spinach-all natural
1 avocado (make sure the avocado you’re using is soft and ripe)- the avocado gives this shake a nice thickness and creamy texture
1 cup of spinach leaves (no stems)
2 cups of milk of your choice ( my favorite is So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk or So Delicious Vanilla Almond Milk-both are organic)
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract (if using vanilla almond milk, only use 1 tsp)
1 tsp. mint extract (depending on how strong of a mint taste
you would like to have) *if you are using peppermint extract then decrease to 1/8-1/4 tsp.
4-5 TBSP Monk Fruit Sweetener, raw honey, or sweetener of choice (adjust to your level of sweetness)
Blend everything in blender until all ingredients are completely whipped together. You may add 1-2 cups of ice in the blender at the end to make this very cold and thick…which of course is the most delicious!
Pour into 2 glasses and enjoy!
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