Vegetable Smoothie Vitamin Bomb

 

Pure Vegetable Smoothie Vitamin Bomb

Serves 2 glasses

Ingredients:

1. A handful of spinach
2. A handful of kale
3. 1-2 carrots chopped
4. 1 inch of ginger diced
5. 1/2 cup fresh skimmed milk or water

Directions:

Add all ingredients into a power blender and blend.

Additional Information:

This is a vitamin bomb. It actually tastes good on its own, at least to me. After drinking, you will feel very good. It's like your body is thanking you :-) 

It is very simple. You only need 2 - 3 main ingredients: spinach, kale and carrots. Adding any others (cabbage, beetroots, tomatoes, raspberiies, blueberries, etc.) are just bonus adding to variety and depending on what are available in your pantry.

J likes to add a banana to sweeten it, while I drink it without any sweetener.

I love my Magimix power blender. It has been with us for many years and is still working as well as ever. Worth every penny :-)

You can get Magimix from Magasin Departmental Store. They have discounts on Magimix power blender on a regular basis.

Try it :-)

References:

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/best-vegetables-to-juice#TOC_TITLE_HDR_12

https://www.bostonmagazine.com/health/2019/06/06/nutrients-in-spinach-kale/

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/kale-vs-spinach

https://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition-pictures/best-salad-greens-for-your-health.aspx

Today's Vitamin Bomb contains spinach, kale, carrots, ginger, raspberries, fresh milk (and banana for J)

Vitamin Bomb is ready :-)

Bottoms up :-)

Rainbow Fruit Popsicle

Ingredients:

For each of the popsicle, add:

1. 2 TBS of blended strawberries sweetened with honey
2. 2 TBS of freshly pressed orange juice
3. 2 TBS of blended pineapple
4. 2 TBS of blended kiwi sweetened with honey
5. 2 TBS of blueberries sweetened with honey

Directions:

1. Freeze and serve :-)

Additional Information:

We got inspired to make this from the cartoon youtube video by Cocomelon, that Baby FECS love to watch, while we are busy working from home, during lockdown due to Coronavirus situation in Denmark:

20 April 2020 (3Y11M4D)

Easy Green Smoothie

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup (250 ml) fresh skimmed milk
2. 1 handful (40 g) blueberries
3. 2 handful (80 g) baby spinach
4. 1 large banana
5. 1/4 g parsley
6. 1 tsp sunflower seeds
7. 2 walnuts

Directions:

Add all ingredients in the order listed above into a blender and blend until smooth.

Additional Information:

This is a beginner green smoothie. You can omit parsley, if you wish. C likes this smoothie a lot

The taste of baby spinach is very mild, thus, most people are able to accept spinach in their smoothie. It has the most number of vitamins and minerals, and are more readiness available than kale, if not even cheaper too. And parsley is a super herb too.

 17 November 2019 (3Y6M1D): C likes green smoothie now.

 17 November 2019 (3Y6M1D): Thumbs-up

17 November 2019 (3Y6M1D): Finished the whole glass

Oatmeal with Nut Butter

Serves 4

Ingredients:
1. 1/2 cup rolled oats
2. 1 1/2 cup fresh skimmed milk
3. 1 tsp walnut butter
4. 1 tsp cashew nut butter
5. 1/2 banana
6. 1 tsp wheat germ

Directions:
1. In a pot, add rolled oats and milk, cover with lid and cook on medium heat (no. 4 on my stove) for 20 mins or until cooked.
2. To prepare each serving, scoop into a bowl.
3. Add walnut butter and cashewnut butter and mix well.
4. Mash in 1/2 banana with a fork and mix well.
5. Top with some berries and sunflower seeds and serve :-)

Additional Information:
This is a flavorful way to consume oats that my family likes. I made the walnut butter myself by grinding it with dried dates to sweeten it. I have also made the cashew nut butter myself, but you can use store-bought ones for convenience.

In a pot, add rolled oats and milk, cover with lid and cook on medium heat (no. 4 on my stove) for 20 mins or until cooked.

 To prepare each serving, scoop into a bowl. Add 1 tsp of walnut butter.

 Add 1 tsp of cashew nut butter and...

 mix well...

Mash in 1 banana and...

 mix well

Add wheat germ and mix well (optional)

Sprinkle some berries and sunflower seeds and ready to serve :-)

Mixed Berries Spinach Smoothie

Serves 2

Ingredients:
1. 1 cup (205 ml) fresh skimmed milk
2. 1/3 cup low fat natural yogurt
3. 1 tsp flax seeds ground
4. 1 cup spinach leaves
5. 1 large ripe banana
6. 1 cup mixed frozen berries (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, blackcurrant, redcurrants and raspberries)

Directions:
Add all ingredients in the order listed above into a blender and blend until smooth.

Additional Information:
This smoothie is high in anti-oxidants from the berries. Blackcurrants and redcurrants have the highest vitamins among berries, at least according to my research.

Personal Journal:
The kids like it and Daddy FECS likes it too. So I will continue to make this.

References:
http://www.alaskafromscratch.com/2013/05/29/blueberry-spinach-smoothie/?utm_content=buffer76b54&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer&fbclid=IwAR2dIFAGELjo38-h5AJAvSblkgrFXz9N22nitS35seB1cUs4eL_ukrF_4Yk

Healthy Mixed Berries Sorbet Ice-cream

Makes 4 scoops

Ingredients:
1. 200 g frozen mixed berries (strawberries, raspberries, blue berries, black berries, red currants and black currants)
2. 1 frozen banana sliced
3. 1/2 avocado

Directions:
Blend until smooth, creamy and firm

Additional Information:

This is rich in anti-antioxidants and full of vitamins. It is rich in potassium from the banana, which is beneficial for reducing blood pressure. 

Personal Journal:
It's Friday today and I made this mixed berry sorbet after fetching Baby FECS back from the nursery. Baby FECS loved it and ate 2 scoops. Little FECS liked it too. I sprinkled it with some chopped almonds.

Colors of the Rainbow Smoothies for the Week

I am thinking of making these smoothies according to the colors of rainbow (well, almost) for each day of the week:

Monday: Red smoothie
Tuesday: Orange smoothie
Wednesday: Yellow smoothie
Friday: Green smoothie
Thursday: Light green smoothie
Saturday: Purple smoothie

Sunday: We will take a break and enjoy a Chocolate smoothie instead.

The plan is that I will go for my groceries shopping once a week to cover all the ingredients for that week. I am not quite sure whether I will keep to this order, but I guess the aim is to cover the colors of the rainbow. The sequence is not so important.

To make it simple, I might also just use all the colors' ingredients mixed in a smoothie, but that will give a muddy color, which is not so attractive to the kids, and adults alike. Let's see how it works out :-)

Btw, it's actually possible to make blue smoothies (see links below), but I think it is too much work for now...

Useful Links:
http://www.nutritionaustralia.org/national/resource/eat-rainbow
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/blue-smoothie-bowl-recipe_n_57bc4f13e4b0b51733a5b417
https://thefirstyearblog.com/rainbow-smoothie/
https://www.finedininglovers.com/blog/food-drinks/purple-fruits-and-vegetables/

Baby Food of the Day: Finger Food (9M3D)

18 February 17 (9m3d): Finger food to train pincer grasp + mirror to see herself during meal

 

Baby Food of the Day: Blueberries Finger Food (7M13D)

28 December 2016 (7M13D): Baby FECS having blueberries as finger food for the first time. At first, I was a little hesitant whether it would be safe, but Daddy FECS was pretty sure that it would be fine. It was totally fine. She could gum it well.

https://youtu.be/QUIAVsuOdDk

Natural Strawberry Yogurt Breakfast

Serves 1

Ingredients:
1. 5 thin slices of banana (1/3 banana)
2. 1 strawberry sliced thin (optional)
3. 2 tsp of natural Greek yogurt 0% fat (or any other natural non-sweetened yogurt)
4. A handful or 1 tsp of sunflower seeds
5. 2 walnuts chopped
6. 2 blueberries
7. 1 pecan nut chopped (optional)
8. A sprinkling of honey muesli (less than 1 tsp) (optional)
9. 1 raspberry (optional)

Directions:
1. Mix banana, strawberry, sunflower seeds, walnuts, pecan nut and strawberries together, mashing and blending the banana and strawberry into it.

2. Sprinkle honey muesli, blueberries and raspberry.

3. Serve :-)

Nutritional Value:
Bananas are a very good source of vitamin B6 and a good source of manganese, vitamin C, potassium, dietary fiber, potassium, biotin, and copper.

Strawberries provide an outstanding variety of phytonutrients, including anthocyanins (especially cyanindins and pelargonidins); flavonols (especially procyanidins, catechins, gallocatechins, epicatechins, epigallocatechins, kaempferol and quercetin); hydroxybenzoic acids (especially ellagic acid); hydroxycinnamic acids (including cinnamic, coumaric, caffeic, and ferulic acid); and stilbenes (including resveratrol). Strawberries are an excellent source of antioxidant-promoting vitamin C and manganese. They are also a very good source of dietary fiber, iodine, and folate. Plus, strawberries are a good source of copper, potassium, biotin, phosphorus, magnesium, vitamin B6, and omega-3 fatty acids.

Blueberries are a very good source of vitamin K, vitamin C, and manganese. Blueberries are also a good source of fiber and copper. Blueberries are phytonutrient superstars. These fruits contain significant amounts of anthocyanadins, antioxidant compounds that give blue, purple and red colors to fruits and vegetables. Included in blueberry anthocyanins are malvidins, delphinidins, pelargonidins, cyanidins, and peonidins. In addition to their anthocyanins, blueberrries also contain hydroxycinnamic acids (including caffeic, ferulic, and coumaric acid), hydroxybenzoic acids (including gallic and procatechuic acid), and flavonols (including kaempferol, quercetin and myricetin). Blueberries also contain the unique, phenol-like antioxidants pterostilbene and resveratrol.

Raspberries are an outstanding source of phytonutrients, and provide us with dozens of anthocyanins, flavonoids, stilbenoids, phenolic acids, tannins and lignans. They are an unusually concentrated source of ellagitannins (like ellagic acid), cyanidins, and pelargonidins. Raspberries are an excellent source of vitamin C, manganese, and dietary fiber. They are a very good source of copper and a good source of vitamin K, pantothenic acid, biotin, vitamin E, magnesium, folate, omega-3 fatty acids, and potassium.

Walnuts are an excellent source of anti-inflammatory omega-3 essential fatty acids, in the form of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). Walnuts are also rich in antioxidants, including being a very good source of manganese and copper. They are also a good source of molybdenum and the B vitamin biotin. Many other minerals are provided by walnuts in valuable amounts. These minerals include calcium, chromium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, vanadium and zinc. Vitamin B6, while not especially concentrated in walnuts, may be more bioavailable in this food. In terms of phytonutrients, walnuts contain antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds, including more than a dozen phenolic acids, numerous tannins (especially ellagitannins, including tellimagrandins), and a wide variety of flavonoids. The vitamin E composition of walnuts is also of special mention, since there is an unusual concentration of the gamma-tocopherol form of vitamin E in this tree nut.

Sunflower seeds are an excellent source of vitamin E and a very good source of copper and vitamin B1. In addition, sunflower seeds are a good source of manganese, selenium, phosphorus, magnesium, vitamin B6, folate, and niacin.

Grass-fed yogurt provides CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), a health-supportive fatty acid often absent from non grass-fed yogurts. Grass-fed yogurt is a very good source of iodine, vitamin B12, phosphorus, and calcium. It is also a good source of vitamin B2, molybdenum, pantothenic acid, protein, zinc, and biotin.

Pumpkin seeds contain a wide variety of antioxidant phytonutrients, including the phenolic acids hydroxybenzoic, caffeic, coumaric, ferulic, sinapic, protocatechuic, vanillic, and syringic acid; and the lignans pinoresinol, medioresinol, and lariciresinol. Pumpkins seeds also contain health-supportive phytosterols, including beta-sitosterol, sitostanol, and avenasterol. Pumpkin seeds are a very good source of phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, and copper. They are also a good source of other minerals including zinc and iron. In addition, pumpkin seeds are a good source of protein.

Oats are an excellent source of manganese and molybdenum. They are also a very good source of phosphorus as well as a good source of copper, biotin, vitamin B1, magnesium, dietary fiber, chromium, zinc, and protein.

Additional Information:
For variety, I will add strawberry into my natural yogurt for the natural strawberry flavor. I also add in pecan nut to provide different nutrients, apart from the walnuts.

Blueberries and walnuts are known to be especially good for the brain.

References:
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=7
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=32
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=8
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=39
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=99
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=57
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=124
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=82
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=54

This is the 0% fat Greek yogurt that I use. You can find them from the Danish supermarket IRMA.

Add 5 slices of banana into a bowl

Add 1 strawberry sliced

Add a handful of sunflower seeds (about 1 tsp)

Add 2 walnuts chopped

Add 1 chopped pecan nut (optional)

Add 2 tsp of greek yogurt or any other natural non-sweetened yogurt

Mix them well, mashing the banana, and you can eat it as it is now :-)

If you wish for extra crunch, you can add a sprinkling of honey muesli.

And here it is, with the blueberries and raspberry double-up as decoration :-)

Blueberries are very good for the brain.