Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Be a Choosy Role Model with Fruits and Veggies: Give a Smoothie a Try

By: Christine Cox (aka Choosy Mom)

Some days it is tough getting your child to sit down and eat a meal, let alone a healthy and nutritious meal with the right amount of fruit and veggies. We’ve all been there. I spend an hour making a healthy dinner with my daughter attached to my leg screaming because she is “starving”. I really do feel great because I know she is going to get the right amount of fruits/veggies/meats, whatever it is that I am making, when she eats her meal. And finally, the meal is ready to eat and she decides she’s not starving anymore and runs off to play. I sit down at the table and just stare at my plate. It looks great and is healthy, but now my child, who was so hungry an hour ago, isn’t willing to take even just one bite.
It is hard to teach young children about time because when they are “starving” they want food NOW and not in an hour when it is ready. So what is a parent to do when hunger strikes?

Sometimes offering a drink is best! And if your child has been a picky eater, maybe a baby and me fruit and veggie smoothie would be a choosy choice! It won’t fill them up, but it will ensure they get a great serving of fruits and veggies!

To find out what amounts of fruits and veggies a child should be having, I’ve turned to Choosemyplate.gov. I have also found that the parent or care taker has to be a food role model. So if you make something that you don’t like, chances are your child may not like it too! But trust me, the smoothie recipe below was a winner for everyone in my house!

Thank goodness for Aimee Kleer-Gonzalez and her blog, BargainBites or I wouldn’t have ever tried, or thought to combine fruits and veggies, in a smoothie! Give this quick drink a try when dinner isn’t ready yet or even as a breakfast drink!
Baby and Me Smoothie #1 
What You Need:
1 cup Spinach
4 Strawberries (or 1 bananna or 1/2 cup frozen mangoes)
3/4 cup Plain Greek Yogurt **
1/2 cup Juice (Orange, Pear, Banana, Morning Blend, and Pineapple all work well)
1 tbsp Chia Seeds
1 cup Frozen Peaches

A short and simple list (that you can make up and change)!

To make the smoothie, just add these ingredients to the blender and blend!

It took my child a little while to decide that she liked it, but in the end, it was a winner! "Yummy, yummy in her tummy" is what I constantly heard after she took a drink! We made this for breakfast and she not only drank her smoothie, but continued to eat her breakfast as well. It wasn’t filling but it ensured she got some fruits and veggies in her diet!

Choosy would love this smoothie since it is green and nutritious! What other smoothies do you think Choosy would like? Share your recipe with us and we will be sure to give them a try! 

About the Author: Christine Cox is the blog master for Choosy Kids. She has always had a passion for writing and is honored to contribute her work to this blog. Most of her writing inspiration comes from her daughter, Capri, who is fun-loving and full of energy. Click here to learn more about Christine.

46 comments :

  1. It sounds good and the ingredients seem great. I 'd have to put it in a cup where they could not see it is green. Something about a green drink scares my girls but I'm sure it tastes fruity.

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    1. I thought the green would make my toddler nervous too but it didn't. Hope they like it regardless of color :)

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  2. Smoothies are an excellent way to incorporate veggies even for us adults especially with those we don't really care for. I would love to have you share at the Motivational Monday Link Party.
    http://www.thesoutherncouture.com/motivational-monday-link-party-2-22-15/

    Bethany from The Southern Couture

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    1. I 100% agree on the veggies we usually don't like. I've now added carrots to some of our smoothies and I typically don't like them but the other fruit and veggies hide the taste!!

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  3. This smoothie recipe sounds really good! Thanks for sharing :)

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  4. I am going to try to make this smoothie for my grandkids. Thank you for sharing!

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    1. I hope they enjoy it. If they are old enough, let them help put the ingredients together. My toddler loves to do that now :)

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  5. that sounds great. I couldn't get my daughter to eat smoothies until recently when we figured out the seeds(from raspberries, etc) bothered her. Now we just leave heavily seeded berries out of hers

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    1. Uhg those darn seeds!! They bother us too which is why we try to avoid them. Chai seeds will do the same thing but are soooo yummy!

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  6. Great recipe, I always made my boys smoothies when they would get home from school to hold them over until dinner was ready.

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    1. That's a great time for a smoothie. We've been doing a smoothie before bed with my toddler since she's going through a growth spurt and was waking up hungry in the middle of the night. I added some oatmeal to the smoothie and it seems to have helped!

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  7. I am not a big smoothie drinker, but my kids love them. My teenagers make them a lot and add spinach and other veggies!

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    1. We love spinach in ours but other veggies can be tough!

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  8. This looks great! I made smoothies last weekend with my daughter, but I'll have to try this recipe. Thanks!

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  9. My son loves kale and mango smoothies, he comes to the kitchen and request "juice" He's my green smoothie king. My daughter who is older never liked them and refused to drink them.nits harder to get her to eat healthy

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    1. My 2 year old gets really excited for her "milkshake smoothies" ya know - since we use the same machine for just regular milkshakes ;)

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    1. Glad you stopped by. Let us know if you give it a try :)

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  11. Can't go wrong with smoothies! I just need a better blender! Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Haha oh man! I'm sure we'll need a new blender soon too!!

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  12. Spinach in a smoothie works so well! I've pulled this trick before (and I think I need to pull it more often :-)

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  13. My son enjoys drinking shakes from a straw. I'll have to try a smoothie out on him.

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    1. My toddler refers to her fruit and veggie smoothies as milkshake smoothies :) no milk! Haha

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  14. This looks great! I love kale smoothies... they taste great and have a ton of nutrients.

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  15. My son loves smoothies! I'm going to give this one a try!

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  16. Smoothies are such a great way to sneak veggies into kiddies diets!

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    1. It really is! I haven't experimented a lot yet with veggies except spinach. What do you use?

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  17. I would love to start making smoothies more often. We just finally bought a blender so hopefully that motivates me more, along with this post! Thanks :)

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    1. Awesome!! I use my blender everyday! See if yours has an easy clean function!!

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  18. This smoothie recipe sounds perfect for my grandkids. Thank you!

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  19. Love the smoothie recipe! Thanks for sharing!

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  20. Thanks for sharing this recipe. I'm sharing it with my daughter.

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  21. Yum, I will definitely be trying the smoothie recipe. Thanks for sharing.

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  22. My kiddo has gotten out of the habit of eating his fruits and veggies. All he wants is his drink cup. This might be the perfect solution.

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  23. My kiddo has gotten out of the habit of eating his fruits and veggies. All he wants is his drink cup. This might be the perfect solution.

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  24. I've had this before with frozen mangoes and added flaxseeds instead of chia seeds. Delicious!

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  25. I LOVE smoothies! I did the 10 day green smoothie cleanse a few months back where I spent 10 days drinking smoothies for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was awesome - I felt fantastic!

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