Toddler Smoothie
Smoothie to the Rescue!
Recently, my baby who would eat anything has quickly become a picky eating toddler. I am having the hardest time getting her to eat anything other than bread and cheese…Smoothie to the rescue!
She wants to eat anything I eat, which is oatmeal and a smoothie for breakfast. I decided to start putting a bunch of healthy things in a smoothie to see if she would eat it. She did! I now make her a smoothie every day. She doesn’t finish it in one sitting, so I put it in a few small cups and give it to her throughout the day.
Ellie’s Smoothie Recipe
1 cup almond milk
1/2 cup organic whole milk yogurt
1/2 avocado
1/2 to 1 whole banana
2-3 green food cubes
handful berry medley
handful frozen mango
I start with the almond milk to give Ellie her daily milk requirement. My husband and I don’t drink milk, so it worked better for us to give Ellie almond milk, which we already have in the house. We buy Silk brand almond milk in bulk from Costco. I add yogurt to the smoothie for a healthy dose of dairy, calcium, protein, and healthy bacteria. Avocado is the next ingredient. Ellie LOVED avocado when she was a baby. It was her favorite food. Now she won’t touch it. I started adding it to the smoothie and voila! a healthy dose of unsaturated fatty acids. Bananas are a great source of potassium and fiber, and also mask some of the other flavors (avocado) in a smoothie. I prepare green food cubes ahead of time because they are easy to grab and throw in smoothies or cereal. You can easily experiment with different types of greens. Lately, I have been packing my blender with spinach and kale and adding almond milk to create a nice soupy green mixture that I pour into ice cube trays and freeze. Then, when I make a smoothie I just pop out a few cubes and throw them in. I also add berries to give the smoothie more flavor and pack in some antioxidants. Finally, the mangoes pack a healthy addition of vitamins A, C, and D to finish off the recipe.
I am a little obsessed with smoothies, and love how versatile they can be. It is so much fun to try different recipes. No matter what, I also make sure my smoothie has a huge handful of spinach – yum!
What are your favorite tricks to get your kids to eat well?
Thanks for the recipe. I have been wanting to try smoothies because my boys are the same way. They were great eaters as babies but now they are super picky. I don’t have any great tricks. Each meal I try to serve them at least one thing I know they like and then I try to encourage them take a few bites of something they are less fond of (like veggies). But that works better when they are older and you can reason with them.
Also, have you thought about making healthy breads, like zucchinni. You can add lots of healthy stuff like flax seed meal.
Bre, thanks for sharing! I love making breads and muffins. You are right, it is another great way to add healthy servings of things like flax seed. Thank you also for sharing the tip about always serving at least one thing you know your kids will like. I forgot about that trick! Getting our kids to eat healthy can be tricky, so it is so great to share tips with other moms!
I love your suggestion for prepping frozen green cubes to add to the smoothie. What a great idea!!