How would you like to see your children start the day with a simple, drinkable meal — one loaded with vitamins, minerals, fiber, antioxidants, and phytonutrients?
The pathway to health doesn’t have to be all uphill, and it certainly does not need to be complicated. Just combine a few basic ingredients in the blender, and you will quickly have a delicious, nutritious, kid-pleasing smoothie that will:
- Taste great
- Quench thirst and satisfy the appetite
- Sneak powerful nutrition and superfoods into your kids
- Suit individual needs — you can tweak as needed to protect against allergies
- Give kids healthy sugar to retrain their taste buds from the processed white stuff
- Allow older kids to make their own breakfast, and younger ones to learn how
A basic healthy smoothie
Let’s consider the fundamentals of smoothie making. You can modify this recipe to be season-specific or take into account differing preferences for the type of fruits used.
This smoothie uses almond milk to bypass dairy allergies. Even kids with nut allergies may be okay with almond milk (definitely check this out with your physician in advance). Or you can change from almond milk to juice. You can even use a good spring water for the liquid base.
To get really daring, try throwing in some vegetables: celery, spinach, parsley, or kale. They not only add color, but boost the nutrient levels as well. And don’t forget to choose organic produce and buy local every chance you get.
A good smoothie begins with good food
Those fortunate enough to have access to a food co-op can find health-oriented foods there and meet some great people in the process. Bountiful Baskets, for example, allows members to order online and meet weekly in their own community to sort and pick up their food.
Co-ops are not only a healthier way to shop, they are more fun. Who wants to push a cart past isles of items filled with preservatives and high fructose corn syrup? And don’t even think about the smell in the household chemicals isle.
Okay. Enough about that.
Here is that basic healthy smoothie recipe:
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 1/2 frozen banana, peeled and chopped
- 2 tablespoons powdered protein supplement
- 1 1/2 tablespoons flax seed
- 1 teaspoon honey (local is better)
- 1/2 cup frozen strawberries
- ¼ cup Aloe 1 raw Aloe gel
Directions
Put the heavier items in first, add honey and almond milk, and blend until smooth. You can thicken to taste by adding additional banana chunks. For a real treat — and a blast of antioxidants — add Cherry Concentrate.
They are what they eat
Making and drinking smoothies can be a super-healthy way for your child to start the day. Best of all, healthy smoothies allow kids to get all of those vital nutrients in a meal they consider to be a treat — and it really is!
Sugar laden, nutrient depleted breakfasts serve only to weaken your child’s immune system and produce that run down feeling. Don’t do that anymore. Health smoothies may take a little more time and care, but they are more than worth it.
Why include Aloe vera gel in smoothies?
What makes Stockton Aloe 1 Aloe vera gel such a beneficial ingredient? Aloe has natural detoxifying properties that work to cleanse the digestive and circulatory systems, improving absorption of nutrients and the body’s nutrition at the cellular level.
Even a small amount of Aloe gel contains a powerhouse of over 75 healing nutrients that work synergistically to boost the immune system and to produce anti-inflammatory, anti- bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-fungal actions.
In other words; it’s good for you and good for your children.
So, for a healthy start, get rid of the cereal box and get out the blender. It’s healthy smoothie time!