Some kid-friendly competition…

Today we had a “Smoothie Off” with some friends and it was so much fun!

Here is how it worked: Each challenger (child) had to come up with their own smoothie concoction. Then, everyone would taste test each one and rank (on a scale of 1-10) according to preference. In the end, the smoothie with the most points won!

Here’s where the taste testing and ratings battle ground took place…

We must have had over 20 ingredients for the smoothies! There are so many different things you can use but some of our basics included coconut milk, coconut water and coconut oil, almond milk, avocados, berries and other fruit, nut butters, raw cacao, honey, stevia, vanilla, cinnamon and chia seeds.

One of our goals was to make “fat smoothies”. Kids need good fats for brain development and growth so we wanted to find smoothies the kids liked but also add some healthy fats to each one.

Here’s how it started with some less than optimistic eyes on the first smoothie. Well, except for sweet Hayes guzzling his down…

The kids really got into making their own…

And more so, I think they enjoyed using a loud, somewhat dangerous handheld tool, especially the boys!

Let’s start with Brown’s smoothie which included:

strawberry, handful
raspberry, handful
banana, 1 banana
chia seeds, 1 tbsp
coconut milk, 1/2 can
honey, 1+ tbsp (I think)
ice, handful

This next one actually came in first place! It’s called the Raspberry Lime Smoothie and it is made from, well, you guess most of it:

juice from 1 lime
handful of frozen raspberries (Trader Joe’s has organic frozen ones. They make for a great snack alone too!)
coconut water (to almost the top of the berries but about an inch below)
some honey (about 1 tbsp)
handful of ice
almond milk (60 calorie) optional

They loved it!

Next was the Super Chocolate Almond smoothie:

avocado, 2 tbsp (kids never knew it was there)
coconut oil, 1 tbsp
almond butter, 1/4 cup
honey, about 1-2 tbsp
stevia, 5-10 drops
cacao, 1 tbsp
coconut milk, 1 cup
70 % cacao dark chocolate chips, handful
ice, handful

Helen’s Berry Fun smoothie included:

strawberries, handful
cinnamon,a dash
coconut oil, 1 tbsp
chia seeds, 1 tbsp
honey, 1 tbsp
coconut water (to just below the fruit line)
ice, hanful

Then lastly we had what we called the Chocolate Covered Strawberry smoothie. It included:

some (low sugar, 7 grams per serving) coconut chocolate milk (could also use Justin’s chocolate nut butter)
strawberries
raspberries
blueberries
coconut oil
honey, 1+ tbsp
ice, handful

And then the rankings for the five smoothies. Looking good, huh?! I think Helen was just plain hungry…

Overall, I have to say the competition was a success! They all did great and honestly, they all tasted delicious. And for me and Ann, not only did we find out what the kids loved, but we also learned that you can add in avocado and/or coconut oil (if you use Spectrum that has virtually no coconut smell or taste) in all of these smoothies to give the kids some extra goodness.

As I’ve said before with the kids, it’s about making food fun, getting them involved, and then of course using yummy wholesome ingredients! Thanks Ann, Brown, Helen and Hayes for this great idea! Everyone was a winner today!!