We used to brag about what a great eater the Bear was, how he would eat anything, loved veggies, and wasn’t picky at all.  When he hit 18 months, everything changed.  All of a sudden he started drinking cow milk when previously he wouldn’t touch it and started refusing foods.  We continue to put all the healthy vegetables we eat in front of him at every meal, but he refuses them most of the time.  So frustrating! Desperate to get vegetables in to the boy, I’ve turned to sneaking them in to smoothies and baked goods.  Just like his mama, Bear will eat just about anything disguised as juice or a muffin.  I learned the smoothie trick from my dear friend Betsy, whose children are always slugging down a cup of veggie smoothie.  I’ve experimented extensively to find a recipe that maximizes the amount of vegetables while still tasting great.  It is a fine line, let me tell you.  I don’t have a fancy blender, but it gets the job done.  My recipe doesn’t add sugar or honey, but the Bear describes it as “dewishous”.  Perfect.  You could definitely add honey, but I’m not trying to clean that junk out of my blender on the regs.  Here we go…
Sneaky Veggie Smoothie Recipe:
2 cups water
2 cups (ish) baby spinach
2 cups full sized carrots, chopped to finger sized pieces if your blender isn’t fancy
1 cup Greek yogurt
2 cups frozen fruit of your choice
2 tablespoons flax seed
For the fruit I use blueberries every time, but vary the other fruit.  I’ve used peaches, bananas, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, etc, and they all work.
Directions:
Add water and spinach.  Blend well.
Add carrots.  Blend well.
Add remaining ingredients.  Blend, then liquefy.  Enjoy.
If you have a fancy pants blender, you can probably just throw everything in.  I have to go slowly as to not make my machine angry.  If your toddler battles you at meal time, give them “juice” in a cool straw cup and call it a win.  The Bear asks for his special Bear juice all the time.  Little does he know he is getting great nutrition and making mama’s heart happy.
How do you win meal time battles with your kids?
I’d love to hear your tips in the comments section or by email.

 

 

13 Comments on Toddler Meal Battles and Sneaky Veggie Smoothies

  1. we love our veggie smoothies. and to go along with your grocery budget, i will buy whatever fruit is on sale in bulk and freeze it, because frozen fruit can be little pricey. 🙂

  2. So glad I’m not the only one with this problem!! My son is such a stinker lately, barely eats anything nutritious besides his smoothie. Thank god for this!!

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