With strawberries, peaches, mango, spinach and blueberries, this delicious smoothie is sure to be a favorite. Yogurt gives it a creamy base as well. This is one you will definitely want to try!
I will admit not every night do we have a made-from-scratch meal. I am a busy mom of 3, and some days, I just don’t have the energy or the time to make a fancy dinner. Also, the little ones just don’t appreciate it as much as my husband, so when he won’t be home for dinner, my motivation to cook drops significantly.
This was the scenario earlier this week. So I turned to a frozen breaded Tilapia for the entrée. I had a few potatoes lefts, so I turned those into Crispy Baked Fries, and sliced up some cucumber to add a little color on the plate. Thousand Island dressing makes a great dipping sauce for the fish.
The star of this meal, however, was the Rainbow Smoothie. This is one that my kids love—they usually drink it all up, and sometimes even ask for seconds. It is quick and easy to throw together. It’s almost a perfect rainbow—Strawberries (red), Peaches (orange), Mango (yellow), Spinach (green) and Blueberries (this has to double count as blue and purple).
The base is yogurt which adds a little protein and gives it a smooth and creamy texture. I like to use a ½ cup of plain yogurt and a ½ cup of flavored yogurt. The ½ cup of flavored yogurt is the only added sugar in the smoothie, so a total of 3 grams of added sugars per serving. And did I mention that this is kid-approved? We really don’t need as much sugar as we think!
Smoothies are so versatile, so feel free to play with this one if you have different fruits and greens to add. I’ve done it before with kale. I’ve also added carrots, and pineapple in the past. You could do celery, bananas, apples, oranges—honestly whatever strikes your fancy. I have also used a variety of flavors on the yogurt—vanilla, strawberry and strawberry banana have been my favorites, but any flavor would work.
Another note—you can see one of the plates has a different fish. My middle kiddo prefers fish sticks to the breaded Tilapia—it’s a little softer. Since it doesn’t require anything extra from me (I put the fish sticks on the tray with the Tilapia) I don’t mind catering to her preference a little bit on this one. But every time we eat this one, I always encourage her to try the other kind of fish. They say it takes 15-20 times for kids to accept a new food sometimes, so one of these days, I’m sure she’ll realize she loves it. The fish stick also proved a pretty good finger food for my baby to try out.
Meal:
10 oz Rainbow Smoothie
4 oz Breaded Tilapia
3/4 cup Crispy Baked Fries
¼ cup sliced cucumber
1 Tbsp Ketchup
1 Tbsp Thousand Island Dressing
Recipe Used in this meal:
Rainbow Smoothie
Serving size: 10 ounces
Servings per Recipe: 3
Ingredients
½ cup plain yogurt
½ cup flavored yogurt (any flavor)
1 cup frozen strawberries
½ cup frozen sliced peaches
½ cup frozen mango chunks
½ cup frozen blueberries
1 ½ cups fresh spinach
1 cup water
Directions
Add all ingredients to a high-powered blender
Blend till smooth, and all chunks are gone.
Serve cold.
Crispy Baked Fries
Serving Size: about 3/4 cup
Servings per Recipe: 4
Ingredients
6 potatoes
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
½ tsp Italian Seasoning
1 tsp Seasoned Salt
¼ tsp Garlic Powder
Wash and scrub potatoes. Peel if desired.
Slice into thin strips, and place in medium sauce pan.
Cover with water and boil till tender (about 6-7 minutes).
Drain water and dump potatoes into a large bag.
Add 1 Tbsp olive oil, and seasonings. Shake until well coated.
Place on foil-lined baking sheet, and broil in oven until browned and crispy (about 6-7 minutes).
Nutrition Facts Label for Entire Meal:
Nutrition Facts Label for Rainbow Smoothie:
Nutrition Facts Label for Crisp Baked Fries:
