For our last cooking class of the year a few weeks ago, we threw a smoothie party.

My own children have shown me and my students have reiterated that you can add a bunch of very healthful things to a smoothie, add just the right amount of things they love, and they will slurp it all down.  Here are a few suggestions for throwing a smoothie party of your own followed by a couple of our Tribeca Yummy Mummy favorite concoctions and a recipe for a Big Apple Smoothie.

1. Buy bananas ahead of time, just as you would to make banana bread.  When they are overripe, break them in half and put them in a the freezer.  Using these overripe bananas in your smoothie, will sweeten them naturally so that you might not even want to add another sweetener.  Also, bananas tend to mellow other flavors out.
2. Add a green!  Spinach, kale, watercress?  Your mini-chef might give them the stank face when they’re heaped up on a plate, but in a smoothie, they will probably drink them up!
3. Use plain yogurt or silken tofu to give your smoothie a creamier texture.
4. Experiment with the milks you use.  Try almond, oat, or coconut milks instead of dairy sometimes.  You’ll have different flavors and different nutritional strengths with each one.
5. Like chocolate?  We buy a chocolate greens superfood powder which, when we add it to a smoothie, tastes just like cocoa powder.  Our family really loves this one by Amazing Grass (it also comes in a berry flavor which we haven’t tried because of our general devotion to chocolate), but I imagine that there are other ones out there that are just as delicious and nutritious.  This, my friends, is how you get your kids to drink broccoli.
6. Skip the protein powder.  Why?  It tastes kind of icky and gives smoothies a weird texture.  Dairy milk, almond milk, nut butters, and yogurt all have protein and don’t have that gritty texture.
7. Add a little bit of healthy oil.  Flaxseed and olive oils will blend right in without altering the flavor too much.
8. Straws make drinking things more fun.  Serve your smoothies in a special cup with a cute straw.

In our class, it was fun to just set up a bunch of options for a smoothie and have the kids throw in their favorite juices, milks, fruits, etc.  The one we made for our end of the year party was a mish-mash of flavors, but every kid drank their first serving and came back for seconds, too.  Below is a recipe for a Big Apple Smoothie, one my son really likes.  Take a look, too, at the Peanut Butter and Jelly Smoothie, my absolute favorite, that we made in a winter class session and the lighter Mamatini Smoothie with Spinach and Berries that we made with our friend C last Spring.  Do you have a favorite quick smoothie recipe?  Feel free to share it in the comments for this post.  We are always on the lookout for something new and delicious that we can drink with a straw!

Big Apple Smoothie

• 3 apples, washed, cored, cut into 1/2-inch slices and frozen
• 1 c. plain yogurt
• 1 stalk of celery, washed and with the ends cut off
• 1 -2 T. fresh mint, washed and chopped
• 1 c. apple juice (if you like a more frozen smoothie, pour the juice into an ice cube tray and freeze)
• 1 T. honey or agave (optional)

1. To an unplugged blender, measure and add all the ingredients.
2. Place the top on the blender and plug the blender in.
3. Liquify.
4. Pour, add a straw to your cup, and enjoy!