Tuesday 24 July 2012

Summer smoothies


We are having a rare hot few days in London, which certainly makes a nice change. Today we had to walk to the shops to get a few bits for a picnic with friends tomorrow and my three-year old was complaining about how hot he was. I suggested we buy something cold at the supermarket to cool us down and he suggested ice-cream.

There are of course always people eating ice-creams or ice-lollies on hot days. Just yesterday my son was transfixed on an older girl who was tucking into a bright blue ice-cream in the park. I don't however think just because it's hot, you should have an ice-cream, I think they should be consumed in moderation as a treat rather than being a given on warm days. I do know a mother who bribes her son with an ice-cream to get him to stay in the park so even on a cold and rainy day he has one....but I digress.

I didn't say no to the ice-cream but I suggested we could get some berries and go home to make a cold smoothie. My son loved that idea, especially as they had made smoothies at nursery school not so long ago, which he had really enjoyed. We got some strawberries, raspberries and a couple of bananas along with our other shopping and headed home to make the smoothie.

My son had a great time, as I let him do most of the making. He chopped up all the fruit, put some spoonfuls of yoghurt into the blender with the fruit and voila! It came out a lovely pink/red colour and was yummy and refreshing - just what we needed on this hot afternoon. There was a glass poured for daddy ready for when he came home from work and I think we are going to make some more for our friends coming over for a picnic tomorrow too!

Super-easy to make, ideal for a toddler to do almost solely, healthy and delicious, smoothies are also a great way to make the most of local, seasonal fruit. I'm sure I don't need to tell you how to make them but for the record, we just threw into the blender the washed berries (big strawberries chopped up), with thickly sliced banana, a couple of tablespoons of natural yoghurt (you can substitute with milk) and a splash of water or a couple of ice cubes.

Our smoothie-making turned out to be a fun summertime activity as well as producing a tasty, cooling drink so I'd recommend you give it a go if this weather holds out. Do let me know in the comments if you have any smoothie recipes you'd like to share!
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photo credit

3 comments:

  1. We love smoothies too! I add fresh spinach and you can't taste it- the kids love them!

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  2. I LOVE smoothies (don't make them enough at the moment) and like Tiffany really like adding Spinach as well as other non-fruits. Carrots, parsnips and even cabbage can work quite well and the vitamin benefits are obvious. I just hope that I can get little one to start trying them at some stage!!!

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  3. Thanks to you both for sharing the tip about adding spinach or other non-fruits. I will have to try it out and start experimenting!

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