When my oldest daughter was only three years old, I made myself a healthy, no-sugar-added, vegetable smoothie. I didn't bother to make my daughter one, because I knew that there was no way she would drink it. However, the smoothie quickly disappeared from my cup . . . and it wasn't me who drank it. I was shocked that my three-year-old, who would gag whenever I would convince her to take a bite of vegetable, would drink a smoothie filled with kale, spinach, plain yogurt, blueberries, and bananas.
Ever since that astonishing day, I have made this smoothie for my entire family at least twice a week. If it were up to my kids—now ages 8, 6, and 4—they would drink this vegetable smoothie for breakfast EVERY SINGLE DAY. No joke. And they're getting tons of iron (from the spinach/kale), probiotics (from the yogurt), antioxidants (from the blueberries), potassium (from the bananas), and other needed nutrients.
To make smoothie drinking fun, I let my kids each pick out their own 24 oz insulated tumbler with a non-spill straw lid. I also bought a dozen reusable plastic straws in various colors. My kids love picking out a different colored straw every time they have a smoothie! I don't hesitate filling their 24 oz cups up to the top, because whatever they don't finish for breakfast stays good, when stored in the refrigerator, until lunch or later. My kids are ecstatic when they find their unfinished smoothie still in the refrigerator from the morning before!
Vegetable Smoothie Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
- 1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach and/or kale
- 1 large, ripe banana (fresh or frozen)
- 2/3 cup plain, whole milk yogurt
- 1 tbs peanut butter (or sunflower seed butter if there are allergies)
- 1/2 cup vanilla almond milk (or oat milk)
- 2 tbs uncooked oats (optional)
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Directions:
Put all ingredients (blueberries, spinach/kale, banana, yogurt, peanut butter, almond milk, and oats) into a blender. Blend until smooth.
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Tips:
- You can switch out blueberries with another type of fruit (e.g., raspberries, strawberries, cherries). However, blueberries blend well—they don't have any seeds that could bother kids—and they mask the green color of the smooth from the spinach/kale, making the smooth appear purple. If you were a kid, would you rather drink a green smoothie or a purple smoothie?
- To make this smoothie quickly, buy a large bag of frozen chopped kale or spinach (or a combination of both). Don't make your life harder trying to use fresh vegetables!
- Use those ugly, ultra-ripe bananas. They're sooooo sweet! Also, any time you have bananas laying around that are turning brown, freeze them! Unpeel the bananas, cut them into pieces, and put them into a gallon bag for freezing. This way you always have bananas available for your vegetable smoothies.
- The first few times you make this smoothie for your kids, make sure they really enjoy it by adding less of the spinach/kale and more of the sweeter ingredients (e.g., blueberries and banana). You could also use a sweeter brand of almond or oat milk. Over time, if you're a health nut like me, you can gradually add in more and more spinach/kale, and less banana. (I put nearly a cup of spinach/kale in each 24 oz smoothie—but don't tell my kids!)
- I add oats to the smoothie to make it thicker, heartier, and a bit more nourishing.
Enjoy!
Gabrielle R. Fardella (mackidhicksville@macaronikid.com) is the Publisher of Macaroni Kid Hicksville!
