4 Veggie-Packed Smoothies

It's back to school season! And as we quickly found out, that means cold season. Ez made it a whole nine days before he brought home his very first school virus. This is definitely the part of having a student in the house that I was least looking forward to. Ez's cold quickly made the rounds to me, and then Declan. In an effort to avoid at least some of the colds going around, or diminish how long we're sick, I've been making a smoothie for Ez and I each day. (I'm still working on getting Declan to try one. Maybe one day my pickiest little eater will realize what he's missing out on.) These four recipes have all been Ez-approved and pack in a nice dose of vitamins to help out his immune system. Since Ez has already been sick I can't say these are full-proof, but his symptoms were a lot less severe than Decky's who avoids produce like it's poison, but will happily try to ingest ant hills and foam soccer balls... 😖

The nice thing about September (aside from the bipolar weather and icky germs) is that it's a nice in-between month for produce, which means you can get avocados AND pumpkin yogurt at the stores right now. It's the best of summer and fall and I'm definitely taking advantage of it while it lasts! 

 As you can see, each smoothie comes with a banana, and frozen bananas make the absolute BEST smoothies. I keep ziplock baggies full of banana slices in the freezer just for smoothies. I also use frozen berries and carrots for a better smoothie consistency. Obviously you can use any kind of milk you want, but that almond-coconut blend is perfect for the carrot cake smoothie (which is our #1 favorite smoothie, btw). I also like to add a dropper full of Enfamil's liquid vitamins to round out whatever vitamins we may be lacking. 

Berry Green Smoothie

• 1 frozen banana
• 1 cup mixed frozen berries
• 1-2 cups fresh spinach
• 1 cup orange juice
• 6 ounces vanilla yogurt

Carrot Cake Smoothie

• 1 medium to large carrot (or about 1 cup of frozen carrot slices)
• 1 pineapple tidbits cup (with juices)
• small handful pecan halves
• 1 frozen banana
• 6 ounces vanilla yogurt
• 1 cup coconut almond milk
• sprinkle of cinnamon

Avocado Smoothie

• 1 frozen banana
• 1 ripe avocado
• 1 cup coconut almond milk
• honey to taste

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 frozen banana
• 6 ounces pumpkin yogurt
• 1 cup almond milk
• sprinkle of cinnamon

To be honest, I don't really measure my smoothie ingredients, so add more or less to get your desired consistency. These all make enough for Ez and I to split, although sometimes he does finish all of his and then steals mine. #momlife

When we are feeling under the weather we like warm, steamy eucalyptus epsom salt baths, eucalyptus essential oil in our humidifier, lots of juice, throat coat tea (for me), and extra long naps. What are some of your go-to cold remedies and favorite smoothie recipes?? Something tells me this will not be our last round of colds over here... 😕 Wishing you all a healthy back to school season!!