DIY Healthy Kids Fruit Smoothies

Summer is a great time to eat seasonal fruits. Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and bananas are so yummy this time of the year. To make eating them more fun, and beat the heat at the same time, I make them into a fruit smoothie. I even sneak in some nutrients, like Flax Seed oil for an added boost – and they don’t even know!

To help me make my first smoothie, I Googled “healthy kids shakes” and was lead to this article Kids Smoothie recipe from AllRecipes.com. I clicked on the link “All-Around Good Smoothie Recipe” which seemed easy enough to make. I’ve modified the recipe for our family. Feel free to do the same!

I got two GREAT tips for making the perfect smoothie from this article:

  1. FREEZE YOUR FRUIT. No need to add ice cubes and dilute your smoothie when you have frozen fruit.
  2. PRE-CUT your fruit and lay it flat on a  piece of foil in your freezer.

For a kid (like our 9-year old), the following measurements make a good sized smoothie. For me and my hubby, I would do 1/2 cup.

 

I cut up fruit then place them on foil in the freezer. This takes up less room than a cookie sheet.  In the above picture, I used prepared iced coffee for my liquid — it was for me, not for our girls.

1/4 cup vanilla rice milk (or almond milk, regular milk or Lactaid. For adults, you can even use prepared iced coffee, like the above picture)

1/4 cup Greek yogurt

1/4 cup frozen bananas

1/4 cup strawberries

1/4 cup blueberries

Flax seed oil (or any other vitamin supplements)

Blend with a hand blender

AND DONE. In about 7 minutes, you’ve made an easy, healthy fruit smoothie that you and your kids are going to love. Also? You didn’t spend $6.o0 on it.