I love to make this snack for my 14 month old son in the afternoons! It is full of fiber and veggies, not just fruit. Now that he has figured out how to drink from a straw, he is more eager than ever to have one of mommy’s smoothies! Enjoy…
Smoothie Surprise
5-6 frozen, unsweetened organic strawberries
½ c. frozen, unsweetened blueberries
¾ c. 100% apple juice, chilled
½ c. water
½ medium zucchini, chopped
5-6 baby carrots
fistful of cabbage
1 small banana
¼ c. plain yogurt
1 T. wheat germ
1 T. oat bran
1 T. flaxseed meal
Pour the apple juice and water into the blender. Add the strawberries and blueberries and pulse until combined. Add the zucchini, carrots and cabbage, and pulse again adding more water if needed. Then toss in the banana, yogurt, wheat germ, oat bran, and flaxseed meal. Mix until you reach the desired consistency, adding more water or juice as needed. Serve immediately. Serves 4-6.
A few suggestions:
• Buy frozen strawberries and blueberries as well as bananas & baby carrots at your local warehouse club (Sam’s, Costco, BJ’s). If our bananas ripen before we can eat them, I peel and freeze them, which works out perfectly for smoothies. I puree my baby carrots and freeze them in ice cube trays if we can’t eat them fast enough.
• Instead of plain water, try seltzer water or club soda for a little extra zing!
• If the smoothie is for adults, consider using Dannon’s All Natural Plain yogurt which has 2 ingredients – milk and active yogurt cultures. If the smoothie is for children consider using Stonyfield Farm’s Organic Whole Milk Plain yogurt, which has a few more ingredients – milk, inulin, pectin, and 6 active cultures.
• Keep your flaxseed meal in the freezer and your wheat germ in the fridge.
• If you have some leftover, pour it into a pitcher and save it for dessert after dinner. It will keep for about a day in the fridge.
• Have fun experimenting with your own creations. I love to add pureed mango from our freezer if I have it on hand. Sometimes I don’t have a few of my favorite ingredients as listed above, but the smoothie still turns out great. (The photo above is minus blueberries. Normally, the drink is a lot darker.)
Oh, and why do I call it such a generic name — smoothie surprise? Well, because everyone I serve it to is shocked that’s there’s cabbage and zucchini in it!
