Getting your kid to eat fruits and veggies, especially greens, is definitely a challenging task. A very good solution for this challenge would be to blend them into a thick smooth drink with yogurt, milk or ice cream. Most kids love this sweet cold treat.
A smoothie (also spelled smoothy) is a thick blended beverage with shake like consistency, normally pureed in a blender containing fruits and/or vegetables as well as an added liquid such as fruit juice, vegetable juice, milk, ice cream or even yogurt. A smoothie contains much higher levels of fiber, carbohydrates, fruit sugars and vitamin C, so one glass is nutritionally more satisfying and can be a good dessert or breakfast option for kids.
Traditionally, most smoothies consist of three parts: some type of liquid (often called the "base" of the smoothie), an assortment of fruits and/or vegetables, and ice. If frozen fruit or vegetables are used, the cool temperature can be achieved without using ice.
Here are a few recipes which your kid might love...
Dry fruits Smoothie
Ingredients:
- 1 cup non-fat yogurt
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 2 dried figs (and/or date)
- 6 almonds (or any other kind of nut that is suitable for your constitution)
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/6 teaspoon cardamom
- 1/4 cup coconut powder
- 2 tablespoons cereal (optional)
Method:
Mix all the ingredients above in a blender, add your favourite cereal on the top if you like and enjoy!
Prune and orange smoothie
Ingredients:
- 1 medium sized banana
- 5 prunes
- ¼ cup fresh orange juice
- 1 cup plain low fat yogurt
- 1 tbsp pure flaxseed oil
Method:
Place the banana, juice, yogurt and oil into your smoothie blender and process for 30seconds.
Green Globin Smoothie
Ingredients:
- 1 medium orange peeled and segmented
- 1 banana peeled and chopped
- 3 large fresh strawberries
- 2 cups spinach
- ½ cup yogurt
Method:
Place the orange slices, banana, strawberries and spinach into your smoothie blender and process for approximately 30 seconds.
