Gotta Drink Your Spinach Baby | Green Smoothies For Kids All Ages

Healthy benefits of spinach and green veges!

The health benefits of spinach, and other green vegetables, are irreplaceable in comparison to the "iron-fortified" / high fructose foods. You know what I mean! I am referring to all of the cereals, processed foods and "fruit" snacks that are created, marketed and ultimately become more attractive to our children. I find this such a drag when trying to feed my family healthier meals. Plus, it is really hard to please kids that prefer starchy and GMO foods to delicious alternatives like spinach, apples, kales, grapes and broccoli.

Just look at the green vegetables chart at the top of page! It breaks down just some of the benefits of eating spinach and other green vegetables, but there are more advantages not listed. I am hoping that it will motivate you (as it has with me), to learn more and increase your intake of these green vegetables; especially if you have children that do not eat a lot of green veges. Spinach is one of my favorites:

Spinach is a high alkaline vegetable that improves red blood cell function, strengthens bones, regulates heart rate and blood pressure, and combats free radicals. Spinach is also a high fiber food that helps us feel full, with digestion and immunity, great for vision and filled with vitamins that our brain and body need to function correctly.

Spinach is a super foods that we should incorporate more into our diets. So, make sure to find ways to make spinach as attractive as possible to children and other non vege eating loved ones. I have made this change in our life through kale & spinach smoothies as well as chopping spinach up finely and adding it to traditional "kids foods" like macaroni and cheese, pizza, eggs, etc.

Best Spinach Smoothie Recipe On Earth

I kid you not, the video below has a recipe for the best spinach smoothie in the world. This spinach smoothie makes for a great meal when you need to get your greens and protein in for the day. I also prefer this smoothie when I am craving ice cream, candy or cake. It is such suitable "pick me up" meal when feeling sluggish. Otherwise, watermelon juice or a standard fruit smoothie will do for a sweet tooth, but this spinach smoothie is just wonderful. Try it!



Best Spinach Smoothie Recipe Ingredients:

4 cups spinach
1 - 2 cup bananas (best if frozen)
2 whole figs
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 cup milk (best w/ almond milk)

You will not need ice cubes if you use frozen banana. Add ingredients into the blender in this order: spinach, peanut butter, figs, milk, banana. Blend to a smooth consistency. Pour into glass and serve!

Makes 2 Servings | Calories w/ one banana = 255 | Calories w/ two bananas = 388

Green Smoothies For The Family

On another note, as a parent and wife, I sometimes struggle with preparing meals that will please everyone in the family. I am always concerned about what is organic, healthy and will help me slim up. My husband and teen would prefer pizza, red meat and potatoes each day. Our baby would prefer starches and fruit every day. None of them choose to include green veges, though my teen will willingly eat green vegetables if they are made available. I find it hard to please all without preparing a feast. This is not cool because sometimes I would just like to serve a salad with different veges and maybe some chicken, but they would not like this type of meal on a regular basis :( Since I love vegetables and green vegetables are incredibly important for our health, spinach smoothies have become an important addition to our family diet. I did have to encourage all of them to try spinach smoothies (that is a funny story for another time), but all is well that ends well. Know what I mean?

Try this Amazing Kale / Fruit Recipe to increase energy, detox and get more anti-oxidants.

Share all vegetable / spinach smoothies with your child(ren)!

Vegetable smoothies are simply delicious. As with my example about sharing this spinach smoothie with my family, I highly recommend that you share ALL of your smoothies with your children / family (if they are not allergic to an ingredient). Don't assume that your child(ren) will not like vegetable or green smoothies. Most include fruit like bananas and berries that children love.  In fact, smoothies have been the only way that I could get our toddler to eat green vegetables since he was on baby food. I am very grateful to have home  juicing and smoothies as an option just for that benefit.


I want to share one more important thing with you before I end this blog post ...

I never considered liquid meals as a filling replacement for the "real thing", though my body has adjusted well to smoothies becoming a meal replacement for me; especially in the morning. Taking Skinny Fiber has helped a lot with controlling my appetite during this process. As my body adjusted to smoothies becoming a meal for me, the Skinny Fiber controlled my appetite, so that I was not drinking too much. That probably sounds strange to you, but here is the deal ... too much of anything is not good for you. YOU CAN GAIN WEIGHT ON A HIGH CALORIE RAW FOOD DIET, so you need to watch. This is typically for those who make "gourmet" raw food meals that include too many bananas, avocados, nuts, olives and coconut. Don't get me wrong, these are great for you in moderation, but not suggested as the primary foods in your diet or you could gain weight instead of lose weight. This is another reason why the green vegetables are SO IMPORTANT for you. They provide the nutritional balance and fullness you need in addition to all of the other veges.

I look forward to knowing whether you tried this smoothie recipe and whether you liked it, as well as the juicing / smoothie favorites that you have incorporated into your family's diet.

Enjoy!
Lea