You were expecting a pink smoothie, weren’t you?
Part of our new mid-morning routine includes the Cub and I enjoying a delicious smoothie while the littlest Cub in our family is enjoying his morning nap. Smoothies are such a wonderful, toddler-friendly way to “cook” in the kitchen. Each morning I pull out frozen organic fruit and some coconut milk and I let the Cub decide what goes inside. We always choose several different colored fruit ingredients and one vegetable choice. Since he has never had a smoothie without a vegetable inside, he thinks that is just a normal part of making a smoothie.
We love watching all of our ingredients whirl in our Vitamix and the Cub excitedly shouts out the color that his smoothie of the day is turning into. I always enjoy his enthusiasm to taste colors other than the standard pink and purple smoothies. I know he does this without hesitation, because he is allowed to be part of the process of making them. The Vitamix has absolutely spoiled us by blending even the toughest vegetables into the most wonderful, smooth consistencies.
Today when we were through, the Cub took a great big sip of his smoothie and proclaimed: “Mmmmm, it tastes like BUBBLE GUM!”
This made me laugh because clearly it doesn’t look like bubble gum and also because the Cub has never tasted Bubble Gum. Imagine my surprise when I tasted this morning’s smoothie and it absolutely did taste like bubble gum.
We thought we’d POP it onto the blog and see if you’d like to try it out!
Bubble Gum Smoothie
1 Cup Unsweetened Coconut Milk
1/2 Cup Water
1 Banana
1/4 Cup Dark Cherries
1/4 Cup Pineapple
1 Cup Spinach
Blend all the ingredients until smooth and enjoy!
Hi! Just found your great blog and love this recipe. My 3 year old son is in feeding therapy and making great progress, but still an extremely slow eater and ends up with chewed food “stuck” in the front of his mouth. We have to slow things down for him, and that adds stress because we’re afraid he’s not getting adequate nutrition. Are there smoothies or easy to eat foods he could “snack” on to take the pressure off dinner time? Thanks!
Hi Stephen,
Thanks so much for your message. I’m so glad you found my blog. I do not know enough information on your son to give you personalized, healthcare advice, but I can tell you that I love suggesting that families experiencing mealtime refusals and still progressing through feeding therapy stages to offer bean smoothies. It’s just as it sounds, adding beans or even diced chicken breast to a smoothie. Sounds a little gross, I know, but adding beans to your smoothies is a great way to sneak in some protein while taking the pressure off of your son at the same time. As long as you’ve added a banana and a liquid source (ie. type of milk, cream or juice), the protein source won’t be detected in the smoothie and then you don’t have to offer as much at dinner time. I generally suggest offering these earlier in the day, so that during mealtimes, you can reduce the volume you need to offer. This keeps meal time volume small, reduces stress on the child and allows for great positive reinforcement. After several days of successful meals, start cutting back on what you add to the smoothie and place more onto the plate.
I’d also talk with the Speech Language Pathologist that is treating your about adding avocado, butter and cream to smoothies (if appropriate given any allergies or diagnosis?) to up his healthy fat intake as well. So glad to hear that feeding therapy is going well for your family I know it seems stressful to slow things down, but fear not, we are trained well and it’s safe to trust your feeding therapist! Please reach out any time and I am happy to be an additional source of information to you and your family.
Best,
Cindy Morrison, M.S., CCC-SLP, CLC
Chew Chew Mama Blog
https://www.chewchewmama.com