Healthy Green Smoothies for Kids!An Easy Intro Guide for Getting Your Kiddos to Love Their Greens!

by

Trisha Hughes from Eat Your BeetsCopyright 2014 - Trisha Hughes, Eat Your Beets. All rights reserved. Do not copy, duplicate, share or sell,

in part or whole, any part of this ebook without written consent. All written material and photographs except for cover image belong to Trisha Hughes. Cover image used with permission from Canva.

The Smoothie!

Starting out with smoothies can be challenging for some people because they just don't know where to start. Especially with their kids. My kiddos have been loving smoothies for awhile & every time they hear the Vitamix whirl up, they all come running. So, if you're new to the smoothie world, I'll share some great tips with you on how to introduce them to your kids!

1. Start Small

If you have some picky eaters at your house consider starting them off slowly with the smoothies. I always had a tendency, when making my green smoothies, to load up on the leafy greens. But greens can have a bitter taste, especially to kiddos who aren't used to them so consider a slow, small intro. If a recipe calls for 1 cup of greens, start with 1/2 cup or even 1/4 cup. The worst thing to happen is, you're realize you could have added more greens! Hooray! You want to set your kiddos up for success while also slowly transitioning their taste buds to more whole foods. You wouldn't expect a toddler to jump into a raw kale salad (although, yes some do) so you shouldn't expect them to want to drink one either.

2. Use a Basic Template

A lot of times I hear people say they don't know how to make smoothies & they really want a recipe. You're in luck, because while I do have several yummy recipes for you, you don't necessarily need one. Once you've tried a few of my recipes, you'll start to understand what your family likes & then the possibilities are endless! A good template to begin all smoothies is with 1/2 cup of liquid + 1 cup of ice. I mostly prefer my liquid to be water but eventually you can get into making different smoothies that also use milk (raw, almond, coconut, etc). If you find that you’re using a lot of frozen fruit you may have to increase your water ratio to 1 cup. This is because even the strongest blender will have a hard time mixing too many frozen ingredients. The best method is to add more liquid 1/4 cup at a time until you see the consistency you want.

3. Rotate Your Greens

There are some who think you should rotate your greens because of a chance of toxicity. While yes, plants do carry small amounts of toxins naturally to keep them from being entirely eaten by animals, the chances of you having an 'alkaloid buildup' are slim. Unless you are only drinking green smoothies (& not eating any other food) in such mass quantities that your body starts to react to them, I wouldn’t worry. This is where intuitive eating comes into play. If you start experiencing unwanted side effects like tingling in any part of your body, change things up. Personally, I am a big fan of rotating your greens simply to experience the vast array of nutritional benefits from different greens. Oh & also because I get bored easily. But just to reassure you, my kids & I have been drinking green smoothies for awhile & so far so good! So keep drinking & rotating those greens.

4. Get Creative

Once you've tried out my delicious recipes, what's next? Now is when you get to start having some fun! Let your kids help decide what they should try out in their smoothies. Get them involved in the grocery shopping! Do they think celery & carrots & okra might taste good? Well, why not give it a try! My 3 year old loves to help me make the smoothies & we have one almost every day when my 2 big kids come home from school. Everyone gets excited about them & it's nice when they think a fruit & veggie smoothie is a ‘treat'. I’ll even be sharing the ‘fan favorite’ smoothie that all my kids love! It’s the one thing they can all agree on.

5. Don’t Just Stick with Green

I'm obviously a big fan of green smoothies & while I think you should always be adding greens to your smoothies, they don't necessarily have to stay green! Your smoothies will sometimes be green, purple, red, orange or even brown! Don't worry though. They'll still taste delish & have lots of vitamins & nutrients in them. In fact, the first few recipes in this ebook aren’t even green!

6. Make Them Frozen

It's a great idea to add either ice  &/or a frozen fruit to make your smoothies icy cold but what if you're doing all this & your kiddos still aren't into your smoothie makeover? It's time to pull out the secret weapon: the popsicle. Have you ever seen a kid turn down a popsicle? Popsicle makers are inexpensive & super easy to use & it's great to be able to stash nutritious sweets in your freezer! So if you have some reluctant kiddos, try the popsicle route & see if they come around.

Tips for Getting Your Kids in the Kitchen

My kids LOVE being able to help me make our smoothies! They love feeling like they are apart of the experience so I’m happy to let them help. If your kids are new to helping in the kitchen or still very young I have some great tips for keeping them safe & keeping you sane!

1. Invite Them

Sometimes I get so used to doing everything in the kitchen, I completely forget that the kids really enjoy being in there with me. If your kids are showing some interest don’t hesitate to ask them to help! If your kids are resistant to new foods it may be helpful to have them be apart of the process. Whatever the case, don’t forget to ask them to be involved.

2. Get Them at the Right Level

Have you ever gotten down right on your child’s level & had a look around? There’s not as much to see. It’s no wonder kids are constantly moving furniture around to get a better look at things! If your child is joining you in the kitchen make sure you have a chair or stool for them to stand on so they are able to see exactly what’s happening up there on the counter. What fun is helping if you’re missing all the action!

3. Have Your Ingredients Ready

Anything that needs to be measured or cut, make sure it’s all ready for them when it comes time to make the smoothie. Kids can have a short attention span so having everything prepped & on hand will ensure they aren’t distracted… or making a mess while you’re distracted.

4. Keep Your Blender Unplugged

This is probably the best safely tip I can offer you. When dealing with any appliance & your kids, it’s best to keep it unplugged until you’re there & ready to use it. I can’t tell you how quickly little, curious fingers can press buttons or turn dials on blenders. Keep your blender unplugged until you’re ready to go & you’ll save yourself from a potential mess or worse, an injury.

Are you getting excited? But wait, what if you’re thinking:

I don’t have a big, fancy blender! Can I still make all these smoothies?

Yes! You Can!

There are lots of great, affordable blender options on the market if you're looking to upgrade. But if you're happy with what you have there are some things you can do to make your smoothies blend easier. Chopping your greens before you add them will help make sure you don't have big chunks left in your smoothie. Also chopping any large, hard pieces of fruit like apples makes the blenders job that much easier. Make sure you don't use too many frozen fruits & not enough liquid to help keep your blender from burning out. If it's working too hard to blend all those hard, frozen ingredients you could run into problems. The last thing you want to do when you didn't plan on buying a new blender, is have to buy a new blender.

Also, when you add your ingredients, put them in this order:

Liquid first.

Any frozen items next.

Top with any raw or softer items (like greens).

This will help your blender combine your ingredients easier & keep you from getting frustrated.

Also, in case of a blender emergency, you can always add extra liquid to your blender which will help with the mixing process & protect your motor. Add your liquid in 1/4 cup at a time until you reach your desired consistency.

So Now What?

Now that I've got you excited about healthy smoothies for you & your kiddos, are you ready for some recipes? Let’s get you started with a quick shopping list. Make sure to check the freezer for any ingredients you might have stored away there!

Time to Go Shopping!

If you plan to make one smoothie every day for 8 days these are all the ingredients you’ll need. I’m letting you know the exact measurements you’ll need in total for all the smoothies that way if you already have 1 cup of coconut milk or 1 cup of cranberries you’ll know you don’t need more! Also, it’s hard for me to know exactly how you’ll be buying your produce. If buying frozen, just remember that 1 cup = 8 oz!

Obviously, it’s hard to buy 2 stems of red chard so I hope that this week of smoothies will encourage you to use your leftover greens & find ways to eat them other ways or that you’ll be able to experiment with your leftover greens & make your own smoothie combinations! And remember, if you run out of one green you can always substitute any green for another in the recipes.

Shopping List

8 Bananas

2 Small Beets (You can use raw but my favorite for smoothies is from lovebeets.com)

2 1/2 cups Frozen Blueberries

2 Cups Red Chard (a cup is approximately one leaf)

1 Cup Beet Greens

1 1/2 Cup Frozen Dark, Sweet Cherries

1 Can Unsweetened, Organic Coconut Milk

3 Cups Spinach

2 Squares of 85% Dark Chocolate (approx. 1/4 of a bar) (Look for soy free options. My favorite brand is Theo Chocolate)

3 Tablespoons Almond Butter (or any nut or seed butter)

1 Orange

1/2 Cup Mango (approx. 1 fresh mango)

1 1/2 Cups Baby Kale (tastes less bitter than large, leafy kale but any kale is fine!)

1 Cup Red Grapes

1 Cup Fresh, Whole Cranberries

A Word About Measuring

I wanted to say a quick word about measuring & how to approach these recipes. If you notice the pictures, when I say ‘1 Cup’ of anything, my cups are loosely filled. My intent is not for you to be shoving as much kale into a measuring cup as possible. If your kids are not used to the taste of greens, it’s better to err on the side of less is more. You can absolutely begin with one cup of each green or berry but just understand that my idea of measuring is really more of a guideline than a hard line. Some days you may have more or less of a certain ingredient so I encourage you to experiment with more & less of whatever you have!

Organics

It’s becoming more & more apparent every day why we should try & choose organic produce over conventionally grown produce. I completely understand that organic produce doesn’t fit into everyone’s budget & there are times when organic options simply can’t be found. With that said, I think it’s important to try your best to search for organic produce when dealing especially with what’s considered the ‘Dirty Dozen’. The EWG has compiled a list called the Dirty Dozen Plus which contains the fruits & veggies that have the most pesticide residue. You can lower your pesticide exposure by purchasing these fruits & veggies as organic.

The items on the Dirty Dozen Plus, as according to The EWG: apples, celery, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, grapes, hot peppers, imported nectarines, peaches, potatoes, spinach, strawberries, sweet bell peppers, kale/collard greens & summer squash (zucchini).

Frugal Shopping Tips

I also wanted to touch on some penny saving ideas that can help you cut costs when you’re going to purchase all of these items for your smoothies. Maybe you can’t afford to drink a smoothie every day but I encourage you to find ways to incorporate greens into your kid’s diet every day whether they’re drinking them or sautéed in other dishes or freshly resting on a salad plate!

That being said, there are lots of frugal ideas to make your pennies stretch when you’re shopping for ingredients. My best tip is look for the section of over ripe bananas! Most stores mark these down to almost nothing! They will taste the best for your smoothies as the more they ripen, the sweeter they are. Buy as many over ripe bananas as you can, bring them home, peel & chop them & place them in a freezer safe container. Now you have a huge stash of bananas ready to go!

If you shop at a store that sells their greens in bulk bins or a particular green happens to be on sale, don’t be afraid to purchase these greens & then freeze them. During the summer months, when I had an overabundance of greens I could easily stick them in the freezer & use them for soups, meatballs or smoothies. Some greens work better than others for freezing. I’ve found the higher the water content (romaine, iceberg) the less freezable they are. Stick with sturdy, young greens like kale, chard, beet greens & spinach. You’ll first need to wash & trim them. Put them in a pot of boiling water & blanche them for a couple of minutes. After that time, put them in a bowl of water & ice. Thoroughly dry the greens & then put them in a freezer safe bag. To save time later, you can choose to chop your greens & put them in freezer bags by measured increments (1/2 cup, 1 cup, etc).

Alternatively, if certain produce isn’t in season where you live check the frozen section of your grocery store. Sometimes, even if the produce is in season, it will be much cheaper frozen that fresh. This can work with berries, mangos & even greens! There are several stores that allow you to buy in bulk when buying frozen items & this can be very cost effective. When looking for frozen items, it’s also a good idea to keep an eye out for coupons. When buying fresh items, it’s great to watch for store ads or circulars that list upcoming sales! Oranges in season? Great! Time to stock up!

The Recipes Cherry Nice to Meet You

1/2 Cup Water 1 Cup Ice

1 Banana 1 Cup Beet Greens

1/2 Cup Blueberries

1/2 Cup Dark, Sweet Cherries

Beet-utiful Baby

1/2 Cup Water 1 Cup Ice

1 Banana 1 Cup Blueberries

1 Cup Red Chard (approx. one leaf)

1 Small Beet (if using fresh make sure it’s trimmed & peeled)

Purple Unicorn

1/2 Cup Water 1 Cup Ice

1 Banana 1 Cup Blueberries

1 Cup Red Chard (approx. one leaf)

Beet Still My Heart

1/2 Cup Water 1 Cup Ice

1 Banana 1 Cup Red Grapes

1 Small Beet (if using fresh make sure it’s trimmed & peeled)

Green Monkey

1/2 Cup Water 1 Cup Ice

1 Banana 1/2 Cup Baby Kale

1/2 Cup Mango (approx. 1 fresh)

Orange You Glad You’re Here

1/2 Cup Water 1 Cup Ice

1 Banana 1 Orange (peeled)

1 Cup Baby Spinach

I Cran’t Help Myself

1/2 Cup Water

1 Cup Ice

1 Banana 1 Cup Baby Kale

1 Cup Fresh Cranberries

1 Cup Dark, Sweet Cherries

Chocolate Chip Cheeky Monkey

1 Cup Ice 1 Cup Coconut Milk

1 Banana 1 Cup Spinach

3 Tablespoons Nut Butter

2 Squares 85% Dark Chocolate

About Trisha:

Trisha is a food blogger, food photographer & work at home mom to 4 kiddos. She blogs over at Eat Your Beets where she gets to write about her 4 favorite things: food, fashion, kids & family. She lives by her self proclaimed motto: Eat Intuitively, Live Adventurously, Love Furiously.

You can follow her over on Instagram @goeatyourbeets.