Inspired by Victoria Boutenko and her incredible books on nutrition and green smoothies, I had to share with you what I learned about the importance of green smoothies and share a few ridiculously cool puppy and kitty green smoothie recipes. Yep, your furry friends cant go green, too.  Thanks to the Boutenko’s I’m converting the household- puppies included- to constant green smoothies!

I just read Victoria Boutenko’s book, Green For Life, a birthday present a few years back from a friend who was concerned  that I was eating nothing but hamburgers and green tea.  (Well, I was for a bit…!) If you want your eyes open to a whole new world of very easy-to-apply nutritional genius, look no further than this book!  Some of my great big eye-openers:

• Greens should be their own food-group. They aren’t vegetables, even though they are the color green!  They are crazy-packed with minerals, vitamins and protein, along with enzymes.
• Drinking blended green smoothies helps normalize our stomach acids and creates better overall digestion.  Same for the fur babies!
• We humans should eat more like chimpanzees with whom we share 99.6% of our genes (yes, you read that right).  Chimps don’t get the rampant deadly diseases that we humans are plagued with, and they eat mainly fruit and greens!
• Green smoothies are the best way to get chlorophyll in your diet.  Chlorophyll acts like sunshine in your body, energizing and purifying the blood and your overall chi (chi: my feng shui term for life-force.)

Now, while I have probably convinced you to hit up the Boutenko’s blog or grab your copy of Green For Life… why should your furry friends go greenish?  We aren’t so much unlike our animals.  Granted, cats don’t get fruit in their smoothies and dogs can not eat grapes or onions….but other than that, its a green field of options!  I would always double-check with your vet if you are trying something wild or exotic in terms of greens, or if your animal has a serious illness.  Just remember: introduce your dogs and cats slowly to smoothies and build up to a nice little portion. The smoothies are best fresh but they do keep in the fridge for a day or two in a glass mason jar if you make a big batch.

Oh, and a side note on blenders: if you have a normal blender with sharp blades you should be OK, though these smoothies are best made with a superpower blender like a Vitamix.  Don’t despair if you don’t have one yet.  Try your smoothies with your blender and if you get hooked (and I hope you do!) you will soon see the big, expensive blender as a long-term investment that is well worth the while.

I mean, my dog Bob goes crazy over lettuce and will eat a field of grass… this is good stuff!!!  Here are the Boutenko’s puppy and kitty smoothie recipes (and I do hope they don’t mind, I sort of worship them!)—

Poochie’s Gourmet Green Smoothie by Victoria Boutenko  (puppy)

1 cup kale
1 banana
1 cup water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon kelp (granules or powder)
Add some torn nori sheets; dogs love it!

Fluffy’s Delight (kitty)

1 cup wheatgrass clippings (or any other grass, not sprayed)
1 cup water
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 capsules fish oil (pour on the smoothie, in the bowl)
Pinch of catnip (optional)
Yields 7 servings: You may freeze it in an ice-cube tray and serve it by the cube.

Have you tried these with your dogs? Cats? Have tips to share!? I’m all ears! xoxo Dana