Smoothie Week
This week is Smoothie week at Nom Nom HQ!
It's easy to get stuck in a smoothie rut, churning out the same smoothies so let's get some delicious inspiration from the amazing women that I follow on Social Media.
Every day I will post a new recipe on Instagram and Facebook to try but if you’re reading this you get it all in one go but follow along each day and maybe give a couple a try. I'd love to hear from you if you do!
First off lets talk about whether Smoothies are good for kids?
Smoothies are great as long as they don't replace whole fruits and veggies. I love to try to include fruits and veggies that I know we won't get to eat that day but also make sure the kids see the fruits at other times in their whole form. Some they may not choose to eat right now but with constant exposure they may one day. I also tend to serve smoothies thick as part of a snack alongside something savoury rather than as a drink.
Smoothies are a delicious way of eating lots of different, nutritious fruits and vegetables but they do release their sugars very quickly so should be drank in moderation. NHS guidelines state that 150ml is the maximum serving size for a fruit juice or smoothie. That’s the size of one of our Animal Pouches. (We thought about this). Our Monster reusable pouches hold 200ml so if filling to the top make sure you've got a good mix of veggies in there to lower the overall fruit sugar hit! Or just fill part way!
So, Let's meet the Smoothie Recipe Makers for the week and see what we've got to look forwards to...
Zoe from Meals for Mini Mouths
Zoe is mum to 3 humans aged 12, 4 and 21 months! She recently managed to leave her NHS job to work for Bibado and create amazing homemade meals that she shares on her Instagram Page @mealsforminimouths Go follow along for some amazing family food inspiration!
INGREDIENTS
2 Roasted Beetroots
2 Handfuls of Frozen Raspberries
1 Cup Mango
2 Cups Orange Juice
Blend & Serve.
Rachel from Little Veggie Eats
Rachel is a soon to be published author sharing family friendly vegetarian meals that her brood of 3 love on her Instagram page @LittleVeggieEats. She's busy with a 5 year old, 3 year old and 9 month old and somehow managed to create the most delicious looking meals.
Rachel's Smoothie choice is "An autumnal tasting twist on our favourite banana smoothie. My kids love this creamy, lightly spiced (and veggie loaded!) smoothie. Makes a brilliant breakfast, or a perfect post school snack especially in travel friendly school gate ready Nom Nom Kids pouches!"
INGREDIENTS
1 banana
1 large floret of frozen cauliflower (or a handful of smaller ones)
small handful of cashew nuts
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1 cup / 240ml of milk of your choice
Blend & Serve
Rachel is launching her first cookery book next year! Little Veggie Eats: Easy Vegetarian and Vegan Weaning Recipes For All the Family to Enjoy, available 12th March 2020!!
Set a reminder or pre-order here. I know it's going to be brilliant!
Hannah from Bay Led Eating
Hannah Started to record Joshuas meals on her Instagram account @baby_led_eating when he started his Baby Led Weaning Journey just over 2 years ago. He's now almost 3 and his little baby sister Isabelle will soon be joining in the fun. She's just 4 and a half months old at the moment so it's not going to be long!
Hannah first bought her Nom Nom Kids Pouches when Joshua was 12 months old to make him smoothies for taking out with them. I can't wait to see Isabelle get to grips with them!
Hannah has created 2 smoothies for us. The First is a tropical Green Smoothie and the second a berry and banana smoothie with added oats and seeds.
INGREDIENTS
1 Tin coconut milk
1/2 a mango
1 apple
10cm length of cucumber
handful spinach - 1 sprig mint
1/4 cup desiccated coconut
Juice of half a lime
Blend until smooth
INGREDIENTS
Berry smoothie - 1 pint milk
1 banana
1/2 cup berries (I used frozen blackberries, red currants and black currants)
1/4 cup oats
1tsp flax seeds
1tsp chia seeds
Blend until smooth
Ciara from My Fussy Eater
I have followed Ciara's Instagram page @myfussyeater pretty much since I discovered Instagram. I love the recipes and meals she produces and I have made so many of them for my own children. I often consult her website and made sure I got a copy of her book as soon as it launched. Check it out here
Chocolate Chia Shake - A healthy chocolate shake for kids packed with energy boosting chia seeds!
500ml / 2 cups milk
100g / 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
1 banana
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Put all the ingredients into a blender and blitz until completely smooth.
Sunshine Orange Smoothie - Packed with Vitamin C, this creamy Sunshine Orange Smoothie recipe will put a spring in your step come rain or shine!
INGREDIENTS
1 orange
1 banana
250ml / 1 cup orange juice
250g / 1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
handful of ice.
Peel the orange and add it to a blender with the rest of the ingredients.
Blitz until smooth
Libby from Baby Toddler Foods
I met Libby in 2015 when she entered a competition on my Instagram Post. She didn't win but she was so lovely that I sent her some pouches anyway. She's been the most supportive person I have ever met and annoyingly I've still not met her IRL! Her daughters have loved smoothies over the years as has her husband. This is their favourite smoothie:
INGREDIENTS
Blitz until smooth
Laura from Mommoiselle Blog
This lady is juggling 3 children under 5 and blogs all about mom life on her Instagram account @mommoiselle_com has her smoothie making skills honed. "On Sundays I prepare smoothies for the kids to take to school during the week. I stock the freezer with our reusable @nomnomkids pouches and the day before we need them, I let them defrost in the fridge. On a hot day in summer I give them along frozen and they have a slushy to enjoy.
We always keep a selection of frozen fruits in the freezer. I especially like to have strawberries, avocado, blueberries, mango and pineapple handy. Our favorite smoothie contains frozen strawberries and avocado, a small handful of fresh spinach, a banana and an apple. We then add a scoop of Koko dairy free yoghurt and coconut milk. Mix and ready!
So that's it! Loads of smoothie ideas for you to try with your own little ones from some amazing women. You can see the variety of ingredients and flavours that can be added to smoothies and quite honestly you don't really need recipes at all. Experiment and see what happens or try on of these!
Kate from Baby led weaning club
I've been following Kate's Instagram page for years now! She has 2 gorgeous boys. Oliver is almost 5 and Charlie is 21 months. They were both Baby Led Weaned and Kate shares loads of weaning tips on her Instagram account @Baby_led_weaning_club. Their Favourite family smoothie is this one which Oliver named Mouldy Banana Smoothie because they use up the over ripe bananas in it. What I love is that it basically consists of things that I always have available so we have already tried this and it's passed out taste test!
INGREDIENTS
1 very ripe banana
handful of raw spinach
handful of porridge oats
200ml milk
1/2 an avocado
1 tablespoon of nut butter
Blend & Serve
Kate Says "I'm not a nutritionist but I like that this smoothie is full of fruit and veg, good fats from the avocado and nut butter, protein from the nut butter and milk, calcium from the milk and carbs from the spinach and oats. It's really handy to put into my NomNomKids pouches, the boys can have their own portion relative to their size (Oliver has large and Charlie has small) and if I make extra I can also freeze them for another day!"
Spinach and avocado are an amazing source of nutrients so this really is a fab way to start the day!
Thank you for following smoothie week with us.If you want to try some of my own favourite smoothies? click here
Fancy getting your own reusable pouches? click here and use code SMOOTHIE10 at checkout to get 10% off your order