Nutrition boost (or rather, I am riddled with Mommy guilt and have found a small way to reduce said guilt)

Left to my own devices I would probably never have tried to make my meals more nutrient dense but since I have kids and therefore Mommy guilt, I have been known to find ways to sneak in a little extra nutrition to food my kids will actually eat. 

Before your eyes start to glaze over in a haze of "Oh here we go, another diet lecture" let me say this:

I promise I will NEVER lecture anyone on how they "should" eat.  I am still battling with my life long weight struggle and have been told by many people what I "should" do and having suffered this myself, I would never, ever dream of telling others what they should do.  I have days where the kids eat carbs, cheese, yogurt and sugar without a vegetable in sight, but on the days I have a little extra time or fore sight, I try to do what I can.

My 4 year old son will eat just about anything or at least try things.  Our issue with him is that he will eat waaaay beyond the point of being full, a physiological trait he has no doubt been unlucky enough to inherit from me.  My 2 year old son can survive on goldfish and yogurt for days.  He is the reason I started having to be sneaky.  One of his very favorite breakfast meals is a Smoothie.  Everyone has their own smoothie recipes I'm sure, but this is how I make Ian's and I smugly admit I feel like I've pulled one over on him every time he gulps it down. 

Sneaky Smoothie (or: The Green one!)

In a blender: (this seemed glaringly obvious to mention but never the less...)
1 banana
5-6 strawberries
2 cubes of spinach puree **
1/2 cup frozen mango or peaches

1/2 cup 0% M.F Greek Yogurt (I like Liberte brand, less bitter than other's I've tried and the 0% also has NO sugar and HIGH protein)

I use a bit of liquid Stevia to sweeten this but you could use honey or sugar.

1 tbsp. ground flax seed (I have a little coffee grinder on the counter I use for grinding flax seed, this is an easy boost to sneak into pancakes, muffins, smoothies etc.)

appox 1 cup of milk, pour some milk in, get blender going and if it needs more, add more until it's a consistency you like. 

A tip-blueberry's are good too BUT, purple smoothie is a lot harder to clean up and get out of clothes and if your kids are like mine, it's not if they spill, it's when.

** A note on Purees:  I have cooked up and pureed several veggies and I freeze them in icecube trays and then dump in a ziploc bag.  This allows me to sneak in a nutrient boost to other things too.  For example, sweet potato or Butternut squash in a grilled chees or in Kraft dinner. HOWEVER, please don't get the idea I'm always boosting their food.  I do it when I can, I try to make the effort but all parents know some days we just get by never mind the sweet potato!

Happy Cooking!