Nutrition

Can’t Get Your Kids to Eat Healthy? Try Homemade Smoothies

January 12, 2010
By Sam Mahon

Homemade smoothies are becoming more and more popular among parents who would like their kids to eat healthier. It’s really a great way to get our daily recommended allowance of 5 servings of fruit a day. And with kids, it’s a fun way to teach them about healthier eating and get them involved in the kitchen.

One of the nicest things about smoothies is that you use the entire fruit. Unlike fruit juices where you only benefit from the juice, with smoothies, you make use of the pulp as well. The pulp is a good source of fiber, which is responsible for the feeling of fullness you get when you drink a glass of smoothie. It also helps our body digest food and eliminate waste much more efficiently.

You can create homemade smoothies using a variety of healthy recipes. Diary products like milk and yogurt are wonderful for creating creamy smoothies. Be sure to use low-fat milk or soy milk if you are concerned about the fat content of regular milk. Instead of sugar, you can use healthier natural sweeteners like honey.

Using fruits in our smoothies is something we’re all familiar with. But did you know that you can also use vegetables when creating smoothies? That’s right, you can get them to eat cabbages, carrots, celery and asparagus, or even broccoli and cauliflower, without them even knowing so no fuss.

Homemade smoothies are also great to serve as a dessert. Chocolate is a popular ingredient when it comes to dessert smoothies – something I’m sure your kids will look forward to. Aside from using store-bought chocolate bars, you can also use cocoa powder for your dessert smoothies.

For the grown-ups, you can serve cocktail smoothies. Liqueurs like rum and gin works well with the sweeter tasting fruits. If you are feeling sluggish in the middle of the day, you could also perk up your smoothies by adding coffee.

There’s a lot of different ways you can serve your smoothies. They can be as healthy or as indulgent as you want, depending on how you choose your ingredients.

These recipes make use of ingredients that are commonly available, and the directions are so easy to follow. Best of all, the recipes are kitchen-tested, so you’re sure that each recipe will turn out to be sensationally delightful.

It is our responsibility to make sure our children grow up to be as healthy as possible. Child obesity is rising constantly and it needs to be stopped. Teaching our kids how to eat healthy is the best way possible for them to become healthy, successful adults. For more ideas and tips visit http://www.squidoo.com/simplerecipesforchildren and ensure your children become the best adult they can be.

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