I pulled together our list of green smoothies your kids will love. My kid’s favorite snack lately is a smoothie, always with a dose of greens. My two year old runs into the kitchen saying “moothie” until I make him one. Smoothies are a great way to sneak additional vegetables and fruits into your kids diet, and your own if needed. We usually make one large smoothie and split it up between the three of us in the afternoon. Both kids like the green smoothies and I’ll share today some super simple recipes that are kid-approved.
The good news is both kids drink green smoothies. The bad news is they often want them before I get dinner on the table so I find it can affect how much they eat when we sit at the table. I’m slowly trying to find a balance between offering them healthy vegetable-filled snacks and not take away from eating vegetables on the plate. The fiber isn’t lost when you make a smoothie, but I do think it’s important for kids to continue to experience the different textures of cooked or raw vegetables on their dinner plate.
We are using the Blendtec blender that I received as part of a Stonyfield yogurt campaign. The blender really is amazing and I think I’ll always have one of these high speed blenders from now on. We are using the Wildside Blendtec Blender.
There are a few key ingredients I use when I make smoothies for us:
- Spinach
- Coconut Milk
- Yogurt
- Frozen Fruit
- Bananas
- Oranges
- Melon
- Chia seeds (optional)
I generally never add any sweetener (like honey or agave) as I don’t want to give the kids a taste of a sweeter option. If something tastes too “green” I can soften the taste with the addition of more citrus or an apple. Yes, there is still sugar in the fruit but there are also a ton of vitamins that are beneficial.
Wondering how we serve our smoothies? I use our pint size mason jars and these glass smoothie straws
Here are just a few of our favorite recipes. Combine in the order listed and blend well.
Green Smoothies Your Kids Will Love
*where it says water, you can sub in coconut milk to make it creamy, almond, oat, cashew or your favorite type of milk.
Mango Monkey
1/2 cup coconut milk
2 cups spinach
1 banana
1 cup frozen mango
Alligator Surprise
1/2 cup water
1/2 a medium avocado scooped out (we make this to use up leftover avocado)
2 cups spinach
2 cups frozen pineapple
Green Queen
1/2 cup of water
2 tablespoons of flaxseeds (or chia seeds)
2 clementines, peeled
1 banana
2 cups spinach
1/2 cup frozen pineapple chunks
The Blue One
(which really comes out more purple than blue)
1/2 cup water
1 cup yogurt (we use our homemade yogurt)
1 cup spinach
2 cups frozen berries
Head over here for one more bonus green smoothie: Coconut Kale Smoothie!
If the kids are not into anything green, you can also try my Paleo Pumpkin Pie Smoothie recipe. Happy blending! I hope these green smoothies your kids will love helps make getting more vegetables into them a lot easier for you.
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