I’ve been sharing a ton of daily nutrition hacks & recommendations for kids and toddlers on my Instagram Stories lately. My Elderberry Blast Smoothie was a hit so I figured I’d share the recipe here. 
Just to clarify, here is a quick breakdown of how many servings of vegetable children should consume based on their age:
If this sounds like a lot of leafy greens and peas to expect a picky little eater to eat without a fight, keep in mind, that one cup can be spread throughout the day in multiple meals. Your kids don’t have to down their recommended servings in a single sitting. Save yourself the trouble…trust me! 😂
This elderberry smoothie is the only way I can get my toddler to eat his leafy greens & take elderberry on a daily basis. UPDATE: 1 year later, our little guy still passes on the greens in his plate but will eat just about any other veggie we serve him. The key to getting our kiddos to try different foods is exposure, exposure, exposure. As long as we expose our kids to a variety of foods, we’ve done our job. Even if they don’t eat it!
Just a quick note: I use homemade elderberry syrup in this recipe. I wouldn’t advise using store bought elderberry as some may contain alcohol or other preservatives in them. I also cannot guarantee store bought would taste just as good as homemade in my recipe either. You can check out my Elderberry Syrup Recipe here.
Both the greens & elderberry go undetected. Adding our elderberry syrup is genius because he’s now getting the immune boosting health benefits daily plus it enhances the berry flavor..win win!
Elderberry also works as a great natural seasonal allergy combatant. Both of our boys suffer from seasonal allergies so this smoothie plus elderberry syrup is on heavy rotation.
Elderberry contains flavonoids that can reduce inflammation of the mucous membranes. When you sweeten homemade elderberry syrup with local honey it helps your immune system to adjust to pollen local to the area in which you live. Think about it like this, bees collect pollen from the local flowers and trees, which allows you to introduce your immune system to the local pollen sources. Your immune system slowly adjusts (much like an allergy shot) and develops immunity.
We use frozen banana + homemade hemp milk as our base. To give this smoothie a nutritional/health boost, I add superfoods like frozen wild blueberries, chia seeds, hulled hemp seeds and pumpkin seeds. You and/or your child can easily meet the RDV amount (recommended daily value) for essential vitamins and minerals such as magnesium, fiber, iron, potassium and protein in one serving. You can easily swap out plant-milk bases for coconut water. Just make sure it’s sourced organically and pure coconut water (no added sugars or preservatives).
Cool huh? What’s even better is that frozen wild blueberries have way more antioxidants than traditional blueberries. This translates to preventing disease & oxidative stress at the cellular level.
I also use flavors like ceylon cinnamon and vanilla to give it the perfect balance of sweetness. Remember, ceylon cinnamon, or “true cinnamon”, has the most health benefits and is less likely to be toxic on the liver than traditional or “cassia” cinnamon.
This smoothie is not only nutritious but it’s extremely filling and makes for a great breakfast or mid-morning snack. By adding the leafy greens, I don’t have to worry I feel guilty that my son is bypassing them in his plate right now. It’s definitely a phase that he will outgrow but in the meantime….he is drinking his plants! 😂
Here’s the recipe:
Do your kids give you a hard time when it comes to eating their veggies? Let me know if you try my recipe! Feel free to pin this recipe to Pinterest as well!
-Healthy Hair To Toe
