Easy Green Smoothie For Kids
Getting your kids to eat veggies can be a chore. If only there was a delicious breakfast that makes eating leafy greens fun!
Look no further, as I have the recipe for you. This easy-to-make smoothie is not only delicious, but full of many vitamins and minerals that help keep your child alert, strong, and ready for the day.
Becca and Britte at Lord Kitchener Elementary with EarthBites - Spring 2019
We made this smoothie for over 200 kids at Lord Kitchener Elementary with EarthBites, a non-profit organization that educates kids about gardening, growing your own food, and the nutrition healthy food choices provide. This smoothie was such a hit that we had kids asking for seconds and thirds! So we know it works, and the best part is that it is super easy to make!
I buy the frozen fruit from Costco - which has large bags of cubed, organic fruit. They even carry frozen avocado at a decent price, which can be hard to find. This makes it a “quickly-throw-into-the-blender” smoothie. So if your kids are running late and you are running out the door, this is an ideal breakfast.
The serving size for this amount of fruit varies depending on how much your kids and yourself can drink, but I find I can get 1 adult and a couple kid-full-sized portions fed with this amount. Just adjust as you go. If you need more - just add a bit more, if you need less - just add a bit less.
Also, if you don’t like one of the fruits, just skip it! However, when we fed this to the 200+ kids, some would say they don’t like one of the fruits and we just told them to try it first before they say no because you typically can’t taste a single fruit by itself when it is all mixed together. Also, the pineapple, avocado, and banana are important if you are trying to achieve the perfect creamy smoothie texture - YUM! There is also the added benefit of variety - meaning the more you vary the types of fruit in your smoothie, the better variety of vitamins and minerals you get. The more colours the better!
Kid-Style Green Smoothie
1 banana
1/3 cup of frozen mango
1/3 cup of frozen strawberries
1/3 cup of frozen pineapple
1/4 cup of frozen avocado (or 1/2 a fresh avocado)
1 cup of apple juice (must be 100% apple juice - no sugar added)
Fill the rest of the blender up with leafy greens (2-4 cups)
(spinach and/or kale tend to make it the most green)
Blend and Serve!
NOTE: Make sure to de-stem and message the kale by hand before you place it in the blender. This will help make the kale tastier and easier to digest for your kids :)
The chlorophyll in the leafy greens will turn this yummy smoothie bright green, so sometimes it is great to call it a “hulk smoothie” or a “super smoothie” to get them to try it. We had a couple kids be a bit hesitant at first when they saw the bright green colour, but once they tried it no one was putting it down!
You can also “Super Power” the smoothie by adding foods like hemp hearts and chia seeds - Yum!
Veggies and fruit on their own can keep you full for about 5-minutes, but if you add protein (like seeds) and healthy fats (like avocado), this snack can keep them full of hours!
NOTE: If the smoothie isn’t turning bright green like I said, you might have added a bit too many strawberries - (think about it - red + green = brown). To solve that problem, just add a tsp of spirulina or some more leafy greens and it will turn bright green again.
Enjoy! And let me know what you think.
With love,
Britte