If you’ve been following for a while you know we are smoothie obsessed. I’ve always been a smoothie drinker but ever since the kids became more picky eaters and also since we’ve been on a mostly vegetarian diet with the kids, I have loved falling back on smoothies. We use the reusable pouches from nom nom kids and I always get tons of responses and questions about these and what we put in them. So here it is, the long awaited blog on our smoothie life!

(This post has not been sponsered, we have used these pouches for years and I love to share good tips with other moms.)

Fussy eaters

Bart and I became flexitarians as soon as we got our own place: we don’t prepare meat and try to limit our dairy use at home but when we go out or visit our parents we do like to enjoy meat now and then. We do this because we are convinced of the health benefits, are concerned about the environment and actually only recently because of animal wellbeing.

We were warned that having kids would make this approach to food of us more complicated but when Elliot was little he loved lentils, chickpeas, beans and the likes. What were all these people on about? This was ea-sy…Until Elliot started going to school: all of a sudden he refused anything resembling a vegetable, didn’t want to eat any fruit and only wanted to devour chocolate spread sandwiches!

I can laugh about it now, but it made me really insecure as a mom. Turns out for me our diet was kind of our identity too, and we were finding it difficult finding a balance between savoring eating moments and urging Elliot to eat heathy. I wrote more about this back then.

Then I remembered our Nom Nom pouches. Elliot still loved his traditional fruit mash in these and I secretly started adding things I hoped would save his solely-on-chocolate-driven immune system from crashing. It gave me peace of mind that he was getting his daily portion of vitamins and fibre.

Reusable fruit pouches

We have been using our fruit pouches from Nom Nom kids for over five years now and are such fans. They are definitely in our top 3 list of must have baby items and we often give them as a baby present. Baby? Yes, you read that right. Phoebe “drinks” her four pm fruit snack from a pouch and has done so since she was 6 months old. It’s especially handy because feeding three kids all day (thank you lockdown and semi-lockdown summer vacation!) is like holding down a full-time job. At the zoo.

Phoebe started eating pieces of steamed veggies and fruit from the start and I spoonfed her her lunch. Giving her a fruit snack in a pouch gives me a break because it’s a lot quicker. Now she’s one and I just hand it to her and she eats it herself. (Developmentally it is important for your child to eat with their hands and with a spoon; so don’t give them everything from a pouch :p)

Elliot (now 5) and Amelia (3,5) take a pouch to school every day. I make them on Sundays and stock the freezer. Before we go to bed, we put one in the fridge to defrost by the morning after. On exceptionally hot days we give them a frozen one to school so they have a slushy to enjoy there later in the day. Also when we go on a day trip, we take our pouches along with us for a healthy snack. You can buy them here !

Vegetarian and dairy-limited diet

We got past Elliot’s difficult eating phase and went back to eating more vegetarian meals about a year ago and ever since the kids struggled with dairy on and off, we’ve been eating less dairy. I firmly believe that you can have a balanced diet without meat and dairy, but a vegan diet for children who typically don’t like a huge variety of veggies, is tricky. So I like to play it safe: our children eat meat once a week when we visit the grandparents or go out for dinner and,… I stuff their fruit pouches with foods they otherwise don’t like or are unsafe for them to eat (nuts are a suffocation hazard until the age of six, but are a great source of protein).

So what do we put in our daily smoothies?

Fruit

We always have a big selection of fresh fruit but I like to have certain frozen fruits in the house too. We always have frozen strawberries, blueberries (I never get these fresh, they get mushy quickly and are overpriced), mango, avocado and pineapple.

And yes, I refreeze the smoothies I make with these. It is true that caution is advised when it comes to defrosting and refreezing but making a smoothie with frozen fruits and immediately refreezing the pouches is, according to my research, not harmful. At worst, it will influence the flavor (which in our experience it doesn’t).

I always add banana or mango to a smoothie to make it sweet enough for the kids.

Vegetables

Add cauliflower, spinach, carrots or cale without your children ever finding out! Vegetables contain less sugar and are a great way to diversify smoothies.

Nuts, oats and seeds

In general, nuts are good sources of fat, fiber, protein, omega 6 and omega 3. They also pack a number of vitamins and minerals, including magnesium and vitamin E. They are, however, tricky for children to eat under 6 (suffocation hazard). Peanut butter is a great alternative, so are other nut pastes. We also like to add ground almond and flax seed to our smoothies. Oats are great too.

Milk and yoghurt alternatives

I have preferred alternatives for milk for a long time now and with Amelia being lactose-intolerant as a baby and still sensitive to dairy now, I like to use alternatives wherever I can. Some of these are soy-based but too much soy is said not to be healthy either so we make sure we also have oat -, or coconut based milks. Our favorites are: Alpro coconut, alpro banana ( soy – this makes the best milkshake-ish flavor and consistency), Oatly (great taste, and perfect to make pancakes with or cook with).

I also like to add yoghurt alternatives to smoothies. My favorite brands are: KOKO, Abbot Kinneys or Alpro with extra protein. (Danone Danio has some great dessert alternatives!)

Four recipes to inspire you

1. Strawberry*, banana, apple, avocado *, oats, banana soy milk

2. Mango*, carrot, pear, ground almond, coconut milk

3. Pineapple*, banana, KOKO yoghurt, coconut milk

4. Blueberry*, banana, freshly pressed orange juice, protein yoghurt, spinach, cashew – oat milk

(*frozen)

Depending on how much milk you add, the texture changes. I don’t make it too fluid for the pouches, to prevent spills on the playground.

If after reading this you’d like to know more about the Nom Nom Kids pouches, then check out my instagram and take a look at the highlight '“eats” or buy some at Bol.com. This blog post is NOT sponsored, I’m just a long time fan and I love to share tips with other moms!

One last recipe tip: less is more.

Have fun trying!