Saturday, January 26, 2013

Toddler Smoothie Drops

It took a while for my one year old to get the hang of drinking a thick smoothie, and I wished there was a way to get him to have all the benefits of a smoothie "toddler style" (with his hands!) for a while before he was able to drink them. 

I finally figured out that I could freeze little smoothie drops and he loves them!  They also help alleviate his teething pain.  He just picks them up and eats them for dessert, a snack, or an add on to our breakfast menu.  It feels so good to know that he is getting his GREENS!  He is typically pretty picky with vegetables, and usually makes a face like he's being tortured if anything visibly healthy enters his mouth.  Not with these :)




You can make these pretty easily either using your favorite smoothie recipe (and making sure it's pretty thick) or you can use my recipe below.
 I ended up excluding the apple juice and added frozen blueberries to make it thicker.  My first batch was too thin when I used the juice. 
Side Note: I wouldn't use the Earthbound Farm products nowadays, since they were bought out by White Wave foods who also own Silk and Horizon.  They support the NON-labeling of GMO products.  Not cool Earthbound Farms, not cool.


Katie's Smoothie Drop Recipe:

1 Cup of kefir
1/2 banana
3/4 Cup of frozen kale
3/4 Cup of frozen strawberries
1/4 Cup of frozen blueberries

You can adjust the consistency by adding juice/milk/water/etc to thin it out or more frozen fruit/veggies to make it thicker. 


To pipe the smoothie drops, I used a plastic bag. Be sure not to cut the hole in the bag too large like I did below! It came out way too fast!


You'll need some parchment paper and a cookie sheet to freeze them. 

 They peel off of the parchment paper very easily. 

 I am so pleased with the way these turned out.  I pop a few from time to time myself.  They are a snack I feel good about giving my toddler.  He eats one and comes right back for another as soon as it's gone.  I just wish he wouldn't always let one melt in his right hand while he eats them from his left.  I have no idea why he does this.  They can be messy in his case!

Linked up with:
Easy Living Mom-Link Love Thursday
The Frugal Girls

2 comments:

  1. Ooh what a great idea! I like to buy the little yogurt drops for my 1 year old, but they're so expensive - these would be so much better.

    Last week I wrote a post about 21 veggie recipes. It became pretty popular, so I'm thinking of writing a follow up post, and would like to include this. I pinned it to remember it, and may get in touch with you soon about this.

    Thanks for sharing this at my link party last week! I hope you can link up again tonight or tomorrow :)

    Angie
    www.easylivingmom.com

    Reply
    Replies
    1. Hey Angie,
      Thank you for checking out the post. I was glad to share on your link party! Thanks :)
      I really liked reading your 21 veggie recipes post. It was so helpful! I guess I'll talk to you soon about including the post. Have a great Friday!
      -Katie