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Vegan Cooking
Totally Smoothie
by Ginger Carlson
Let's make it GREEN!" My son joyfully squeals while tossing a handful of fresh
organic spinach atop bananas, rice milk, peaches and almond butter into the
family blender. Liquefy. Stir. Chop. Pulse. "Green Smoothie!" he cries out in
celebration jumping up and down on his stool. His delight is truly
scrumptious, as is his breakfast.
Article continues below
Oh, the magic of the blender, the most forgiving tool in our busy lives and
kitchens today. Getting our toddlers and young children to eat their share of
whole fruits and veggies (or even any at all) can sometimes be a struggle.
Spending some time getting to know smoothies may help your young child get
those much needed nutrients, with the added bonus of being a way to connect
with your kids and spark creative fun in the kitchen.
Smoothies offer a way to make your child's daily whole foods quota. Recent
reports by the Journal of the American Dietetic Association show that toddler
consumption of dark, green, leafy vegetables has become increasingly low and
that fewer than 10% of all infants and toddlers consume ANY green leafies in a
given day. Whole fruits and other vegetables are increasingly absent from the
diet of young Americans as well. Smoothies can be our baby-step personal
solution to this national problem.
Via the all-amazing smoothie, the kitchen has the great potential to become your
very own investigational lab. Use a smoothie to explore ways to 'get them to
eat their veggies' while providing an opportunity to problem solve ("It's too
thick, what should we do?") and think outside the box, in this case, to think
outside the recipe. Give ownership to the smoothie experience by allowing your
child to get creative with what goes in it. She'll soon find out the joy of
mixing colors and what it takes to make a purple, pink, green, orange, brown or
white smoothie. As you experiment with your blender, you'll likely find that
there really isn't a need for recipes and you can feel confident that there
isn't a more ideal way to encourage inquiry and exploration in your young
children. With a smoothie, it is nearly impossible to fail. And it's the
trial and error, like all things we learn, that will help us, and our kids, to
become more in tune with our creativity and become better problem solvers.
Smoothies are a wonderful way for your family to take advantage of the many
benefits of raw foods. "We can expose more nutrients by blending, pureeing, and
juicing. This keeps the vitamins intact, as well as the enzymes, and
accomplishes the goal of steaming without any loss of food value," says David
Wolfe, CEO of rawfood.com and author of Eating for Beauty. "Juicing, blending,
and pureeing is a way of breaking up fiber without corrupting by heat the
integrity of the fiber itself, the nutrients contained in the plant cell, and
the quality of the water in the food." When you turn on the blender, you
instantly win half the battle by eliminating the texture of a new raw food
while enjoying a nutrient rich meal.
Even the savviest little palate will often have difficulty identifying all the
nutritious ingredients in a smoothie. Because veggies and other ingredients
blend so nicely, the only evidence of their presence in a smoothie will
sometimes be the color. So it is easy to get added doses of protein by adding
nut butters, avocados, soft tofu, soy milk or yogurt. Experiment with wheat
germ, rice milk and flax seed for added grains. Sneak in kale, spinach or
other leafy greens, peas, pumpkin, squash or tomato juice. Use soluble fibers
such as oat bran, brown rice and your own variation of favorite fruits such as
berries, grapefruit, oranges, melons, peaches, pears or pineapple. Add carrots,
cucumber, cauliflower, or zucchini. Complete your meal with an alternative to
refined sweeteners like molasses, honey, or maple syrup, but realize that the
perfect smoothie need not be sweetened up any more than the natural sweetness
that the fruit provides. Sometimes just adding a bit of fresh squeezed beet or
carrot juice, or rice or vanilla soy milk can be enough to sweeten a smoothie
to your child's liking. Of course, before blending, make sure your child is
not allergic to those 'hidden' ingredients.
Smoothies are an all around perfect snack or meal for the young child. They are
fast, convenient, affordable, satisfying, a tool to spark creativity, and let's
not forget nutritious. So give it a whirl; energize your kids and yourself
with a smoothie and devour those nutrients, along with the fun!
Smoothie Recipes
Fruit Fusion
- 2 bananas
- 1/2 cup of frozen raspberries, blackberries or strawberries
- 1 cup fresh or frozen peaches or mango pieces
- 1 cup orange or pineapple juice
- juice from half a lime
In a blender, whirl together all ingredients until thick and smooth.
Protein Power
- 1/2 cup soy milk
- 1-1/2 cup papaya pieces
- 1 cup strawberries
- 1/2 of an avocado
- 1/3 cup soft tofu
- 2 Tablespoons nut butter (optional)
- 2 Tablespoons protein powder (optional)
- Add maple syrup to taste
In a blender, whirl together all ingredients until thick and smooth.
Being Green
- 2 cups fresh spinach or kale
- 1 grated cucumber, carrot or zucchini
- 2 bananas or 1 banana and 1/3 cup fruit of your choice
- 1 orange
- Juice of 3 apples
In a blender, whirl together all ingredients until thick and smooth.
Ginger Carlson is a writer, educational consultant and owner of
www.homeacademy.com. She is a budding vegan chef from Eugene, Oregon who enjoys exploring in the kitchen alongside her three year old.
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