Tuesday, January 24, 2012

How I Got My Kids to Eat Spinach


You'd never believe it. My kids are eating spinach...and actually loving it! Not that my kids are extremely picky eaters, but it's never easy getting them to eat any type of green vegetable. I've tried a bunch of different methods to trick them into eating and enjoying these veggies; dipping celery and peppers into ranch dressing, sprinkling melted cheese over broccoli (actually Ella does enjoy this), baking zucchini muffins (which is sometimes a winner...depends upon the mood) and adding spinach into a garden salad.
I have started to come to terms with the fact that, unfortunately I'm just not as good as a mother as the mother who watches her children laughing and playing together as they gobble down fresh celery stalks and raw string beans.
And I was okay with it, (well not really, but I was tired of fighting and stressing about it).
Well low and behold, I found a new recipe. And, to be honest, I was actually looking for me. I was determined to find a healthy fruit smoothie that I could substitute my breakfast and lunch with. I came across this blog post and just fell in love. I ran to the food store, picked up the items (omitted some and added others) and made myself a delicious spinach smoothie.
Guess who drank half of mine?

Yes, that's Christopher...a picky 3 year old drinking spinach...SPINACH!
Ella (no pictured) also had her fair share.
I recommend you try this if you have picky eaters like I do.
Here's what I blended:
-about 1-2 cups of frozen banana/strawberry/berry mixture
-about 2 cups frozen spinach
-about 1 cup water
**I had some leftover so I poured the mixture into an ice cube tray to drink later**

SO very happy to be feeling green :)

9 comments:

  1. I'm definitely going to try it! Chloe loves my fruit smoothies (but she loves fruit period!) I would do anything to get her to eat more veggies!

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  2. I'd try it Sarah...she's gonna love it :)

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  3. wow ash, thanks for not giving me credit on finding the recipe! glad you liked it

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  4. Oh my goodness...this is perfect!! Our daughter Ryan is crazy picky and we're constantly struggling with the green veggie thing. Totally trying this! Thanks Ashley...and Brittany! :)
    cheryl

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  5. Haha Brit! I don't need to give credit if your my sister. Didn't you know that?!?! Thanks for the link, I love it.
    Cheryl- Hope Ryan likes it! Let me know if you stumble across any other yummy recipes.

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  6. I've thrown in kale. Works, too. Whoever came up with this deceptive plan for making our kids eat healthy is genius! Haha.

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  7. Gail- I've been looking everywhere up here for kale and I cannot find it anywhere! I guess I'll have better luck at one of the farm stands in town this summer.
    BTW, I know this is so off topic...but I have to ask. You live in Miami, right? Do you ever see Dexter being filmed??? We watch that show and love it and everytime someone says "Miami Metro" on it, I think of you now, lol!

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  8. Oh I'm trying this! I was putting veggie purees in baked goods and eggs for a while but that isn't going over well anymore. It's smoothie time!

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    1. Those sound like good ideas too Teresa! I have to admit, I do tend to call this smoothie "ice cream" so the kids will drink it, lol. Thanks for stopping by and following me!

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