I couldn’t resist posting this here! As part of our Green Smoothie Day preparations, we’ve chosen Jamie Abrams to be our Green Smoothie Correspondent for Kids! And while we’ve included it in our Health In High Heels issues that will be coming out this week, I thought it was pretty appropriate to share here!

4 Simple Steps To Getting Your Kids Hooked On Green Smoothies

by Jamie Abrams

International Green Smoothie Day is approaching and I have been thinking of ways to celebrate. And what better place to start than by spreading the Green joy with our kiddies? Fueling our children with these powerful green elixirs gives hope to the future of humankind.
My little tot regularly asks for and laps-up green smoothies. I can’t tell you how heart-warming it is to hear his little voice requesting a green smoothie and then asking for a top-up! Here, I’ll share how we have become so successful in giving our small fellah green goodness.

Part One: The Art of Making a Green Smoothie

Set the scene by having large bowls on the worktop surface with a variety of beautiful colored fruits. Sit your child up on the counter next to where all the action will be taking place or have them pull-up a chair so they can see what you are doing. Keep things light. A simple base to create your green smoothie from is nut/seed milk or water and banana. Then get crazy by adding 2-3 different fruits to the base. Allow your child to have ingredient input – even if the combination sounds horrible, you might just stumble on a gem. Let them participate as much as their capabilities allow - most children love washing produce (who doesn’t love a little splash around!). Give them a blunt knife (butter knives work a charm) to cut the fruit with (apples, pears, bananas etc.). Get them peeling oranges, hand them the opportunity of putting all the ingredients into the blender, and turning the blender dial. Just think kitchen assistant or raw chef in the making!
The real key is to let them feel like they are a part of the process. Being patient, realizing that they may have their own way of doing things and remaining open to the possibilities of creating together are really valuable.

Part Two: The Art of Serving a Green Smoothie

Here is where the fun really begins. Having a few special drink containers can be priceless. Use a cup with a logo/design of their favorite toy or book character, an animal they have a special affinity to, or anything else they are really into. It can then become their special drink cup - we have two, a mug with a teddy bear on it and cup with Thomas the Tank Engine. Also, using a fancy glass, like a wine glass or parfait cup, can make drinking the green smoothie even more appealing.

Presentation is just as important to the little people in our lives as it is to adults. Top the smoothie off with a slice of fruit (strawberry, kiwi, etc) or dashing goji berries, bee pollen, buckwheaties or shelled hemp seeds on top – these are like magic fairy sprinkles – and then watch the smoothie disappear at record speed! Making the smoothie look pretty does make it taste better.
Let’s not forget Tera’s treasure of a tip - to serve the green smoothie with a wide-holed straw for extra slurping power.

Part Three: The Art of Naming a Green Smoothie

In our world, when something has an inspiring name or sound we are naturally drawn to it. The same goes for children. Zenchai is at the age where everything HAS to have a name and he wants to know it. Be imaginative, think quickly and have a sense of humor. Encourage your child to name the smoothie or give it a name you think will appeal to their senses. A common theme in our house for smoothie-naming is using car brands or relating it to an animal. Some of our more care-free names are Hummer Fuel, Magic Squirrel Juice, Hunka-Dunka Passion, Mini Cooper Engine Oil, Raz-ma-taz and many other made-up word names I can’t remember!
Part Four: The Art of Inventing Delectable Green Smoothies

Recipe-making need not be complicated. As a matter of fact, keeping it simple is always the best course of action!

Step 1: First choose a base, like water or nut/seed milk (favorites in our house are almond milk or hempseed milk). If you like a thicker consistency use just enough liquid to cover the blades of your blender.

Step 2: Next choose your fruit – make sure it is ripe! Bananas seem to be a real staple for green smoothies because of the sweetness they offer. Using over-ripe frozen bananas can add a whole new dimension to the smoothie due to their milk shake-like property. Choosing another 2-3 fruits to compliment the banana keeps things effortless and also leaves a variety of other combinations to be explored at another time.

Step 3: Then choose your greens. Spinach has a very mild flavor, whereas some of the others can be quite strong, but don’t let that sway you from adding a leaf of kale or a small dash of parsley. When fruit is ripe and sweet it will cancel out the stronger flavored greens.

Step 4: This next bit is a sneaky-mom trick (optional of course). Try adding flax or hemp oil for the brain-boosting benefits, add a ½ - 1 tsp of any green powder for extra protein (spirulina, chlorella etc), and a dash of kelp powder.

One last sneaky-mom trick is to use blueberries in your recipe if your child has an aversion to green liquids. The blueberries make it more a deep purple.

Here are some classic Green Smoothie recipes, but the sky is the limit so get shaking and see what you can conceive! I have provided the fruit combinations. You need to decide on a liquid base, (water is fine) which greens to use (at least two handfuls!), and if you want to add any sneaky-mom bits or magic fairy sprinkles, go right ahead!

Hummer Fuel Green Smoothie:
1 banana
1 passion fruit
1/2 mango
1 pear

Raz-Ma-Taz:
1 banana
1-2 passion fruit
½ mango
1 handful of frozen raspberries

Smurf’s Delight:
1 banana,
1 handful of blueberries
1 pear

Magic Squirrel Juice:
1 banana
¼ pineapple
1 handful of strawberries
1 pear

Minty Mercedes:
1 banana
2 pears
¼ cup mint
Goji To The Rescue:
1 orange (peeled and deseeded)
1 banana, handful of green grapes
1 pear or apple
1 handful of gojis

Wooohooo!!! I was so surprised. We all were. We were so sure we were going to have a girl, we just cracked up when we saw, plain as day on the ultrasound screen: boy parts.

We have shattered the ‘Shettles Method”. He postulates that, since female sperm outlive male sperm, having sex farther away from ovulation improves the odds of having a girl, as most of the male sperm have died off by the time fertilization takes place. Not for us! We conceived a full 5 days after the “act”.

We have debunked the Old Wives. According to lore, one is having a girl if:
• She is carrying high. Wrong!
• She has more morning sickness. False!
• The fetal heart rate is above 140. Nope!
• Her face breaks out and she’s moodier than usual. Uhn-uh!
• She craves lots of fruit. Wrong again!

I had all of the above “having a girl symptoms”. So much for that!

Then, there was our most “scientific” reasoning behind the prediction: My boyfriend gave our son two balls, one pink and one blue, and asked him to “give the one to mommy that represents the new baby”. Well, wouldn’t you know, he handed me the PINK one….

But seriously, my main hunch came from the fact that this pregnancy has just been sooo different from the last. I know (and knew) this wasn’t a good gender predictor; all pregnancies, like all babies, are different. Yeah, yeah.

Nevertheless, I had been relating so much to my belly as if there were a little girl swimming around in there, I was worried that, if we did find out it was a boy, I might be disappointed. Not a drop! To my very pleasant surprise, I just felt a huge amount of joy radiate through me: one more clue as to whom this divine little creature is stirring inside me! A BROTHER for my sweet, darling little boy to play with - how cool! No new clothes to get…well, in the beginning at least. And, who knows, maybe the next one will be a girl. Or not. Either way, it is impossible to go wrong :).

In other pregnancy news, I am happy to report that I am feeling grrrreat. I’ve got my diet almost to where I want it, enjoying lots of green smoothies, tons of amazing fresh fruit (oh the joys of summer!!), and some delicious gourmet raw concoctions I’ve been creating to avoid succumbing to less-healthy cravings. My energy levels are good although, I must admit, I’ve been taking daily naps with my son - something I didn’t often need pre-pregnancy (so grateful to have that option). And, apparently, all is going well and as expected with my active little wonder within…he’s a busy bee, frequently stirring and dancing and making me smile.

Falling ever more madly in love with all my boys each day~

Ardis

Every so often, you get one of those weekends where you do something totally out of the ordinary. A time when you head out of your cozy home, socialize with fun people, eat amazing food, and enjoy a little luxury. A time when you get to have a break from the fulfilling but often exhausting job of being “mum”. I’m really grateful when those times come along, as they allow me to recharge my batteries and connect with a different side of myself.

Well, this past weekend was one of those times. And, luckily for us, one of my sisters was here on holiday, so we were able to offer her free room and board in exchange for looking after the girls!

Darren works for a financial planning firm that holds an end-of-financial year dinner every year (June 30 is end of financial year in Australia). Yep, those financial types sure get excited about end of financial year! This year, employees and their partners were invited to dinner on Friday night at The Point restaurant, overlooking Melbourne’s Albert Park Lake. We took up a room in the “cellar” and were surrounded by bottles of Grange and other no doubt mega-expensive wines. Darren’s employers and colleagues are fantastic people who love to tease each other mercilessly and have a huge laugh – it’s like being part of a family. (One employee picked up a bottle of Grange to have a look at the label, and got the shock of his life when an alarm went off! You can imagine that he’ll never live that down.)

I decided not to ask in advance for a “raw” meal, and to instead see what the menu offered. The menu options sounded amazing, so I decided to just try whatever took my fancy – one of the reasons I specialized in food-book editing was because I love the taste sensations of different foods, and I think that occasionally being open to less-familiar tastes adds to our experience of life. We ordered a side salad with mains, and it was so nice to have some crisp, crunchy cos (romaine) lettuce to offset the heavier cooked foods, despite the fact that I was really enjoying small portions of the amazing meals on offer. I gotta say, I think that a big part of the whole meal experience at the restaurant was the fantastic presentation of each meal – something to keep in mind when I prepare raw foods!

Darren’s employers had a lovely surprise for each employee and their partner – gift vouchers for massages at the Park Hyatt hotel’s Park Club Health & Day Spa. We’ve been there before for a massage, and included is full use of the infinity pool, sauna, steam room and Jacuzzi. Sensational! We’ll probably make the most of those precious vouchers closer to Christmas time when, again, we have family here for babysitting!

On Saturday, Darren and I made the trek out to Victoria’s “wine country”, north of Melbourne. Last year, I somehow won Darren’s work’s footy-tipping competition, and the prize was a night at a five-star hotel. Now, I know absolutely zip about football, so it’s a miracle that I won the comp. But I wasn’t about to quibble. We decided to head to luxurious Chateau Yering, and, as a happy bonus, were offered a free upgrade to the “Yarra Suite”, which has its own balcony with views of the fabulous Yarra Valley (see the pictures). We spent a lot of time just sitting around reading the paper, and trying out the suite’s Jacuzzi! And it was soooo quiet out there in the country. In the city, we get used to the sound of traffic noise humming away quietly in the background, so it was quite an experience to hear – nothing. Aah…

We had a fantastic dinner at the hotel’s Eleonore’s Restaurant (sitting by a crackling log fire for a pre-dinner drink), and breakfast at the amazing Sweetwater Café. I’d all but given up the idea of seeking out raw options, apart from side salads, but I did try a rather interesting main for dinner – a celeriac “lasagna” (slices of celeriac instead of pasta) with porcini filling. Rich, but so good. At breakfast, we happened to sit at a table next to a famous footballer and his wife – quite fitting, given how I’d won our night away!

It was strange spending so much time together as a couple, without children – but I liked it. I missed the girls, but I loved being in a different world for a while. Waking up to the sounds of silence, instead of the high-pitched giggling of two little girls, made for a novel change.

So, life’s back to normal. It was fun to live a different life, just for a while – but I’m glad to be home.

And I know that a weekend like this is a reminder to be open to all the richness that life has to offer. It’s out there (and “in here”) for all of us!