I have fond memories of visiting my Chicago neighbor, Julie, during her boy's snack time and watching her make smoothies for them in her Vita-Mix. In those early months of motherhood with no family around, I often found myself loitering in Julie's kitchen after coming to borrow the proverbial cup of sugar and listening to her stories about motherhood. I learned a lot from Julie and this is one lesson that stuck with me.
Her adorable little boys, Taft and Finny, were picky vegetable eaters. So when making smoothies, along with strawberries, bananas and blueberries, Julie would put in handfuls of raw spinach and sometimes a carrot of two. The kids were none the wiser and after expressing serious doubt that the smoothies could actually taste good, she made me try a little. Much to my surprise, it was absolutely delicious!
So, I've been experimenting with my smoothie making these last couple of weeks. Amelia isn't too picky with her vegetables, but I find that I really don't offer them enough to her. (Perhaps this is a direct result of my vegetable intake). So far, I've added raw spinach, carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower to the fruit I normally use for our smoothies and have gotten excellent results! The last two smoothies I made, I've been able to include a food from every color of the rainbow. Amelia sucks these babies down super fast and, I admit, I do too! (As long as I don't think about it too much).
Not only is it great nutritionally for Amelia, but it is also an activity we can do together. She loves to climb up on her trusty IKEA step stool and watch me cut up the fruit and vegetables. I make a pile of the fruit/veggies ready to go and Amelia throws them in the blender, often taking a sample of everything she adds. Its a win-win situation. Oh, and did I mention its the perfect way to get rid of fruit that is slightly past its prime and/or the last bit of vegetables floating around in the freezer?
5 comments:
I love this idea! I've been thinking I need to make smoothies to help Sean with his fruit intake. I would love some basic recipes!!
The smoothies are very forgiving, so I usually use what I have on hand, but it may any combination of these things:
Fruit:
*3-4 strawberries chopped
*3-4 bite size chunks or pineapple
*1 banana
*blueberries (I like to use frozen b/c it makes it thicker and cold)
*handful raspberries
* apple peeled and cored
veggies:
* 2-3 steamed baby carrots
* 1 handful of raw spinach
*1-2 small handfuls of frozen veggie medley (broccoli, carrot, and cauliflower is what I used).
I also add:
*about 1/2 cup of fruit juice (orange or apple)
*about 1/2-3/4 cup yogurt (I usually do strawberry)
*a pinch of sugar
*a teaspoon or so of vanilla extract
Just play around with it and see what you both like. I used to add ice, but I prefer to use frozen fruit/veggies instead because it seems less watered down. I usually just throw in what I have from the list above. Strawberries and bananas especially seem to dominate in flavor so they cover up the veggies pretty good.
When I get braver, I plan on trying some of these:
http://www.fountainofjuice.com/category/recipes/green-smoothies/
Jodi, this is an awesome idea. I think I'm actually going to give these a try. It will help me get the kids their veggies in and also some of mine since I slack on them too.....hehehe. Thanks for the great tip!
This sounds great, thanks for sharing this.
Awesome idea Jodi!!! Thanks for the recipe tips as well.
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