I am constantly trying to figure out how to get fruits and veggies into my kiddos in ways that they get excited about. School Lunch Smoothies are a great way to do just that! My girls get so excited about these, and like them so much that I make lots of extras for them to grab a quick after- school snack from the freezer.
I linked some smoothie recipes below, but honestly, I just throw in whatever frozen fruit we have in our freezer. I always include banana or peach, each give a nice thick base for the smoothie. I try to add greens whenever possible, a couple big handfuls will do. Usually it is spinach, as it is the most mild tasting green. These smoothies had one frozen banana, about a cup each of frozen blueberries, pineapple & strawberries, and spinach.
I then add almond milk and blend until desired consistency. I never measure. I just add milk until I see a cortex in the middle, as in the picture below. That is when you know you have a great smoothie consistency. Sometimes I add protein powder (love this one by Plant Fusion), sometimes I add chia, sometimes I add hemp seed or oats. Or not. Smoothies are very forgiving.
The above smoothie is a pretty safe purple color. I usually don’t send my
go-to green smoothie to school with my girls. We drink it at home as an afternoon snack instead. My girls don’t really enjoy the attention they get at school when drinking green, kids have quite the reactions to green smoothies! Despite the color, my girls love how they taste.
Click Here for our Everyday Green Smoothie recipe.
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Ball Plastic Containers}
I only use plastic containers for our lunch boxes. (
Click here to see what lunch box and containers we use.) Everything else I store in glass ball jars. These plastic
containers from Ball are really, REALLY convenient and the perfect size. The have screw on lids to prevent spilling, and the cups stack into each other so nicely, which is great for the freezer.
They thaw just enough by lunch time into the perfect cold smoothie consistency. Make sure to pack a straw!
These are awesome timesavers. If all your smoothie cups are full of frozen smoothie, just divide the fruit into baggies and they will be ready for you when you are!
I’ve started a smoothie Pinterest board for awesome smoothie inspiration! How about you? Do you have any favorites to share?
tBHH
September 25, 2012 at 8:23 pmI love the pre-bagged smoothie idea. And thanks to you, I use chia seeds all the time! Thanks Amy!
Amy Bowman
September 27, 2012 at 9:23 pmAwesome~ Chia is such a great easy way to get health into our diets. Thanks for letting me know.
Sarah Manlupig
September 21, 2012 at 4:43 pmI send my kids in glass, however they go to montessori school and it is pretty normal. I love sending them smoothies in their luch, however I’ve recently fallen off the bandwagon, thanks for the inspiration.
Amy Bowman
September 27, 2012 at 9:24 pmI’m nervous about the glass breaking…it probably would be fine!
Kathy Robbins
September 21, 2012 at 5:35 amSoooo Creative! Congratulations! You have received a blogging award. I nominated you for the Reader’s Appreciation Award because of your wonderful posts that I have enjoyed following. For more information about this award, see:
http://robbinswrites.blogspot.com/2012/09/blog-award-and-lacy-underwear.html
Again, congratulations, and keep on keeping on with the great work!
Kathy
Amy Bowman
September 27, 2012 at 9:23 pmAww..thanks Kathy. So kind!
Lee Ann
September 21, 2012 at 3:55 amWe do the same thing except I bought these this year. http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-431-4-Piece-Silicone-Maker/dp/B0036B9KHO My kids love them, and they love the “cool” factor of kids asking about them at school.
Amy Bowman
September 27, 2012 at 9:22 pmohhh…those ARE cool! Thanks for sharing.
Rebecca
September 20, 2012 at 7:28 pmI love the idea of freezing all the fruit in one bag!!
ps…I agree on the link thing…I prefer to be able to close the page from the link and end up back on your blog. : )
Natalie
September 20, 2012 at 6:51 pmLove it! Planning on doing this with my kids. They love smoothies as well.
*side note, you may want to change your links so they open in a new window instead of leaving your blog?
Amy Bowman
September 27, 2012 at 9:21 pmthanks for that suggestion…I will from this point on!