I often feel like my greatest physical responsibility for my kids is feeding them properly, and I felt like a big failure in this area when Nate turned out to be such a finicky eater. I didn't do anything drastically different with Lucy, and she has turned out to be an eat-everything-offered-and-then-more kind of child. Case in point: today at lunch she ate broccoli, chicken, carrots, water chestnuts, cheese, tomatoes, and toast (meanwhile, Nate ate a corn tortilla, 3 walnuts with encouragement, and applesauce). This has relieved a lot of the guilt I had before, because I've realized that I did my best under the circumstances with Nate.
To get good fruits and vegetables into Nate, I've started making smoothies every night at dinner. It is amazing what kinds of things you can put into a smoothie and still have it taste good. Can you believe that banana covers up the taste of fresh spinach or frozen broccoli? It does. I've found, though, that nothing covers up the taste of peas. That smoothie was yucky.
Here is how I make my favorite gluten-free, casein-free, soy-free versions of smoothies (makes 2 generous servings):
One half to a whole banana
Half an avocado
Handful Trader Joe's (TJ's) frozen berries (blue, rasp, black)
4-5 fresh strawberries or TJ's frozen strawberries
Handful fresh, washed spinach leaves or handful frozen broccoli
About 3/4 cup apple juice
6-7 ice cubes
Blend and serve!
I always include whatever fresh fruit I have on hand (today was kiwi). I also sometimes throw in some TJ's frozen mango, which has become a favorite purchase.
After I blend, I reserve a little bit for Lucy (she loves them too), then I add Nate's special multivitamin powder (we just started it this week, and it's powdery, crunchy, and kind of yucky) and blend his some more.
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6 comments:
sweet potatoes also is great--adds a little bit of sweet, and makes it super creamy! I just roast them, scoop them out, and freeze it--don't even need to puree them first!!
Sweet potato--now THAT is a great idea!
I make smoothies for my boys everday for lunch for the same reason, easy nutrition and it tastes great! I use plain yogurt in mine 'cause they need the protein (and we have no allergies) and sweet potato makes it super smooth, pomogranate cherry juice tastes awesome in it as well as using orage juice with banana and sweet potato, I add a bit of splenda if it ever tastes too sour, yum yum.
P.S. ohh how I miss Trader Joes. Costco sells huge bags of frozen berries for cheap too, luckily for me!
I recommend to make sure they are sweet potatoes, not yams! The yams taste stronger. And I use Stevia to sweeten mine if need be.
i am going to have to try adding avocado and spinach or broccoli. we do smoothies for breakfast a few times a week.
i, too, miss Traders! sigh.
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