Incorporating Goodness

So what do you do to incorporate goodness into the active toddler/preschooler diet when they don't like to eat? You serve them smoothies! If you have kids like mine who don't particularly eat much and are very particular, you have to be sneaky about serving their required nutrients...and it's been working! The boys like the smoothies! Lately, I've been experimenting with smoothies, adding and changing the different fruits that go into one. I also add either skim milk powder and/or flax oil and/or a natural powdered supplement. Sometimes I add yogurt for a calcium boost. I usually involve my kids in making and blending the drink, so that they're interested in drinking it. Here they are drinking a Peach Smoothie. The recipe: 1 frozen banana, 2 small containers of fruit yogurt, 2 peaches stoned, peeled and cut, 3/4 cup water, and 1 tablespoon skim milk powder. This recipe makes enough for my two little guys and a small serving for mom too. I've also tried lychee, pineapple, mango and blueberries in the smoothies. So far, I think the favourite is still the strawberry, banana combo (without the yogurt). I have yet to try avocado in a smoothie, but I hear it thickens one right up with a rich, creamy texture while adding some very good fat into it. Other ideas we've tried, just to add a little more nutrition into my boys' diet, include adding ground flax seed into Rice Krispie treats and oatmeal, almond butter into sandwiches, and simply a variety of different foods served in different ways. For example, D loves cambozola cheese spread on sliced baguette and R loves turkey sausages, cut up of course, and served using toothpicks. Does anyone know other clever ways of incorporating healthy foods into the diet of hard-to-please children? I need as much help as possible.