Tasty for Toddlers: Smoothies for the Under-Four Set

Introducing the two monkeys in question, Connor and Quinn.

Being a Stonyfield mom means talking about food with other moms – a LOT. What’s your baby eating this week? Have you tried this recipe? Did you try adding flax oil?

So, when Stonyfield Mom Chandra Carson and I started talking about the latest office toddler food trend – yummy healthy smoothies – it didn’t take long for us to start making up our own smoothie recipes with YoToddler to try out on our little monkeys.

We grabbed a few cups of the new YoToddler flavors – Raspberry Pear and Banana & Pumpkin – headed to our local health food store, and set up smoothie shop in the Stonyfield office kitchen.

First up was our attempt at the amazing magic of the so-called Green Smoothie. We combined the Raspberry Pear YoToddler yogurt with fruit and cereal, some spinach, frozen raspberries and milk — and made perhaps the yummiest smoothie I have ever tasted. It’s a little tart, which my little guy prefers, but if you wanted it sweeter, adding honey to taste would be delicious.

What’s your favorite way to blend YoToddler into a smoothie?

Here in NH, raspberry season starts in July. Pick your own, then freeze them by laying them out on a cookie sheet in your freezer. Once they’re frozen, seal them in a plastic bag.

Raspberry Pear Green Smoothie

Blend together:

4oz Raspberry Pear YoToddler yogurt

1 cup frozen raspberries

1 cup baby spinach

1/2 cup water or whole milk

For extra omega-3s, add in some flaxseeds, or for a fun twist, add some cinnamon and nutmeg!

We were feeling confident – it was at this point we began forcing our innocent, lunch-eating co-workers to taste and love our smoothies – we moved on to the Banana & Pumpkin YoToddler. This recipe actually took a few tries to get right, but in the end, our versions with peanut butter and sunflower seed butter were winners – our co-workers agreed!

Banana & Pumpkin Protein Smoothie

Blend together:

4oz Banana & Pumpkin YoToddler yogurt

1 ripe banana

3 tablespoons of “nut” butter (peanut butter, almond butter, sunflower seed butter, etc.)

1/4 cup ice