Having kids eating right at a young age is so important. I like to compare feeding children nutrient dense foods at a young age to building a home with a good foundation. You won’t want to build a house without a strong foundation or else you will run into a lot of problems. The same concept applies to kids. It’s super important while they are growing and developing to educate them and feed them the right kinds of foods. It’s funny because living in America, most kids are malnourished yet overweight. Eating empty calories loaded with refined carbohydrates and sugars.
I love partnering with brands and products I believe in Iron Will Kids mission is to create a generation of empowered kids who use their voice in the fight against childhood obesity, igniting a chain reaction of healthy living. They do this through nutrition education programs that were created in collaboration with Columbia University and are currently being implemented in schools and organizations throughout 10 states servicing over 5000 students
They started the “show me your #smoothiestash” campaign in an effort to make healthy eating fun. Olympic runners, high school teams, college teams , parents and families have all participated.– Even me!
Here is one of Iron Will Kids smoothie recipes they shared with me and now I can share it with you!
Iron Will Kids Purple Berry Blast Smoothie:
Serves 5
- 2 cups blueberries (frozen)
- 2 large ripe bananas
- 1/2 cup spinach
- 3 cups vanilla unsweetened almond or rice milk
- 3-4 dates
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Place all ingredients into a blender. Blend on high speed for at least one minute until smooth and serve! You can refrigerate leftovers.
I wanted to make my own Iron Will Kids smoothie, this smoothie is nut free in case kids wanted to take it to school where nut free rules might be in place. I love the richness you get from almond butter in a smoothie and of course the essential healthy fats that come along with it. But keeping it nut free I decided to go with avocado to replace the nut butter. It not only added a ton of nutrients including potassium which actually has more potassium than bananas. It made this smoothie so thick and creamy, almost like ice cream! You can even eat it with a spoon!
It’s all about how you market this smoothie so I call this the “Mighty Green Hulk Smoothie”. What kid wouldn’t want to dive into that? I always hear parents complain they don’t have enough time to eat breakfast or can’t find the time to eat all the fruits and vegetables they should be eating. This is a great recipe because you can blend it up and enjoy it with your kids. I want to see your smoothie stash! Here is an Iron Will Kids Smoothie! A great smoothie recipe that adults and kids can enjoy! 
- 1 cup spinach or any leafy green
- 2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
- 2 cups frozen or fresh mango (pineapple works as well)
- 1 banana
- 1/2 green apple
- 1/2 avocado
- 1/2 cup ice
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 1 tablespoon ground flaxseeds
- 1 tablespoon raw cacao powder – this will give it a chocolate flavor
- 1 tablespoon hemp seeds
- In a high speed blender blend your spinach and water until smooth leaving you with a green liquid and no chunks
- Add your remaining ingredients- mango, banana, green apple, avocado and ice (and any superfood you would like to add)
- Blend until smooth
Now show me your stash! and tag a friend! I tag all of you—–get blending hashtag #smoothiestash and tag me (@runningonveggies) so I can see them!
Nom Nom…Thanks for sharing friend! XOXO
Sounds delicious. If I wanted to use almond butter instead of avocado, how many tablespoons would I use?
I love smoothies with avocado! So creamy and creates major staying power!
Have you done a blog post on protein powder? I’d love your thoughts on it! It’s super processed but I love adding it to so many things to bump up protein wihtout too many calories.