While I’ve been on maternity leave it’s been a challenge to keep the kids out of the kitchen all day long. Being home all day with a newborn, a toddler and a preschooler reminds me of the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. Every day is the same and every day they ask for snacks all day long. Don’t be mistaken- just because I went on Good Morning America for a self-serve snack fridge does not mean my kids are allowed to graze all day. I try to have some structure around our meal times to reduce food waste and to ensure that the kids are actually hungry for the meals I cook. But when you have a new baby in the house, all bets are off.
The first month while I was recovering from birth, I would go upstairs to change a diaper and return downstairs to find yogurt sprayed all over the couches and that the kitchen had been ransacked. There would be cheese sticks all over the floor and entire cupboards cleared out with the contents everywhere. The breakfast bar stools would be pushed up against a counter and there would be a tiny human about to surf the counter tops for the marshmallows left over from Christmas. I would usually intervene just in time to trigger a meltdown for cutting off the marshmallow mission just as it was about to launch. It was absolute and utter chaos and I was ready to pull my hair out.
When I finally felt slightly normal and recovered, I decided one day I was taking back the house. I put a baby gate back up in our kitchen, I set new rules: no eating in the living room (which has loosely been the rule but all rules go out the door toward the end of pregnancy), no eating at the breakfast bar stools without an adult, and only eating during our scheduled meal and snack times.
Surprisingly, the scheduled meal and snack times worked. At a certain point after breakfast, the kitchen was “closed” and would reopen at 10:00am for morning snack. I tried to build in consistency with the schedule and offered the kids a smoothie like mommy every day. Since I am nursing, I usually have a small meal (or second breakfast) around 10:00 and it’s almost always a smoothie.
They have loved this routine ever since.
I know what you’re thinking. “My kid would NEVER drink a green smoothie.” If you have a 12 year old who has always disliked vegetables, maybe you’re right. But most kids will not have the same prejudices against a green smoothie that adults have if it tastes delicious. The younger you start, the better. Most kids love fruit and the majority of this smoothie is fruit. The bonus is that they get 2 servings of vegetables and don’t even know it. It’s sweet and creamy and easy to make.
Another bonus is you can prep this smoothie ahead of time in freezer bags and make it as an easy weekday breakfast when your family is rushing around or short on time. You can read about how I prep smoothie starters in this post.
A quick tip for making a smoothie with frozen kale: I have a Vitamix which is the greatest blender ever and it purees smoothies without any chunks. If you are working with a blender that doesn’t blend vegetables very well, try blending the liquid and the kale together first for a couple minutes before adding the fruit. It helps!
Another tip if you think the color will scare your kids: you can add blueberries or cherries in to mask the green color, but I think it’s good to be transparent about what is in it. Don’t hide the veggies- show them that veggies can be tasty in many forms 🙂 If they “bust you” sneaking vegetables into a smoothie someday, that will send the message that veggies are gross.
Ingredients
- 2 cups of unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 1/2 cup of frozen kale (I use 1 cup because my kids are used to it, but if it’s your first kale smoothie start slow)
- 1 cup of frozen pineapple
- 1 cup of frozen mango
- 1 ripe banana
- 2 tablespoons of natural peanut butter (optional but adds protein and fat)
I never add extra ice because I use all frozen fruit and I think it stays creamier without.
