Feeding the Toddler: A Week of Smoothies

Hey guys! I’m Stephanie and I blog over at Olive and Tate. I am so excited for my first post as a MWOA Contributor and can’t wait to get to know everyone over the next few months. In case we’ve never met, here’s a little about me – I’m a wife and toddler boy mama who runs on Starbucks Pike’s Place by day and red wine by night. I believe in sarcasm, honesty and that motherhood can be wonderful and terrible all at the same time.

And speaking of motherhood, let’s talk toddlers, shall we?

Currently, my offspring is testing the waters (and my sanity) during meal time. We reached a critical moment in our mother/son journey together when our pediatrician asked what he had been eating, as he hadn’t gained as much weight as she would have liked.

And my answer?

“well, he loves mustard!”

Step aside ladies, that Mom Of The Year trophy is all mine.

In all honesty, I just drew a blank! Obviously, I attempt to feed my kid all of the things, I just couldn’t think of anything but our disaster of a dinner that involved the baby tediously dipping his pointer finger into a tiny blob of mustard (and then licking said finger) for a solid 15 minutes.

It should come as no surprise that our doctor recommended we work on meal times.

So off I went, in an effort to pork up my kiddo and reclaim my mom dignity.

As it turns out, worrying about toddler food consumption is pretty much a fruitless task. One day they eat as if they’re laying eyes on carbs for the first time, the next day they rock an Atkin’s mentality. I could barely keep up and was driving us all crazy trying to get back on the pediatrician’s good side.

And then I discovered a miracle:

my toddler will eat anything if I hide it in a smoothie.

Anything.

I am happy to report that we’re (yes, we’re) up a solid 4lbs and crushing that growth chart, with the help of the following 5 smoothie recipes (one for each day of the school week, because weekends are for french fries!).

Just FYI, I use this baby Blender (because it’s so darn easy/small/dishwasher safe), I just make sure to blend, blend, blend so that the smoothie will go through a straw.

Peanut Butter Banana 

 What you need:

 

1 small banana

 

1/2 cup milk

 

1 tsp peanut butter

 

1/4 cup spinach (I buy a bag of organic spinach in the grocery section and then toss in my freezer for smoothies)

 

Yields: 1 cup

 

Chocolate Covered Strawberry 

 What you need:

 

1 tsp Nutella

 

1 cup frozen strawberries

 

1 Tablespoon vanilla Greek yogurt

 

1/2 cup milk

 

yields: one cup

 

Bahama Mama

 What you need:

 

1/2 cup coconut water

 

1/2 cup frozen pineapple

 

a few slices of frozen nectarine

 

1/2 an avocado 

 

yields: one cup

 

Hey mama, if you’ve made it to the witching hour then double this batch and pour yourself half of the smoothie. Mix in a little Malibu Rum, drink through a festive straw, and consider yourself on vacation. 

 

The Bahama Mama also makes great “ice cream”. Toss into a Popsicle mold or baby food freezer system and save for a hot day! 

 Cherry Crush

 What you need:

 

1 cup frozen cherry blend (make sure it says “pitted” somewhere on the bag)

 

1 tablespoon Greek yogurt with honey

 

1/4 cup frozen spinach

 

1/2 cup milk

 

yields: one cup

 

 Mixed Berry Baby

 

Cheers!