Posted By: Stella Pike | September 17, 2020
Who else is worried about their kids’ eating habits? Apple’s smoothies are tasty alternatives for children who don’t like food. It gets better; they’re perfect for busy mornings when we cannot prepare a large breakfast.
They also present the opportunity to involve our young ones in the kitchen. Suppose we’re making smoothie apple and banana. In addition to slicing the fruits, let the children dump them in the baby food maker and power it. The best baby food maker is durable and safe for kids. So, do you want to learn how to make the perfect apple smoothie?
The ideal apple depends on the taste we’re chasing. Therefore, our fruit can either be sugary or sour. We can use sugary alternatives like Honeycrisps or Fujis if we’re sweetening our apple smoothie with just apples. Although the tartness in Ida Reds and Granny Smiths calls for sweeteners, Empires and Cortlands are milder.
We can mix different varieties in our apple smoothie for a distinct flavor. A fresh apple should be firm and free of bruises; clean, chop, and core the fruit before blending. However, we recommend keeping the skin for nutrients and a more vibrant color.
Fruits mix better frozen than fresh since the baby food maker rips fresh fruit peels rather than blend them. Freezing also increases the thickness of runny apple smoothies. What’s more, it saves us the prepping hassle whenever we thirst for an apple smoothie.
If you’re concerned about nutrients, frozen fruits are harvested at their prime making them healthy as fresh produce (or healthier if the fresh fruit is purchased out of season). We can also get the produce from the farm or grocery and refrigerate it ourselves. This entails putting our chopped fruit in freezer-safe bags. That’s better than adding ice that dilutes our apple smoothie after it melts.
The numerous veggie options unleash our imagination in the kitchen, aside from providing nutrients. Kale, for instance, supplies magnesium, iron, and calcium, in addition to vitamins C and K. Likewise, beets treat hypertension with their nitrates.
But kids might not be welcoming of the new flavor in their apple smoothie. That’s why we should go easy on the greens at the beginning. Its mild taste makes baby spinach a better introductory vegetable than bold flavors such as chard. We could also use blackberries if color is an issue. For a prominent green, however, go for pineapples and pears because of their bright flesh.
Our apple smoothie must be dense if we intend to remain full. The following ingredients will bulk up our drink.
• Oats: They supply fiber while managing our calories. There’s no rule to having an apple smoothie with oats; just throw them in raw.
• Chia Seeds: From fatty acids to antioxidants, chia seeds do more than condense our apple smoothies. We recommend leaving the seeds for a while to draw liquid from the drink.
• Avocados: They offer a silky feel without compromising taste. Avocados also meet our potassium and protein needs.
• Protein Powder: It goes beyond offering protein to thicken our smoothie. We advise blending it with some liquid beforehand to stop it from settling at the bottom of the glass.
• Nut Butters: Apart from enhancing the apple smoothie consistency, they provide fats, proteins, even magnesium. However, be wary of their calorie content. Our apple smoothie needs only one spoonful to be creamy.
The benefits of flaxseed, turmeric, and blueberries in our apple smoothie cannot be emphasized enough. But overloading your smoothie translates to excess calories. Remember, fruits have sugar that could raise our blood glucose. A measuring cup will come in handy to determine portions.
Another alternative is looking at the ingredients before they hit the blender to know our consumption. This goes together with limiting our smoothie intake. Substituting the day’s meals with apple smoothies could result in a zinc and iron deficiency.
Though they make our apple smoothie nutritious, too many leafy veggies may cause lumps. Several handfuls are enough per serving. Another trick is starting slow and subsequently raising the blender power instead of beginning at a high setting.
The smoothness can also be maintained by blending in steps. The vegetables and liquid base can go before the chilled fruit. If using ice, we’ll blend it first to crush it before throwing in the rest of the components. Since some of the apple smoothies remain on the sides and beneath the cover, letting it settle prevents wastage.
Even if other ingredients are perfect, the base can ruin our drink. That’s because the taste and nutrition depend on it. We’re spoilt for choice when it comes to this liquid.
Take the example of dairy milk. Aside from calcium, its solid flavor is necessary for masking vegetables in our apple smoothie. Its cream also has thickening properties. But we can make our apple smoothie without milk, especially if we have other protein sources. What are our base alternatives?
• Water
• Juice
• Watermelon water
• Coconut milk
• Maple water
• Rice milk
• Coconut water
Ingredients
For the apple smoothie easy recipe, we’ll need:
• 1 apple
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 cup milk
• 1 handful lettuce
Instructions
• Wash, peel, and slice the fruits (leave the apple skins)
• Put the milk in the baby food maker jar
• Add lettuce and blend
• Add fruit and blend till smooth
• Serve
Here’s why we recommend apple smoothie for babies to other family members.
• Healthier Than Juice: Unlike apple smoothies that use the whole ingredient, juices are free of fruit and vegetable pulp. Again, peeling before juicing invites oxidation and germs.
• Hydration: Apple smoothies supplement plain water in our recommended fluid intake. Furthermore, they’re better than caffeinated alternatives like tea.
• Weight Loss: Its filling quality is why you should use apple smoothie to lose weight. That way, you don’t yearn for junk food.
• Improved Digestion: Apples account for the pectin loads in an apple smoothie. The soluble fiber adds stool volume to ease colon inflammation and diarrhea.
• Protect The Brain: By triggering acetylcholine, apple smoothies enhance brain cell transmissions for sharper memory. They also prevent Alzheimer’s.
We’re not limited to a single apple smoothie recipe. This means we can add or omit ingredients according to our taste. What’s your child’s favorite smoothie? Please share it with us in the comment section below.