Toddler's Smoothie

So my toddler is a pretty good eater, as toddlers go, but I still feel like I have trouble getting enough fresh vegetables into her diet. My biggest challenge with her is getting her to sit still long enough to eat a balanced meal.

In my ongoing search for foods that excite her and hold her attention, I discovered that I can put just about any combination of fruits and vegetables in a blender, announce that we are having smoothies, and let her press the start button (under close supervision of course), and she will happily drink it up in a flash. We have carefully limited her intake of sugar --especially through highly processed sugary foods-- so she still gets pretty excited about things that are just slightly sweet, but wouldn't compare in sweetness to a traditional dessert.

If you want to deliver veggies to your kids through smoothies, I would suggest starting with green smoothies when they are young. I think kids (and adults) are likely to reject more vegetable heavy combinations if they have gotten used to the sweet fruity versions that you find most often commercially.

Today, I decided to throw together a smoothie for her, but was lacking two of my staples: oranges and bananas, which make green veggies more palatable. So I made one without those classic ungredients and she still gulped it down happily.

Here's the simple recipe:

Blue Broccoli Bliss
(This is a very mildly sweet smoothie, and is great for very young kids who are just getting used to drinking smoothies.)

Suggested Ingredients:  (Change this up any way you would like - adding your favorites to it!)

1.  1/2 cup yogurt (I like Fage plain whole milk yogurt, but didn't have any on hand today, so used Chobani Lemon - you can use whatever you prefer)

2.  1/4 - 1/2 cup frozen broccoli

3.  1 cup whole milk

4.  1/2 cup frozen blueberries

5.  1 t - 1 T agave nectar

Directions:

Combine in a blender, adding additional liquid (milk or water) as needed to reach desired consistency.  Pour in a chilled glass or sippy cup and enjoy!