Breakfast and Little Miss don’t always go hand-in-hand around here. Unlike my son that eats twice as much as I do, she will peck at food like a bird. That is, until Spring comes around and the weather isn’t so frigid. See, one thing that will always go down is a good, fully loaded, breakfast smoothie!
“Then why not a breakfast smoothie year round?” you may ask. Well, you see, both my daughter and I have very weak kidneys so cold food in winter is not a great idea according to our TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) practitioner. So warm milk and cereal, pancakes and eggs make the bulk of our cold-weather mornings, but from April to October, it’s smoothies all around.
What do I mean by fully loaded? Here is our basic recipe :
Fully loaded Breakfast Smoothie
- 1 cup organic plant-based milk (my daughter prefers soy)
- 1/4 cup of organic full fat plain goat milk or greek yogurt
- 1/2 ripe banana
- 1/2 cup frozen berries (this morning was blueberries, strawberries and cranberries)
- 1 dose powdered vegan kids probiotics (This is what we are using right now, but we will be switching to these in a few weeks.)
- 1 TBSP Vegan Omega/DHA oil supplement (This is what we use right now, but we will be switching to these in a few days.)
- 1/2 tsp Raw Apple Cider Vinegar (We use this brand)
- 1 dose of liquid multivitamin (What we use – French only site, sorry!)
- 2 TBSP of hemp seeds
- 1 tsp of either pure maple syrup or raw honey
You can imagine how happy I am when I see her completely slurp up all this goodness?
Since Little Man isn’t all about the smoothies yet, believe it or not, all those vitamins and supplements go into what we call his “loaded applesauce”. But I guess you can get used to anything if started at a young enough age!
What is your health regime? Do you have a breakfast hard-head? How do you get them to eat healthy in the morning?
Family, Faith, Food and Fabric 
The school my son goes to has free breakfasts that are just awful. We do have some cereal in a pinch (running late or feeling lazy), but I prefer he not eat them because they’re processed and full of sugar even though we do get the organic stuff. Sometimes it’s eggs (over medium or a goat cheese omelet) and sausage. We ran out of sausage, so I’ve been making him oatmeal with honey, milk and cinnamon. And then some kind of fruit-usually berries. Apples if no berries.The kicker? He then goes to school and eats the junk they have there. Seriously, they sometimes have pop tarts. I let him have pop tarts once and he was bouncing off the walls. Never again.
I just went vegan myself. I was already getting away from dairy because it makes me break out and occasionally causes me gastric distress. The meat thing was 25% health and 75% because I’m an animal lover and I’d rather not have other creatures suffer when it’s not necessary. I’d love it if my family went along, but not likely. My husband has hinted at going around 50% plant based meals, but I don’t think he’ll go all the way. I’m still trying to find the right balance of foods.
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Thank you for sharing your story. That is something I’m thrilled about for our preschool : It is a full lunch box system. They have no food there, my daughter leaves for school with 2 snacks and a lunch so I have 100% control. (They do not allow sharing because of food allergies.) I’m blessed to have a fully vegetarian household. I’ve been meat free for going on 21 years, my husband 5 and my kids have both been vegetarian since birth. My son is almost vegan (except for eggs) and we are all I would say 80% vegan. But farm fresh eggs most of the year are part of our diet and some local organic dairy as well. I was told by many when I was pregnant that I couldn’t raise my kids vegetarian and them be as healthy as meat eating kids. Well, my kiddos are in the 85th percentile. I think they are doing okay. But I still get the “why do my friends have cookies and I don’t?” so my daughter and I have a game going. We read ingredients together and if she can’t repeat and pronounce, than she can’t eat it! LOL! She actually loves the game now. I’m sure you will get the balance that is right for you. Just remember to do the best you can, that is all we really can do!
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He’ll probably be going to parochial school next year and I don’t think they offer any breakfast or lunch, so we’ll be in more control. I had a goal to have the household gluten (or at least wheat) free by the end of the year as well. I’m not sure I’m going to pull that one off.
I stand there and read ingredients when my husband comes home from grocery shopping with some godawful processed food to give him a hard time. 🙂 When you’ve eaten a certain way your whole life, it’s hard to change. I miss bread, but I don’t miss how it makes me feel.
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I agree! Luckily again, we make 95% of everything from scratch. No hidden ingredients, but yes, reading labels has been a big part of our life for a long time. If you want a great site for GF cooking and baking, Google Minimalist Baker. They are about 90% vegan and about 75% gluten free! They even have recipes for their own GF flour mix which is a staple in our home now.
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J’adore les smoothies ! Chez nous, les déjeuners sont populaires et varient énormément d’un jour à l’autre. Muffins, crêpes, toasts, yogourt, céréales, gruau, smoothies… et beaucoup beaucoup de fruits !
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J’essaye de varier le plus possible, mais avec les intolérances de mon fils, certains matins sont plus redondants! Mais je suis bien d’accord avec toi, la variété gagne!!!
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Pas faciles, les intolérances ! L’important, c’est de bien manger 😉 ; la variété, c’est un plus, tout simplement. Mes enfants, sauf mon garçon, je doit l’avouer, n’aiment pas manger toujours la même chose, au point que c’est parfois un casse-tête.
En passant, tes petites bouteilles sont trop craquantes !
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Vraiment non! Je les ai acheté chez Think Kitchen aux Galeries de la Capitale. Vraiment l’fun et les âilles sont lavables donc plus de gaspille et de pollution!
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I have a couple of every meal hardheads! My daughter will eat all things! Not picky whatsoever. I do a great deal of hiding healthy items in sauces etc. But since mine are old enough now, I have been letting them cook their own foods, requiring them to have a fruit and veggie with the meal. This helps at breakfast and lunch, and somehow, since it is their idea, they do not mind eating the healthy food. I am strict at dinner though, when I make the food. If they do not eat, no other food is offered. Since doing this, they have been more willing to try, and have found they actually like much of the healthy food being offered.
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Good job Suzy! We are the same way here : If you are not hungry for what is on the table, than you must not be hungry. My daughter helps with meal planning, recipe finding and grocery shopping. So she has ZERO excuse! LOL!
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Smoothies are such a great way to feed picky kids. I wouldn’t say either of mine are picky, necessarily, but I do think they both need to eat more at lunch and dinner. They both eat a ton for breakfast but not as much later in the day. I try not to worry about it, the food is available and they’ll eat what they feel they need, but it’s one of those things Mom worries about anyway. I always require them to eat what’s served, though; no special items just because you don’t like what I made!
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My daughter is the contrary… she’ll eat like a bird in the morning and then snack and snack and snack! It’s infuriating. She’ll ask for snacks 30 minutes after being supposedly too stuffed to finish. So we have started keeping her plate out. If she asks for snack, we hand her back her plate. It’s starting to sink in. But I wouldn’t say she’s picky at all, she eats just about everything. But she eats very little. It,s just such a stark contrast to my son who is a bottomless pit! LOL! But yes, we do worry don’t we?
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Venetia is very difficult to get a breakfast into, I’ll have to try smoothies out with her, thanks for the idea!
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You are welcome! Hopefully she enjoys them! Of course the supplements are up to you, I just love putting them in so I know they are starting their day off extra right! 🙂
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We love our smoothies, but like you only in the warmer months, they are just too chilly for the winter. During the winter we juice 🙂
We have just gotten back into our smoothie routine over the last few weeks, and lucky for us we still have peaches, strawberries, blueberries and raspberries left from last summer (we picked a lot). Not sure we will make it to berry season with our stash, but we did pretty good getting this far.
I honestly don’t try to get my little man to eat healthy. I cook healthy food, and serve it up. If he eats it great, if he doesn’t, no worries, I know he will make up for it at another meal. He goes through spurts where he eats a lot, and then other times not so much. I figure there are times when I don’t feel like eating too much, so it is pretty normal for him to go through those phases as well.
I started Reece on supplements the day he was born, and he has always taken them straight up, and still to this day has no problem with that. It is something I am so glad I did, so many people have a hard time getting little ones to take them.
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I hear you, we still have strawberries and cranberries from last year and that is it! We had to buy blueberries… Luckily, Costco has amazing organic frozen berries that are Canadian grown and frozen freshly picked so at least, I’m buying “local”. LOL! But we surely will be freezing more this year!
Mine have taken supplements since birth as well, but Little Miss has always been highly sensitive to textures so the oils and powders in the applesauce do play on her a bit. It is why I’m so happy we found these new vegcap super omegas. Now I can just squeeze the little cap in her milk and it goes unnoticed. And I think I may have made her come off as a picky eater which wasn’t my goal… she just takes a really long time to get hungry in the morning and I just insist on her eating well for breakfast. If she doesn’t, then it,s like she will snack all day and that leads to her being starving 1 hour before bed. 🙂
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Your smoothies sound great! I’ve been thinking about adding smoothies into our menu for awhile now specially since we have that lovely Vitamix! Perhaps this will be the spring we make that happen!
Also, where did you get those fabulous bottles and caps? Did you make them? They are totally up our alley! xo
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I got mine at a small store here and I went online to see if I could find the exact ones but I can. But I found some on Ebay that seem about the same. Just look for “Country Style Milk Bottles With Straws” and I’m sure you will find some. 🙂
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My daughter and I have been eating porridge with soaked oats all winter but now that it is warming up I am starting to think about alternatives, I have thought about smoothies but wonder how filling they are? I am also wrestling with the whole dairy thing at the moment I am sure that my daughter cannot drink cows milk and I am not keen on the dairy industry and how we get our milk from the animals. If I was to make a smoothie without any of the yogurt I am guessing it would be a bit thin and less filling?
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Yes and no. I really do add the yogurt for my daughter because she lives it, but we use chia seeds as a thickner. (Not to mention that it’s really good for you!) You can also just add a bit more fruit. I try to keep it a bit liquid or else it’s very hard to sip through the straw, but half the time, my hubby and I will just eat it with a spoon like a big slushie. My husband is also very sensitive to dairy so I usually don’t put any dairy in his. But my daughter and I LOVE goat yogurt. So any time I can lay my hands on it, it’s a nice add-in. 🙂
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What a great, yummy breakfast! I am loving smoothies also–just need to get my kids more on board! So awesome your girl slurps them down!
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It was a long process of trial and error, to get the right amount of sweetness, the right consistency, the perfect blend… Or maybe it’s just the cute bottles!!!! Hehe.
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Oooh–then maybe I’ll take advantage of the results of your scientific method and try this recipe on my kids! (or invest in the bottles–I would certainly drink from those cuties!)
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They are SO MUCH FUN, and just the right size to. We have the 10 oz ones. But I know they sell 15 oz ones as well. But with kiddos, 15 oz. seemed like a lot.
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sounds really yummy!
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It really is… an easy. Pancakes are another sure hit (and just like smoothies, you can put just about anything in pancakes) but they are time consuming sometimes. 🙂
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Yummy, full-packed smoothie is a great way to start a day. I used to be quite horrible with breakfast, meaning not having it at all, sometimes the first meal in the late afternoon. Now, breakfast smoothie is almost a religious act: bananas, dandelion greens, collard, dates, nettle, mint, spirulina, water… It never gets boring! 🙂
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That sounds amazing to me! Greens are still a bit strange for my kiddos. Little Miss will do baby greens (especially beet greens or kale) when they are fresh from the garden. But the store bought stuff is too strong tasting. But I just may have to grab so dandelion from our home patch that is forming soon! Thank you for the idea…
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You’re welcome. Adding a little bit of greens can sometimes passed unnoticed, but still add some health benefits. It’s worth a play! 🙂
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Those smoothies sound amazing and those bottles are ADORABLE!!!
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They were a fun find! We love them. 🙂
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I like your smoothie recipe Yanic. I have a smoothie every day, I have for years. Right now I am off dairy so my smoothie is almond milk, hemp seeds, kale, blue berries, banana, and green pea protein. I will change this up as different fruits are in season.
Enjoy a great weekend and thank you for your sweet comments, you are so very kind.
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You are welcome Tracey. Your quotes are always so inspirational and so is all your art. I was serious about painting your quote on something to hang in my home. I’ll be sure and link up so you can sneak a peek. 🙂
PS : My son can’t do dairy either. Chia seeds or soaked cashews make a great thickener.
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Your recipe sounds perfect for adults as well as children. I love smoothies but, like you, enjoy warmer foods for breakfast in the cold weather.
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LOL! I know, I just eat a bit of ice cream for dessert in winter and I’ll sit there shivering on the couch. Warm when cold, cold when warm… 🙂
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Oh those smoothies sound amazing! I’ve never really been one for cereal and milk at breakfast – and for years I skipped it as I had to get up earlier than I was ready to eat but for now we sometimes have homemade toast, but mostly during the winter it’s porridge (made with cows milk for the girls or almond milk for Pip and me) topped with grated apple or blueberries or banana, a smidge of maple syrup and a spoon of nut butter, or if Daddy’s cooking it’s scrambled eggs! I love your idea that if they can pronounce the ingredients they can eat it – I’m definitely going to have to put that to use with Miss Kitty whose great loves seem to be chocolate, cheese and cherry tomatoes!
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The game is kinda fun for mom too cause it’s really funny to hear your 4 year old try the pronounce “sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate” 🙂 LOL!
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oh wow!! these sound AMAZING!!!!!
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They are… and extremely deceptively good for you! 🙂
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