Use frozen fruit to make smoothies rich and creamy. Peel and slice ripe bananas and keep them in the freezer for this delicious breakfast or snack.
INGREDIENTS | 4 (1-CUP) SERVINGS
2 frozen bananas
1 cup fresh or frozen sliced strawberries
1 cup low-fat vanilla or strawberry yogurt
11⁄2 cups orange juice
1⁄2 cup Cheerios cereal
Nothing starts kids’ engines better in the morning than a glass full of manganese. This trace mineral, contained in high doses in pineapple, is an essential coenzyme for energy production.
INGREDIENTS | 4 (1⁄2-CUP) SERVINGS
11⁄2 cups fresh pineapple
1 peach, pitted
3 tablespoons water
Stress-Free Mornings
Feeding kids and getting them out the door in the morning can be challenging. For less mess and stress, prepare juices the night before and store in the fridge. This means no spills to wipe or appliances to clean when you are trying to get out the door. This is the perfect recipe for storing overnight. The citrus in the pineapple keeps the drink from browning better than an apple-based juice. Fresh, homemade juices can be stored safely in the fridge for 24−48 hours.
After an overnight fast, this fresh juice is the perfect way to get kids going in the morning. The refreshing zing of cucumber mixed with the sweet taste from the melons will wake them up and jump-start their engines. No more groggy zombies!
INGREDIENTS | 1 (1-CUP) SERVING
1 cucumber, peeled
1⁄2 honeydew melon or cantaloupe
Water-Soluble Vitamin C
Essential vitamins are the vitamins we can only obtain through our diet. Fat-soluble vitamins, such as vitamins A, D, E, and K, can be stored in our bodies for a long period of time, but water-soluble vitamins, like vitamin C, cannot be stored and need to be eaten daily! One cup of cantaloupe has over 100 percent of the daily requirement for vitamin C. Drinking fresh juices with ingredients such as cantaloupe and cucumbers can help kids meet their daily need for vitamin C. Serving these vitamin C–rich juices first thing in the morning can put your mind at ease.
Combining oranges, honeydew melon, and watermelon in this drink gives kids plenty of vitamin C for the day. School and playground viruses won’t stand a chance in your home with a daily dose of this drink.
INGREDIENTS | 3 (1⁄2-CUP) SERVINGS
1⁄2 honeydew melon, peeled
1⁄2 orange, peeled
1⁄2 cup watermelon, rind removed
Swiss Muesli
Enjoy this juice disguised as oatmeal. Swiss muesli is uncooked oatmeal soaked overnight in a liquid in the refrigerator. Start with 1 cup of rolled oats. Add 1–11⁄2 cups juice to the oats, cover, and put in the fridge overnight. In the morning, add nuts, dried fruit, fresh fruit, or seeds. Mix the cold-soaked oats in the morning and enjoy.
You can smell a cantaloupe even before cutting into it. The delicious fruity aroma will tempt kids on a weekend morning as they try to decide what they are hungry for. Once they smell the melon, they’ll be craving this melon juice.
INGREDIENTS | 3 (1⁄2-CUP) SERVINGS
1⁄2 cantaloupe, rind removed
1 cup strawberries
Using Juice for Syrup
Pancakes, waffles, and French toast all taste better with a little syrup on top. You can make your own syrup with no sugar added just by using some homemade juice. Take 2 cups of homemade juice, like the one in this recipe. Mix together 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 1 tablespoon cold water. Put juice and cornstarch in a saucepan on the stove. Bring juice to a boil over medium heat and cook for about 7−8 minutes, stirring continuously. Remove from heat and use it to top your pancakes or waffles. Although you can store it for several days in the fridge, you will want to warm it right before use to prevent it from thickening up.
The kids will want you to save some fresh grapes and peaches for this juice. Store a portion of the grapes and peaches in the refrigerator to ensure there are some left after snacking. In the fridge your fruit will last from 7−10 days, rather than 2−4 days on the counter.
INGREDIENTS | 3 (1⁄2-CUP) SERVINGS
2 peaches, pitted
1 cup red grapes
1⁄4 lemon, peeled
Quick After-School Snacks
Making your own after-school snacks is easy, smart, and cost-effective. Anytime you have fruits and vegetables out to prep for juicing, consider setting one or two of each fruit or veggie aside to prepare for snacks. Cleaning and cutting up fruit and veggies so they’re ready to grab in the fridge means your kids are more likely to do so.
Drink this grape-apple-lemon juice with an egg, cheese, and lettuce sandwich for breakfast. A breakfast with whole grains, protein, dairy, veggies, and fruit is a great way to start the day.
INGREDIENTS | 3 (1⁄2-CUP) SERVINGS
1 cup red grapes
1 apple, cored
1⁄2 lemon, peeled
Invisible Writing
Teach your kids a chemistry lesson, use up the lemon juice, and have fun while you’re doing it. Juice the other half of your lemon and put the juice in a small bowl. Use paintbrushes to paint lemon juice onto a piece of paper in shapes, letters, or pictures. Let the paper dry. Hold the paper up to a light bulb until the paper heats up. The picture painted by the lemon juice will darken and the image will become visible. The acid in the lemon weakens the paper and turns brown when heated. Try other fruit juices and see what different colors you can make!
Recruit the kids to help in making this drink. Bananas and clementines can be peeled by most children. The rest of the ingredients don’t need to be cut at all.
INGREDIENTS | 4 (1-CUP) SERVINGS
1 cup spinach
1 banana, peeled
1 cup strawberries
1 cup blueberries
1 cup blackberries
2 clementines or tangerines
1 cup water
Engage the Kids in the Kitchen
Teaching kids to learn their way around the kitchen can never be started too soon. From the moment they can pick up a spoon, drop food into a blender, or flip a switch, they can be part of meal prep. Smoothies are the perfect beginning for young chefs. They can learn to follow a recipe, prepare the drinks, and serve them to the family. Kids are so proud of accomplishments such as these and are generally anxious to try their own creations.
Summertime and lemonade go hand in hand, but lemonade is loaded with sugar. Start a new tradition of summertime and lemon smoothies, and your kids will be well hydrated with less sugar.
INGREDIENTS | 4 (1-CUP) SERVINGS
2 apples, peeled and cored
4 lemons, peeled
1 tablespoon honey
2 cups water
1 cup ice
Honey
Even though honey is sweeter, it is actually better for your kids than table sugar. Honey contains vitamins and minerals such as vitamin B, magnesium, potassium, and calcium. Table sugar has been stripped of its nutrients. The enzymes in table sugar are mostly destroyed, while honey keeps its enzymes. Lastly, honey is less likely to spike blood sugar because it is absorbed more slowly into the bloodstream. Honey has also been shown to have a soothing effect on sore throats. So next time you have a choice, choose honey.
Your kids don’t need to be particularly fond of cucumbers to love this smoothie. The sweet orange flavor is what they’ll notice when they are asking for more.
INGREDIENTS | 4 (1-CUP) SERVINGS
2 cucumbers, peeled
2 oranges, peeled
1⁄4 inch ginger, peeled
1 cup orange juice
1 cup ice
Let Your Kids Choose
Smoothies are a great way to let kids make good choices. As you get into a routine of smoothie making, kids will begin to learn what things they enjoy in their smoothies. Letting them choose between spinach and romaine lettuce, cucumbers and carrots, or water and orange juice gives them ownership of the drink and lets them be in charge. Once they feel like they were integral in getting this smoothie to the table, they will be less picky and more likely to drink it.
This refreshing juice is a thirst quencher! This juice is a healthy and more hydrating alternative to carbonated drinks normally taken to a picnic or to the pool in the summer.
INGREDIENTS | 2 (1⁄2-CUP) SERVINGS
2 cups watermelon, rind removed
2 oranges, peeled
Vitamin C Powerhouse
With both oranges and watermelon in this juice, one serving provides 85 mg of vitamin C. The recommended daily allowance (RDA) for kids ages one to eight years old for vitamin C is 15−25 mg. This drink helps children meet—and exceed—those recommended levels. Vitamin C is essential for those kids who get exposed to germs on a regular basis, as it helps boost their immune systems.
When kids are away from home for the day, send along this blackberry juice. When it’s tough to control what kinds of foods they’ll be eating when you aren’t around, you can be grateful they are getting some superfoods during the day from this juice.
INGREDIENTS | 2 (1⁄2-CUP) SERVINGS
2 pints blackberries
1⁄2 lemon, peeled
1 banana
DIY: Fruit Leather
The ingredients in this juice recipe are perfect for delicious homemade fruit leather. First, use the fruit to make your juice. Second, use the exact same amounts of fruit, and add into a saucepan over medium heat. Stir the fruit until it begins to break down. Add a small amount of your juice to dilute the fruit in your saucepan. Take the fruit and juice mix from your saucepan and purée it in a blender or food processor. Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap and pour your fruit onto the wrap. Let the pan dry in the sun, or place in an oven at 140°F (or the lowest oven setting) for several hours until the fruit is no longer sticky to the touch. Peel the fruit leather from the plastic wrap and eat it!
As a sugar-free sports drink, this sour juice may be just what some child athletes need to get hydrated. One ounce of lemon juice contains six times more potassium than 1 ounce of a lemon-flavored sports drink, without the artificial colors and sweeteners.
INGREDIENTS | 2 (1⁄2-CUP) SERVINGS
2 cucumbers, peeled
1 lemon, peeled
Juicing Lemons
Juicing lemons and limes without a juicer is not only possible but quite simple. There are a few tricks to extracting the most juice out of these citrus fruits. Trick number one: warm up a lemon or lime in the microwave for about 20−30 seconds. The juice of a warm fruit will flow much more freely than the juice of a cold one. Second, roll the fruit around on the counter with the palm of your hand. This will break up some of the membranes of the fruit. Then the fruit is ready to cut and squeeze.
Forget about spending the next day trying to use up your zucchini for bread. Spend 5 minutes and juice it instead. Adding some apples to this zucchini juice brings out the sweetness of the fall flavors.
INGREDIENTS | 2 (1⁄2-CUP) SERVINGS
1 green zucchini
3 carrots, peeled
2 red apples, cored
Repurpose Pulp
Depending on the condition of your pulp after running fruits and vegetables through the juicer, there may be something you can do with it. If your pulp is very dry, the best thing to do with it may be to turn it into a compost pile, or bury it in your garden to promote soil turnover. However, if your pulp still has a little water to it, you can use it in baked goods, such as muffins. Be sure to use organic fruits and vegetables, or wash your fruits and vegetables thoroughly, if you are using the pulp. Using pulp from this recipe, with the carrots, zucchini, and apples, would make a delicious addition to zucchini bread or carrot cake.
No need to head to the tropics to have a taste of the islands at home. A ripe papaya, a juicy pineapple, and some bright red strawberries can take you and your kids on a mini vacation, even in the middle of winter.
INGREDIENTS | 3 (1⁄2-CUP) SERVINGS
1 cup pineapple, peeled
7 large strawberries, hull intact
1⁄2 papaya, seeds removed
Strawberry Delights!
When you purchase a pound of strawberries, save seven strawberries for this juice and use the rest to have some fun. Instead of frosting sugar-filled cookies, let kids decorate nutrient-filled strawberries. Using toothpicks and clean, dry strawberries, dip them in melted chocolate. Before the chocolate sets, dip a second time in sprinkles, nuts, shredded coconut, or sugar crystals. Let dry completely on wax paper and enjoy.
Escape to the tropics with this pineapple-and-orange medley of flavors. Pineapple’s high amount of manganese is perfect for giving athletes energy while at the same time reducing inflammation due to injury.
INGREDIENTS | 4 (1-CUP) SERVINGS
1 cup spinach
2 cups pineapple, peeled and cored
1 orange, peeled
2 apples, peeled and cored
1 tablespoon flax meal
2 cups orange juice
Finding Recipes
Have a system for flagging recipes your kids particularly like so you can quickly go back to them without scouring all your cookbooks to find them again. If your kids love this pineapple smoothie, and you noticed they drank it without complaint, use Post-it Page Markers or Half-inch Flags to mark the page. Color coordinate according to which child liked it. Susie’s favorite recipes could all be flagged with red Post-it tabs, while Johnny’s could be all green.
The anti-inflammatory properties of cherries make this smoothie perfect for active kids. Prepare this drink for afternoon refreshment, after a long day of playing outside. Freeze extra cherries to float on top of the drink.
INGREDIENTS | 4 (1-CUP) SERVINGS
1 cup spinach
2 cups cherries, pitted
1 apple, cored and peeled
Pulp of 1 vanilla bean, or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups water
Cherries
A 2010 study published in the Journal of the International Society of Sport Nutrition found tart cherry juice reduced pain during long-distance running. The antioxidants in the cherries seemed to protect against damage caused by trauma to the muscles. The benefit of the cherry juice was seen in both participants in the study who drank the juice prior to an endurance event as well as during the event. Cherry juice’s anti-inflammatory properties can benefit regular athletes as well as endurance athletes.
This smoothie delivers ultimate hydration for kids on those hot summer days. It’s hard sometimes to come in from the heat and fun just to drink a glass of water, but delivering this cool, refreshing smoothie to them during play is a hydrating treat they’ll take a break for.
INGREDIENTS | 4 (1-CUP) SERVINGS
1 cup romaine lettuce
2 cups seedless watermelon
2 cups cantaloupe
1⁄2 lemon, peeled
1⁄2 lime, peeled
2 cups water
The Watermelon Bowl
Don’t toss the watermelon rind after making this smoothie. Cut the watermelon in half across the middle to scoop out the flesh for the smoothie. Keep the watermelon rind intact. Use a melon baller to scoop balls of cantaloupe, watermelon, and honeydew melon. Add to your watermelon bowl; then add strawberries, blueberries, and chopped pineapple. Grate ginger over the top and stir. Your watermelon bowl fruit salad makes a beautiful and fun centerpiece!
The bone benefits in this drink don’t end with the calcium in the milk! Both blackberries and blueberries contain small amounts of magnesium and phosphorus that work synergistically to build and maintain bones.
INGREDIENTS | 3 (1⁄2-CUP) SERVINGS
1 cup blueberries
1 pint blackberries
1⁄2 cup skim milk
Vitamin D and Bone Health
Both osteoporosis and osteopenia, diseases characterized by bone weakening, are becoming more and more common despite an increase in the amount of calcium in our diets. Researchers have begun taking a look at the impact of vitamin D on bone health and its role in bone development. Also referred to as the “sunshine vitamin,” vitamin D regulates the absorption and excretion of calcium and phosphorus. When our calcium levels are low, vitamin D allows us to absorb more calcium from our food. When our calcium levels are high, we absorb less calcium during digestion. Without vitamin D, this process couldn’t be regulated, and we would possibly be deficient in important bone-building calcium even when our diets are rich with it.
Even with the spinach, kids will still drink it up because of the sweetness of the smoothie. Extra bonus: no kids running wild on a sugar high.
INGREDIENTS | 2 (1-CUP) SERVINGS
1⁄2 cup spinach
2 pears, peeled and cored
1 banana, frozen and peeled
1⁄2 cup soy milk or low-fat milk
3–4 ice cubes
Combine all ingredients in a blender. Mix until well incorporated. Serve.
Not Just for Popeye
Although Popeye was the one to bring attention to the muscle-building benefits of spinach, there are many more reasons to eat spinach that he didn’t share. Calorie for calorie, spinach is actually higher in protein than most other vegetables. This is important to provide the necessary nutrients for growing kids.
This chocolate smoothie hits the spot. Adding honey to smoothies changes kids’ perception from it being a drink for health to it being a dessert drink. What they may not realize, however, is that although this dessert smoothie tastes like ice cream, the honey used to sweeten it comes packed with B vitamins.
INGREDIENTS | 2 (1-CUP) SERVINGS
8 ounces soy milk or low-fat milk
1 tablespoon honey
2 bananas, frozen
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
Place milk, honey, frozen bananas, and cocoa powder in a blender and blend until well incorporated. Serve.
The Power of Cocoa
Cocoa powder is an ingredient with amazing benefits for children. The antioxidants in cocoa powder can help kids have healthier skin, combat diarrhea, improve insulin sensitivity, or soothe a cough; plus it improves visual as well as verbal memory!
Triple the berries for triple the antioxidants, triple the vitamins, and triple the delicious flavor. Including romaine lettuce adds almost 100 percent of your vitamin K intake for the day.
INGREDIENTS | 4 (1-CUP) SERVINGS
1 cup romaine lettuce
1 pint blueberries
1 pint raspberries
2 pints strawberries
2 bananas, peeled
1 cup vanilla almond milk
1 cup Greek-style yogurt
Freezing Strawberries
There is no question, freezing your own strawberries is a money saver. You can grow your own, or head over to a local picking farm. First, cut the stems out of your unwashed strawberries. Make sure strawberries are completely dry. Lay them on a wax paper–lined cookie sheet and freeze them for 2−4 hours, until they begin to be firm. This way the strawberries will freeze separately and not in one big clump. Then, scoop all the strawberries into a freezer-safe bag for storing in the freezer. They will last 10–12 months.
Use half of a lemon for this delicious smoothie, and use the other half of the lemon for party decorations. Float half a lemon in a shallow vase with some yellow and blue hydrangeas floating with it. Serve the smoothie on the table alongside the centerpiece.
INGREDIENTS | 4 (1-CUP) SERVINGS
2 cups mangoes, peeled and pitted
2 tangerines, peeled
4 kiwis, peeled
1⁄2 lemon, peeled
2 cups water
Types of Water
With many types of water to choose from—tap, distilled, filtered, bottled—it can be overwhelming to decide which is best. Tap water is free and regulated to control harmful substances, but your city may allow things in your water that you aren’t comfortable with, like fluoride. Distilled water tastes great, but vital minerals have been filtered out of it. Filtered water tastes great, retains some important minerals, but may be pricey. Bottled water is convenient, but it is less regulated and what’s in it is generally a mystery without testing it in a lab. All the smoothies in this book taste great with any water you choose.
Although seedless watermelon is available for purchase, black seeds in watermelon are safe to eat. Return black seeds to the top of your smoothie and your drink will look like a ladybug.
INGREDIENTS | 4 (1-CUP) SERVINGS
2 cups watermelon, seeds and rind removed
2 bananas, peeled
1 cup plain yogurt
1 cup ice (optional)
Make Vegetables the Star
The amount of energy to produce 1 pound of fruits or vegetables versus 1 pound of meat is significantly less. To minimize the carbon footprint from your family, consider more fruits and vegetables for your meals as a way to cut back on energy expended to produce your food. Anytime you can have a salad be the star of your dinner, or a smoothie be the focus of your breakfast, you’ll be saving energy. Fruit and vegetable smoothies are a great way to replace a high-energy-consuming meal with a low one.
Watermelon juice, first sticking to little hands and eventually sticking to your floor and shoes, can be such a mess. Blend up watermelon this summer for your next picnic party, serve outside in cups with straws, and sticky shoes will be a thing of the past.
INGREDIENTS | 4 (1-CUP) SERVINGS
2 cups watermelon
1 cup raspberries
1 cup pineapple, peeled and cored
1 cup vanilla yogurt
Take watermelon, raspberries, pineapple, and yogurt and place in a blender. Blend for 30 seconds, or until smooth. Serve.
Watermelon Shapes
Watermelon is an easy fruit to be creative with. Slice watermelon about 1-inch thick and remove the rind. Using cookie cutters, cut into watermelon to create shapes. Place shapes on skewers if they are small, or stack on a plate for a snack. Watermelon shapes can be decorated even further with some fresh basil, mint, or even sliced almonds.
This citrus lemon slushy might remind you of a drink that you get at the local fair. The fair drink, however, doesn’t include any real lemon at all! It includes sugar, ice, and some artificial flavoring. Party guests will enjoy the real thing and be asking for more.
INGREDIENTS | 4 (1-CUP) SERVINGS
2 lemons, peeled
2 tablespoons honey
2 cups pineapple juice
2 cups ice
Citrus-Themed Party
There are so many fun things you can do with a citrus-themed party, beyond serving a citrus smoothie. Slice oranges, lemons, and limes and fill a vase with the sliced fruit for a centerpiece. Have party décor like balloons and crepe paper in yellow and orange colors. Use a bowl of whole cloves and an orange; then have the kids puncture the orange with their cloves for their own party favor to take home. Have a blind taste-test game: Use pineapple, lemon, oranges, or grapefruit and have the kids guess which flavor they taste. Of course, follow the party with a tangy citrus lemon drink, and the kids will enjoy every minute.
Eight ounces of your typical lemon-lime soda served at birthday parties contains a whopping 25 grams of sugar! When you add the cake and ice cream, kids will have consumed more sugar than they need in a whole week. This lemon-lime soda has all the party pizzazz of the real thing without all that sugar!
INGREDIENTS | 4 (1-CUP) SERVINGS
3 lemons, including the rind
3 limes, including the rind
4 cups sparkling water
Healthy Parties
Replacing traditional party food with healthier fare may be easier than you think. Most kids come for the party, games, and friends. The food can be healthy, and also be part of the fun. Fruit pizzas, fruit salad served in ice cream cones, fruit juice Popsicles, frozen smoothies made into ice cream, air-popped popcorn, and baked potato chips can all be part of the party.
A fruit soda actually made with fruit seems like a blast from the past. Today’s fruit-flavored soda, like orange soda or fruit punch, has zero fruit. This fruit soda is mostly fruit and still fizzy.
INGREDIENTS | 4 (1⁄2-CUP) SERVINGS
2 red apples
3 kiwis, peeled
1 cup sparkling water
Party Drink Ideas
Change any fruit juice into a party drink with the simple addition of sparkling water. Add fun touches to the kids’ cups such as mini drink umbrellas, swirled paper straws, strawberries suspended in ice cubes, frozen cherries, sliced lemons, star fruit on the end of a skewer, or even a scoop of ice cream in the glass. Use markers and stickers to decorate white paper, wrap the decorative paper around each cup, and add each child’s name.