My solution, this week, is smoothies. I got this idea from a playdate friend, Kathy-Ann, who is always full of great tips and who I'm always stealing recipes from. Previously, I had never considered making a smoothie for Jane but DUH, awesome idea! My first thought, similar to the homemade purees I was making, is that I could "hide" veggies in smoothies by masking their flavour with sweet fruits. And that's just what I've done.
Basically, the first batch of smoothies I made, I just threw in whatever frozen fruit I had in the freezer with some steamed carrots and homo milk. Then, I threw in some infant cereal... I remember hearing "don't mix infant cereal with milk and put it in a bottle" when I was first introducing solids to Jane. Don't ask me why not, I have no idea. Regardless, this gave me the idea that adding some infant cereal to the smoothie might be a great way to sneak it in and, also, to fill her up (in hopes of a good sleep - the ultimate goal of everything we do some days :p).
The results? Success. Jane loves smoothies. YIPEE. She's eating. Food. Nutritious food! YIPEE! And carrots - even better!
So, now I'm thinking about recipes!
Here's one I made yesterday that she loved (dragged her sippy around with her for a half hour):
1 Banana
2 Oranges, peeled (obviously)
1 cup frozen mango, thawed
1 cup steamed carrot
1/2 cup canned pineapple, in juice
1/2 cup infant cereal, dry
3/4 cup homo milk (or as much until you get a good consistency)
Blend it all up, and make sure it's not too thick. First, I tried giving it to Jane in a regular glass but that was a pain because I had to stand there feeding it to her and it would have taken forever. Then, I took one of her sippy cups, took out the "no spill" thingy-me-bobber and filled it up. Does the trick and the smoothie is thick enough that unless thrown (which it likely will be) it doesn't spill every where anyways. If you're lucky enough to have a dog, like me, you don't have to worry about spills - this is basically the only reason my dog is not on craigslist right now! :p
The recipe makes a ton - so I just saved the rest in a ziploc container in the fridge. I wouldn't use it past a day or two because I have no idea how long it's safe for - any ideas?
I know Kathy-Ann and, hopefully, some others probably have some pretty fab recipes - so please share by commenting! So far, I've only experimented by sneaking carrots into the smoothies but I'm sure there's lots more ideas I've yet to realize. :)
7 comments:
Ok, this probably is a very stupid question...but what is homo milk? Can I just use regular whole milk?
What a great idea! Sam's deciding to hate all vegetates now too and I am trying to get him to use a sippy cup more, so I am definitely going to try this!
'Homo' (homogenized) milk is just 3.25% whole milk.
I went on a smoothie kick, but stopped for some reason. Laziness??
E's fave used to be bananas, frozen blueberries, vanilla yogurt, and milk.
Jen, I'd say your recipe would be good for three days in the fridge...at the max. I never trust anything for E past three days...I think that's because that's what all her baby food used to say.
But thanks for the ideaa! I'm going back on my kick! And maybe even this mama can benefit from a smoothie or two!
SO funny that you posted this today of all days! I JUST made my little girl a smoothie before I read this! I did full-fat organic yogurt, fresh mango, and frozen blueberries, with some formula to make it thin enough (we haven't tried milk yet). Now that I know it's a hit, I'm going to sneak some veggies in there. She's the same as Jane with veggies - detests anything that's not sweet!
I hadn't thought of taking the valve out of a sippy cup, but she drinks out of straw cups anyway, and was able to slurp the thicker stuff up through the straw.
(Side note: as a speech-language pathologist, I highly recommend straw cups rather than sippy cups once your baby/child is able to master them. There is some question as to whether sippy cups, when used LONG term, prolong/encourage a "tongue thrust," which can lead to difficulties with certain speech sounds - like a lisp, for example.
Lots of companies make really great straw cups that are pretty much as spill-proof as sippies. We have the Nuby ones, but there are tons of different kinds available. Anyway, just a suggestion!)
I'm so trying this, sounds yummy. Luckly I have 0 issues with picky eaters, basically if it doesn't have a pulse my kids will eat it (and some things with a pulse that can't get away quick enough and I don't see, probably get in there too. What I don't won't kill me :s )
I just ordered the the Sweet Freedom cookbook, the women who wrote it was on Canada AM (think that was the show) this morning and sold me on it. It's cooking with whole foods, she had some spinach/zucchini/chocolate cupcakes & veggie burgers on there that looked SO good!
http://sweetfreedomcookbook.wordpress.com/
If you wanna check it out!
Parker loves his smoothies. the straw cups (Nuby brand) are his favorite and if the smoothie is thin enough it will go through the straw. We bought a Magic Bullet earlier this year and its been a great investment so far since we use it every day. It makes great smoothies and the clean up is next to nothing. Also if you are needing new and easy ways to make up some different foods for Jane, check out Weelicious.com for some ideas. i've made a lot from there and Parker loves them all.
Dont you just love it when something just comes together! I make smoothies here. I love strawberry banana smoothies. I use vanilla yogurt, frozen strawberries, 10 ice cubes, a little water and a banana. I lvoe love lurve them! :) i have one just about every day. :) Yep love 'em that much.
I guess I'm fortunate that my 10 and 5 year old both absolutely lvoe veggies. My little guy, howeer, we'll see. He's only 2 months old so I don't know how he'll do yet.
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