Then, I started feeing her actual food, meaning non-baby food. Suddenly, zucchini was littering the floor, peas were being thrown at Basil Bea Dog, and even grilled chicken was left behind to be fed to the dog. I tried sneaking veggies into things she ate, but she'd figure me out and the hour long veggie frittata I had slaved over was smashed into the cup holder on her high chair (followed by her evil genius laughter).
I suddenly had a picky eater. And most problematic was her refusal to eat all things green, even honeydew.
I mentioned this to her doctor (after searching Pinterest and finding a few things to try when it finally cooled down as almost everything required baking) and he mentioned green smoothies.
"It's what we fed our daughter when she refused her greens," he said smiling easily and looking almost fond at the memories.
So, after her doctor appointment, I went to the Neighborhood Market by Walmart (because it's colder there and less crowded and I have a panic disorder), I got a huge bag of kale and spinach, along with some frozen fruit. So, I set up to make smoothies.
I had gone through a smoothie phase when I was in my first trimester, then I decided my blender couldn't handle ice and gave up.
So, while Time Muncher was sleeping, but close to when she was going to wake, I whipped up one of the green smoothie recipes I'd found on Pinterest.
Or, well, I fudged it as I didn't have everything. I mean, I try to be healthy, but I didn't have almond milk, coconut water, or any of the other "healthy" things people these days seem to always have on hand.
I thought it was a little gross the concoction I'd made, but Time Muncher sucked it down. I put the left over into some pouches and gave those to her whenever she was hungry over the next few days. Put anything in a pouch and she will eat it.
I branched out into green smoothies that I liked. The best combo I found happen to use kale. I figure since I'm feeding her spinach muffins, she can get a dose of kale in her smoothie.
Yeah, spinach muffins. These things are so good, I can't stop eating them. They are seriously brilliant. I followed this recipe here. The only change I made was I used white whole wheat all purpose instead of white, but that's all I changed, so I will direct you there instead of rehashing the recipe.
Now, for smoothies, I did look at recipes, but for the most part, I found if I just eyeball it, they turn out better. So, here are my fool proof, toddler approved, green smoothies.
KALE SMOOTHIE
Overflowing handful of chopped kale
Splash of vanilla extract (very small)
Thawed mango and strawberries (or fresh)
A soup spoon or two of plain greek yogurt.
A dash of cinnamon. Or ginger. Or whatever strikes your fancy.
1. Add all ingredients to blender.
2. Turn blender on (after you've plugged it in). Blend.
3. When everything is blended and you cannot see any kale bits remaining, pour into sippy cup and serve instantly.
4. Either put left overs into pouches to enjoy the next day, or finish it yourself.
SPINACH SMOOTHIEOverflowing handful of spinach
Splash of vanilla extract (very small)
Canned pineapple, chopped or crushed. Or buy the slices and cut them yourself
Half a banana, cut up to ease the pain on the blender.
1/2 c of whole milk
A dash of cinnamon, ginger, or whatever spice you'd like.
1. Put everything into the blender.
2. Plug blender in.
3. Blend until you see no more spinach anywhere.
4. Pour into spippy cup and watch your toddler consume spinach without his or her knowledge.
5. Eat the left overs yourself. Or put in another sippy cup to be enjoyed tomorrow.
The last thing I've snuck spinach into is pancakes. It occurred to me, after finding out how much Time Muncher loved pancakes, she might eat them even if they are green. So, I turned to the trusty Pinterest, found some spinach pancake recipes and went from there.
SPINACH PANCAKES
Tweaked from here.
One large handful of spinach
3/4 cup of plain greek yogurt
1/3 cup of milk (I use whole milk since they are for Time Muncher)
1 large egg
1 tablespoon oil (I used veggie)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla1 cup white whole wheat flour
1/4 cup almond flour (if you have on hand, if not, leave it out)
1 tablespoon of sugar (any type you feel like using, I used white due to the fact it was sitting right there)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1. Plug in your blender. Put a skillet on the stove and turn it on to medium to heat.
2. Put all wet ingredients into the blender with the spinach.
3. Blend, blend, blend, blend.
4. Whilst blending, get a large mixing bowl and combine the dry ingredients. Stir until they are combined.
5. Add the wet to dry and mix. If the batter is still too thick, add more milk. If it's too thin, add a little bit of flour. (Each time I've made this, the batter's been too thick, so I added a little more milk. Batter should be thin, but not liquified.)
6. Using a tablespoon, add a dollop of batter to the skillet. Depending on skillet, you might get more or two into the pan.
7. Stand and stare at them till they start to bubble. If they don't bubble (because they are too thick) wait about two or three minutes if you like timing things.
8. Flip!
9. Sing a little ditty in your head.
10. Upon finishing your ditty (which ought to be two minutes or so long), remove pancake from skillet.
11. Wait for it to cool before feeding it toddler.
To reheat the left overs you will likely have (unless your husband is home and he eats them all because they are "SO SMALL! Why are they mini pancakes? Why can't you just make regular pancakes?"), microwave for 25 seconds to heat the middle, then warm on a heated skillet or griddle for a minute just to crisp the outside up. You'd never know they were nuked. Trust me.
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