I made green smoothies for my parents, my hubby and myself almost every day for a couple of years.
It lowered my cholesterol level to super healthy, and my hubby’s from borderline to healthy. My bowel health improved tremendously, from no movement for three days to daily. My skinny dad’s protruding tummy was also reduced by a couple of inches. I can’t emphasise how important green smoothies are to our health.
I never succeeded in getting my carnivorous girl to like my concoction. It is just not appetising for her because of the ingredients I included. Many vegetables, such as spinach or kale, flaxseeds and chia seeds. The smoothie tasted bitter. We adults accept the taste coz we know that the smoothie is good for us. But for the kids, it is simply a no-go.
I need my daughter to eat more vegetables. Her excessive meat and carbohydrate intake are making her digestive system unhealthy.
Recently, I tried giving her green smoothies again. It started with a glass of smoothie with real banana and strawberry. Of course, she loved it. One day, I sneaked in some spinach, and she still enjoyed it. When I told her the smoothie contained vegetables, she was proud of herself and requested to make her green smoothies in the future.
This was a surprise, and I am so pleased that I need to share it on my blog here. But sorry, my food photos suck, as usual. I did not prepare this post in advance. Making the smoothie with my daughter was part of our daily rhythm, and all four children loved the taste.
The little black dots in the photo above are vegetables. We didn’t turn our blender on high speed today, so the ingredients were roughly chopped.
Green Smoothies For Kids
Ingredients
(makes three)
Two overripe bananas
One handful of organic spinach salad
Two big scoops of strawberry-flavoured Greek yoghurt
some ice
a splash of water or milk
Method
Throw everything into the blender and blend. Enjoy!
Why my daughter likes this smoothie
The secret behind this great-tasting smoothie is the overripe bananas that give the smoothie the extra sweetness and the strawberry-flavoured greek yoghurt for the additional flavour.
Greek yoghurt not only gives a yummy taste to the smoothie but it is also packed with heaps of nutrients such as protein, calcium, potassium and probiotics. According to heathline.com, a serving of Greek yoghurt has 18.7 per cent of your daily value for calcium.
For kids who dislike vegetables, throw in just a small handful of spinach and blend finely. The smoothie should look pale green. Don’t reveal the ingredients and let them guess. They will be amazed by how great spinach tastes.
Gradually increase the amount of vegetables after your child gets used to the green smoothies.
Turn the green smoothies for kids into soft serves
Another trick to interest your child in the green smoothie is to turn it into a soft serve.
Chop the banana into small pieces before freezing. Your blender will have an easier time doing its job. You can also freeze the yoghurt in advance.
Add all ingredients into the blender and three spoons of ice water. The purpose of adding water is to help with the blending. Too much water results in a watery blend. But if your blender gets struck right at the start, add a few more spoonfuls of water to get the blade moving.
Serve immediately. Soft serve doesn’t last in our hot weather.
Enjoy.
A note on Bananas!
Avoid bananas if your child does not like vegetables and is already constipated. While studies have yet to confirm this, it is best to avoid the overconsumption of bananas. See the post from Healthline for details.
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