Super Smoothie For A Super Fussy Eater

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Today my son who is an incredibly fussy eater and hasn’t eaten a vegetable except for potato in potato chips in years had all of these vegetables. And not only did he enjoy them he promised to have them every single day.

For some further context my son isn’t just normal scale of fussy. He doesn’t just protest, but if we don’t offer him anything else will eventually concede and eat when he’s hungry enough. I wonā€™t go into too much detail, but trust me when I say getting vegetables in him without him literally vomiting them back up is a huge achievement.

And the solution was so simple I regret not doing it soon enough. Actually the worst thing is I have actually tried this before. When he was little i used to toss frozen cubes of ā€œbaby foodā€ Iā€™d made up for his sister into fruit smoothies for him. I just didnā€™t think heā€™d fall for it anymore.

And I know that it’s not entirely ideal. In a perfect world I’d be able to encourage my child to eat vegetables in vegetable form. But after all this time trying I think it’s time to go for super sneaky veggies.

The Super Smoothie ā€œRecipeā€

It isnā€™t so much a recipe as it is a concept.

I chose carrots for their sweet but fairly bland flavour.

Zucchini because they donā€™t taste like much and donā€™t think heā€™s ever eaten anything green.

And beetroot mostly for the colour. Because he couldnā€™t suspect what was in it before heā€™d given it a good try.

Basically I just chopped, up the vegetables and loaded them into a three tier steamer. Zucchini at the top, carrots in the middle, and beetroot in the boiling water at the bottom.

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Once they were all super soft (about 10-15 minutes) I pureed them all together in a blender. Gradually the deeply coloured water from the beetroot to get the right consistency.

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Then I poured the mixture into ice cube tray and popped them into the freeze.

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So now theyā€™re ready on hand to just toss them into fruit smoothies. We usually have banana and berry smoothies so the colour didnā€™t give me away.

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How Did It Go?

Well the proof is in the fact that heā€™d drank it all down before I thought to take a picture of the actual smoothie! But I think we all know what a berry smoothie looks like!

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I told him I was making him a special smoothie and when he asked I said I wasnā€™t going to tell him what was in it until after heā€™d finished it.

When he had drank it all I fessed up about the ā€œsecret ingredients. He wasnā€™t exactly impressed, but he couldnā€™t exactly claim he didnā€™t like it AFTER heā€™d drank it all!

I made him a deal that if he has one of these smoothies every day weā€™ll give him a break about trying to get him to eat vegetables at dinner time.

Once weā€™re done with this batch Iā€™m going to think about what else I can sneak in undetected.

But for now I cannot even describe how pleased I am with the outcome. Itā€™s such a relief! And I’m more than a little smug about it.

 

Rachel Stewart

Rachel is the founder of Parenting Central. She is raising two children, boy and girl, with her partner. Rachel is obsessed prams, car seats, carriers and all things baby. She has worked in the baby industry for several years, for both suppliers and also in a retail setting and has developed a passion for connecting parents with the right products to make their lives easier. When Rachel isn't playing with prams she's enjoys crocheting, drinking coffee (sometimes wine) and spending a little too much time on Facebook.

35 Comments

  1. My 3yo will drink juice which I make with oranges, celery and carrots. I also freeze them into ice blocks which he loves. Other than that he wonā€™t eat any veggies. Occasionally I persuade him to put a bit of baked carrot in his mouth but it gets spat out. My nearly 2yo loves the ice blocks, loves baked carrot and potato but she wonā€™t eat anything else.

    1. Yeah, I was worried I’d be pushing my luck – I actually hate beetroot. lol. But I really wanted to cover the colour of mud that that zucchini and carrot mixed together would make.

  2. Weā€™ve been super lucky with our 3 year old that heā€™s always been willing to try new foods and is pretty good with most veggies. But I was (and still am) a very fussy eater so I understand the struggle! Well done finding something that works! You should be very proud!

    1. I do the same things, as they’ve gotten older I cut the vegies less fine. I’m not a fan of smoothies myself – I can never get organised to have all the ingredients, plus I’m huge on texture and I’d rather chew the food šŸ™‚

  3. I am lucky to have great eaters – however, my son isn’t a huge fan of meat. He will eat broccoli, spinach and all the veggies… but would rather not eat meat. Go figure. šŸ˜‰

  4. Iā€™m a firm believer in you do what you gotta do, and if thatā€™s smoothies or telling your kids theyā€™re orange biscuits (which is really pumpkin cut in to a biscuit shape ?) and it works then thatā€™s what you do!

  5. This is much more common than you think. I actually run Mealtime workshops for fussy/picky eaters & itā€™s great to see families see improvement in the kids eating….without having to hide anything!???

  6. Yum!!! Well done! Thatā€™s a win. Last week I put a heap of pumpkin (the one thing my kids hate!) in a risotto and they ate the ā€œorange risottoā€ ??

  7. I was excited recently when my son, (who doesn’t eat veggies) told me he’s consider eating peas and crunchy carrot. He didn’t eat much but it was a start! Little steps…

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