One day they love green beans and the next they hate it. Today they love bananas but tomorrow they won’t even look at one. Eggs are they’re favorite food, until they’re not.
Picky eaters can be quite a challenge but there are creative ways to get your little ones to eat, and to eat nutritious foods.
In my home we always try to serve a variety of foods and we encourage our little ones to try something new every day. Overall, kids eat what they need, maybe not in one day but in the course of a month. However, there are times when it feels like my oldest has barely eaten all week and is at those times, when she gets really picky that we start making smoothies loaded with greens.
The great thing about smoothies is that you can cater them to your child’s taste and you can sneak in lots of green! My kids actually love making the smoothie so they have to be part of the process every time we make one.
We have made many, many different types of green smoothies but eventually we nailed a kid-friendly smoothie recipe that everyone who has tried loves. I usually make a big batch of this recipe and have some too because it’s so tasty and nutritious.
When making a smoothie it is important that you use high quality organic ingredients because the smoothies get absorbed a lot faster by your body and because children’s bodies are more sensitive to pesticides in their foods. That’s why we partnered with NOW® Foods for this smoothie recipe. They have a huge variety of organic foods, ingredients, and even snacks that the littles ones will love.
If you decide to tweak this recipe, keep in mind that you should have some basic ingredients:
- Greens: Get a big bag of greens and freeze them in ziploc bags. You can measure out your serving before putting the leaves in the bag, and next time you’re making a smoothie just dump the contents in the blender.
- Fruits: Get a frozen bag of organic berries, but every now and then switch it up with other fruits, like frozen mangoes or bananas. Buy fresh what’s in season and frozen what’s not in season.
- Healthy Fats: Use avocado or NOW® Organic Coconut Oil. We personally prefer to use coconut oil because it gives the smoothie a better flavor.
- Liquid: Use water, coconut water or coconut milk for liquid. I stick to water because we rarely have enough coconut water at home for smoothies.
- Protein: My kids don’t get enough protein, so smoothies are the perfect time to give that extra protein they need.
Buying protein is tricky; there are a lot of protein powders made with questionable ingredients and that haven’t been properly tested. For protein, I only get the Organic Plant Protein from NOW® Sports because they actually test every ingredient before it gets made into their protein powders and then again once it’s a final product. The protein powder comes in 3 flavors: unflavored, vanilla and chocolate – we love the vanilla one! - Superfoods: The easiest superfoods to use in smoothies are chia seeds and cocoa powder. Chia seeds are a great source of omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, iron, and calcium. Cocoa is a great source of iron, manganese, magnesium and zinc.
We have this smoothie at least once a week, but sometimes we make it every other day.
As far as blenders, you don’t need anything fancy, any blender you have at home will do. However, if you don’t have a blender, get this one from NOW®. It’s the perfect size and very affordable.
Check out how easy it is to make this smoothie. In this video tutorial my 5 year old made the green smoothie:
Cocoa Green Smoothie Recipe for Kids
This recipe makes 2 large cups – if you won’t be drinking some of this smoothie, cut the recipe in half.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of greens
- 3/4 cup of fruit
- 2 teaspoons of NOW® Organic Coconut Oil
- 1 scoop of NOW® Sports vanilla protein powder
- 1 teaspoon of NOW® Organic Chia Seeds
- 1 teaspoon of NOW® Organic Cocoa Powder
- 1 1/2 cups of water, coconut water or coconut milk
- Optional: you can sweeten it with honey if your child prefers sweeter smoothies but I recommend you try it first without the honey – the fruit does a good job at making it sweet.
Directions:
Smoothies are so easy to make! You just dump all the ingredients and mix until they’re well blended.
However, part of the fun of drinking a smoothie is actually making it so I always put all the ingredients out in smaller containers and let my kids make the smoothie.
First, have your child add the water and greens. Have them pulse the blender a few times – this is the fun part for them.
Then add the frozen fruit and mix until you can’t see any chunks of fruit.
Then add the coconut oil and protein powder and mix very well.
Once the smoothie looks like it’s done, add the chia seeds and press the pulse button a few times.
Serve the smoothie in a child friendly cup!
If your kid doesn’t drink it all at once, just leave on your table and they will eventually keep drinking more smoothie until it’s all gone.
Now you have a healthy, nutritious drink that your little ones will love.
Cocoa Green Smoothie Recipe for Kids
A green smoothie packed full of healthy ingredients that your kids are sure to love.
Ingredients
- 2 cups of greens
- 3/4 cup of fruit
- 2 teaspoons of NOW® Organic Coconut Oil
- 1 scoop of NOW® Sports vanilla protein powder
- 1 teaspoon of NOW® Organic Chia Seeds
- 1 teaspoon of NOW® Organic Cocoa Powder
- 1 1/2 cups of water, coconut water or coconut milk
Instructions
- Have your child add the water and greens. Have them pulse the blender a few times - this is the fun part for them.
- Then add the frozen fruit and mix until you can't see any chunks of fruit.
- Then add the coconut oil and protein powder and mix very well.
- Once the smoothie looks like it's done, add the chia seeds and press the pulse button a few times.
- Serve in a child friendly cup.
Notes
Optional: you can sweeten it with honey if your child prefers sweeter smoothies but I recommend you try it first without the honey - the fruit does a good job at making it sweet.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 1 Serving Size: 1 ServingsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 868Total Fat: 58gSaturated Fat: 48gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 5mgSodium: 405mgCarbohydrates: 60gFiber: 23gSugar: 20gProtein: 44g
Please keep in mind that these nutritional values are estimates, based on the ingredients, and it might not be accurate.
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