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Fruit smoothies the kids will love

It all started with a bunch of browning bananas. I was at the house making dinner for the boys and I asked them if they wanted a banana with their dinner.

1.Gross. They are all brown and yucky.

2.I don’t like them like that.

3.Nooooooooooo.

Hmmm…it seemed wasteful to just let them get even more brown and then throw the whole bunch in the trash…so I did what any adult does when they are trying to bribe convince children to do something: I called it a treat!

Hey, who want’s delicious banana drinks with dinner? They are so good and they have sugar in them!

1.Oooh! I do, I do!

2.Yummy, I like nanas and sugar.

3.I want to try that.

Improving, I peeled the bananas, placed them in the blender (because the blender is for special occasions, right?), added some soymilk, some vanilla extract, 2 cups of ice, and a spoonful of white granulated sugar.

Then I poured them in to cups and gave the boys fun colored straws to drink with. They loved them! They wanted more.

1.Can I try it? Can we add more sugar?

2.Can we have nana drinks tonight?

3.You know what? I like banana drinks.

Realizing that this newfound treat might turn in to a sugar-heavy mealtime addition – I got creative.  The next time I saw browning bananas I decided to try it out.

Guess what boys? Today I brought over something else we can add to the drinks.

1.What?

2.What is it?

3.Let me see!

Blueberries! And strawberries!

1.Oooooh.

2.Yummy!

3.I love blueberries!

So I pulled out the blender, added about a half cup of frozen blueberries and a half cup of frozen strawberries.  Another big hit!

Over the years I have added all kinds of fruits and have even started using juice instead of soymilk. Each time we make them it’s a fun experiment to see how they will come out and how the flavors will work together. I’ve even gotten in the habit of repeating the ingredients out loud each time so the boys can memorize the basic recipie.

I’d say aside from the fact that this helps me get at least 3 servings of fruit in the boys at mealtime – my favorite part is that those “icky spotted bananas” don’t have to go to waste anymore!

Homemade Fruit Smoothies the Kids will LOVE:

1. In a blender combine:
   • 1 – 2 bananas (if they have brown spots then they are more flavorful)
   • 2 cups ice
   • 1 – 2 cups of fruit juice (apple is good, orange is also good – but a bit of a more overpowering flavor) – you want to cover about half of the mixture.
   • 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
   • 1/2 cup frozen strawberries
2. Blend until ice is broken and not visible.
3. Pour into cups and add straws.
4. Serve.

Serves: 4

Recipe courtesy of: Me!