Smoothie Operator
I had to find something to do with those strawberries that we picked yesterday, and Peeper likes them more in theory than in practice, and I like the flavor but not so much the seeds, so I did a little googling and experimenting and it was a huge success.
Peeper and I have discovered homemade smoothies!
Yes, yes, I know everybody else has been making these forever and yes, they're not that different from the "shakes" that Anonymama and I used to make with "Alba" (a 1970s / 1980s - is it still on the market? - low-calorie hot chocolate and cold beverage mix), but it's the first time I've made anything quite like this, and they turned out great.
They were delicious, and Peeper enjoyed helping to make them. It didn't hurt that we've been "helping" Baby Bear and his parents make smoothies (among other things) in a Sesame Street game for a while now.
Yesterday, I used vanilla yogurt and added strawberries (obviously), banana, carrot (You might think this would be a "hidden" ingredient for a toddler, but Peeper was all excited about it. She loooooves cooked carrots in something like chicken veggie soup - she steals all mine! - but she doesn't like them raw, although she always thinks she will. I had some left from making carrot cake the other day, so I made soup with some and saved one for the smoothie.) and ice.
That used up all the carrots, so today I added some oats instead - put them in the dry blender and powder-ified them before adding anything else - and it was just as good.
Of course, the whole time I was drinking them, I kept thinking "This is great, but you know what would make it really good? Rum."
I think my experiment was a success so far - yummy, and we both actually had some fresh fruit two days in a row!
I'm open to any other smoothie recipes or suggestions that you might have.
And a better blender.
It's great that Peeper loves carrots. For foods that aren't so popular, spaghetti sauce is a great place to hide things, like veggies. At least it was for my kids, because they always loved spaghetti and would eat it. I used to put veggies in the food processor first and get them absolutely pureed, so there weren't any tell-tale specks, and then stir them into the sauce and cook it all for awhile. Picky children have good eyesight! Your smoothy sounds really nutritious, and delicious. You could try putting in a few blueberries (very high in antioxidents) for an interesting colour. A bit of orange juice gives a nice flavour too. And by all means, spike yours with rum, or vodka.
ReplyDeletePeeper is an odd sort of "picky" eater. Actually, I don't think I'd say that she's picky, just a very light eater. She still probably gets most of her nutrients from nursing.
ReplyDelete(Maybe not most of her calories, considering the things she eats, but definitely the vast majority of anything that's actually good for her.)
She is very open to trying fruits and veggies, although she often spits them out and says "Don' yike it."
But then she'll turn around and try it again, either a few minutes later, or the next time she sees it.
It's almost the opposite of what so many kids do, refusing to try something, even though they like it if they don't know about it.
For example, she was soooo excited about picking the strawberries, and about eating them, until they actually hit her tongue.
But she loved the smoothie. Maybe it's a texture thing, like it is for me.
(Ooo, kiwi! That's something else I don't mind the taste of, but can't handle the seeds.)
I end up eating a lot of apples and bananas because she's insisted that she wants one, and only eaten two or bites.
frozen peaches and blackberries with a little apple juice...delish!!! no yogurt or cream just 3 ingredients.......my favorite summer drink smoothie
ReplyDelete