Okay, anything involving children is rarely simple, but I happened upon this little tactic that worked for us to get our suddenly-picky eater to imbibe some vegetables. It was simple for us. Maybe it will work for you.
[pinit]
Step One: Talk about making an Awesome Crocodile Smoothie
It doesn’t have to be a crocodile. Whatever your kid is into might work well (some people call green smoothies “Monster Smoothies”). My kid just happens to like crocodiles, dinosaurs, and frogs, so it worked out well that all of those things are green. You’ll see what I mean in a second. So, talk up your incredible smoothie in whichever way will jazz your kiddo into a crazy-eyed frenzy of excitement.
Step Two: Make a smoothie
Bonus points if your kid hates the noise of the blender and retreats to his room when you run it (we use a powerful and AFFORDABLE Oster Beehive blender, if you’re in the market for one). You can sneak in all kinds of good stuff without him ever knowing. Here’s my basic recipe for a kiddo-pleasing veggie smoothie (printable recipe at the bottom of the post):
The kale will make just about any combination of ingredients green, so if you’re going for a different color, omit the kale and substitute with fruit.
Step Three: Decorate a glass
Draw something on the glass using dry erase or permanent markers (just be sure to use an alcohol-based cleanser to remove the permanent marker later). I used a wine glass to make things even more special. [Insert eye roll here. You will not be a failure if you use a regular glass.] Do you have to be an artist? No. I think anyone could pull off the “Caterpillar Smoothie.” 
The trademarked Crocodile Smoothie(TM) was our original creation, and yes, also simple: 
Then the kid asked for a tree-frog smoothie and I had to bust out more than one marker: 
Other ideas might be to sketch your child’s favorite cartoon characters, in full color, on the glass. Maybe layer seven different colors of smoothies in a glass and dub it “Unicorn Diarrhea” for some pizzazz. You might also invite a fully-costumed Disney character into your kitchen to whip up the concoction, have it served to your child as she is dressed in some fantastic hand-sewn frock, and have it all photographed professionally whilst you are in another room perfecting your makeup technique with labia cream.
In case it isn’t obvious yet, this is supposed to be a quick, simple way to coax your child into eating vegetables.
Please don’t get all Pinteresty on me and start composing freakin’ masterpieces on your glasses for the sake of showing up your Mommy Friends. Besides, I’ve already beat you to it:
[pinit]
As promised:
Basic Smoothie for Kids
Ingredients
- 1 large carrot chopped into chunks
- 1 heaping handful of kale
- 2 bananas
- water
Instructions
- Place ingredients in the blender in this order, bottom to top: carrots, kale, bananas.
- Add water to fill, covering the kale.
- Blend at high speed.
- Serve.
Do you have a tried and true method of getting good food into your child? Do tell!
We use spinach,banana and plain greek yogurt (homemade!) as the “base” of our smoothies….then add in whatever else we happen to have – berries, mango, etc.
I also make fruit/veggie purees and put them in those reusable food pouches. For whatever reason the kids loves eating from the pouches – so they eat most anything that come out of it! Great way to get in some extra veggies throughout the day!
Good ideas, Wilma, thanks!