Pinkalicious (Raw Beet) Smoothie

(41 Months)

Little Miss is my carnivore- she loves meat.  Beef, chicken, turkey, fish (especially salmon sashimi) are her top choices after fruit and chocolate.  Wild One is my herbivore, he rarely eats meat except for salmon sashimi (that kid can put down 1/2 a pound easily).  He's eat a few pieces of steak and chicken here and there, but he prefers sweet potatoes, baby spinach, avocados, corn...  For twins, these two are as opposite as North and South.

In my ongoing quest to find new ways to introduce vegetables to Little Miss, I decided to try a raw beet smoothie.  After all it will turn out her favorite color- pink.  She loves beet pancakes and beet cupcakes, so hopefully she'll love this too.

I adapted this recipe from Fettle Vegan.

Pinkalicious (Raw Beet) Smoothie
(serves 4)

• 1 medium-large beet, peeled and chopped into quarters (or smaller if your blender requires it)
• 1 frozen, ripe banana
• 1 cup of frozen watermelon cubes (or ice, I just happened to have frozen watermelon in the fridge)
• 6 pitted dates (we always keep these in the pantry for homemade Larabars- click here for a list of our favorites)
• 1 1/2 cups of unsweetened almond milk (or whatever kind you have in your fridge)
• 1 tsp of vanilla
• 1 tsp of chia seeds (not necessary, just for an added nutritional boost)

Blend everything until very smooth.  Serve immediately.

The verdict- Little Miss: Ohhhhhh.  It's pink Mommy!  It's pink.
Wild One: Can we try it?

Little Miss had half of her tiny glass and then decided it wasn't her favorite.  Wild One downed his and his sisters and a third.  That boy loves his veggies!  I asked Little Miss why she didn't like it, and all I could get out of her was "it's not my favorite."

Although, my little carnivore didn't finish her 4 oz portion, she did at least try it and had half; which is a lot for her.  My little herbivore now has another yummy smoothie that we can add into our rotation.  Plus, thanks to my little ones, now I'm eating (and drinking) more veggies.  Before the kidabunks came along, I pretty much stayed away from most veggies.  With the kids we are eating cleaner and healthier.  I never would have thought that my little three year olds can help transform the way that I eat, but they have.  I spend most of my time at night researching healthy recipes and sharing them on Pinterest.

I love my little ones and am so grateful that I have them, even though Wild One isn't napping.