To think that my children really will eat better if i buy a nutra bullet type machine?

[ferriswheel]

Im really trying to cut down on the crap we are all eating at home, and improve the variety of food we are all trying.

Tonight i gave my eldest a recipe book and asked him to choose 3 new recipes and one he chose was a smoothie.

I have a hand blender but love the idea of us all devouring beetroot, kale and puy lentil smoothies or something like that.

Has anyone else upped their families vitamin intake successfully like this?

My ninjas blades at the top.. Easiest thing ever to clean I love mine, do soups in it Nd the odd smoothie

Easy to clean, just rinse after use

I use my NB often. I make a banana, oat, raw nut and soya milk smoothy for breakfast quite often and it's delicious. I wouldn't normally eat raw nuts. I make fruit smoothies with hidden spinach, kale or carrot for DC, and use it to blend tomatoes for pasta sauce, or onions for curry.
I've also used it to turn normal sugar into caster sugar, and grind coffee beans.

I don't find it difficult to wash at all.

How big is your kitchen?

Unless you got a decent, permanent space for stuff like that, then 9/10 they just end up gathering dust on top of the fridge as it's too much faff to get it out and find somewhere on the worksurface for it every time you want to use it.

My DSis got one and went on and on about how great it was ... whizzing up beetroot, carrots, nuts, etc ... we got one and it has been used less that half a dozen times. My DS would rather eat an apple than have it whizzed up with a banana, and the veggie ones were vile. I'd rather eat the stuff than drink it.

I think it's a bad idea for several reasons. 1) Fruit and veg are better for you unblended 2) It's probably no less hassle than any other kind of food prep 3) You may not like veg smoothies 4) From what you say, the important thing is ditching the crap, not drinking smoothies

We've had ours years, and although DP was reluctant at first due to the price he has got the most use out of it and uses it most days for either smoothies or soup. Really came into its own with weaning DD as you can adjust how lumpy the texture is and could bung in what we were having to make varied purees. 18 month old DD happily drinks green smoothies with kale and spinach, with pineapple or kiwi to sweeten, but she is happy to eat most things as they are too. Yes whole foods are better than juice, but some children are fussy and it's better juice/smoothie than nothing plant based at all. We have definitely got our money's worth and I'll buy another if the current one packs up.

Smoothies aren’t the best way to eat fruit as the blending breaks down the sugars in it making it less healthy ( or something like that ) . The only way I can stop my kids eating crap is by not buying it . Or buying it and hiding it so only I eat it 😝

If your focus is on sugars then obviously vast amounts of fruit in one go aren’t a great idea. However, in order to get vitamins and minerals into your self DCs then breaking them down helps you to absorb them better. So all the ‘grapes are as bad as haribo’ brigade would do well to avoid them. Those of us in the real world who understand that there is a balance to strike between healthy and delicious, a line which a smoothie straddles nicely, crack on.

Thank you for all of your wise words. Reckon ill just bash on with my hand blender.

And for the less wise and unkind words, well a few months ago your criticism would have made me cry. So even if ive not yet got my children begging for steamed kale at breakfast time i have at least got more strength to cope than ive had previously.

Im sure your kale thrives in the glass house in which you surely grow it!

Bit defensive OP. Smoothies aren't a replacement for real food, which needs chewing. You're better off eating fruit than smoothies. You may as well drink some sugar. Just because some of us cook actual food doesn't mean we only eat kale.

Blending everything is a ridiculous way to eat, unless there's something wrong with your teeth.

Just a heads up that they should be drunk with a straw to mini ize dental decay in children. Juicing/NB'ing wrecked my dc's teeth when I thought I was doing the right thing [sadface]

but it's not all about the sugar MrsFantastic

My kids eat Kitkats and biscuits and plenty of sugary crap, they just do and I'm ok with that, because they also eat broccoli and apples and meat and all the other stuff on the menu.

If they choose a smoothie for pudding instead of a biscuit to get the same amount of sugar from something that also has B vitamins, minerals and (if including avocados/nuts etc) good fats too, it seems like a good choice to many of us.

If you're the type whose kids only have water or milk and never drink squash or fruit juice due to the sugar, then obviously smoothies won't appeal to you.

If you're the type of parent who thinks food is for enjoying, its not just fuel, but you also want your kids to be healthy (which covers more than sugar and calories, it includes getting all the right micro nutrients, which are easily absorbed in when blended) smoothies are ideal.

Agree with other posters, the veggie smoothies are really not great but I tend to have apples, banana, spinach and peanut butter which is delicious. Spiralina is also very good for you.

We use ours with things like strawberries, bananas and Almond/Oat/Soya/Coconut milk, we add honey and things to it.

Im sure your kale thrives in the glass house in which you surely grow it!

Smoothies aren't going to kill your kids but the chances of you still lovingly blending fruit smoothies after a few months is low, because frankly, its a massive ballache.

I considered doing smoothies for my two, but instead took to serving cauliflower rice and bribing them with chocolate to finish their food (they can't tell it's cauliflower rice, suckers). Worked a treat and means I don't have lots of rotting fruit I have to do stuff with. I'm also happy with bribery...

Bit defensive op

At one of the veru low lows during the end of my marriage i fed my kids whatever i could find that was edible drom my supermarket shop. Then walked around the foyer of the supermarket whilst they ate it.

I think im fair in my defence.

Its astonishing how my question created a prelude to the accusations that ive managed now to brush off.

I dont usually say but my inquiry was about a smoothie blender, not a slush puppy machine.

Why don't you get a soup maker? You can easily make some really tasty and healthy soups - they'll get lots of veg and you won't be filling them with sugar. It will also help make your life easier; the food prep is minimal and it just cooks away itself. Our favourites are butternut squash soup and sweet potato, coconut and chilli soup. Chuck some bread on the table with it and it's a cheap, yummy dinner with goodness in it!

Another trick I use - tomato sauce on everything! Chicken, lamb, pasta - whatever. And you can make tonnes at once then freeze it in portions to just heat up and pour over dinner. Get a tin of chop up an onion and a few cloves of garlic, fry in a little oil, add a tin of chopped tomatoes, a big handful of frozen mushrooms, frozen bell peppers, frozen beetroot and a couple of carrots. Add 250ml of stock. Simmer until the frozen stuff is soft then pour all into a blender and blend. Heat through, season and you're done. Loads of veg and tasty - pour it over any meat or green veg with pasta or whatever. Much nicer than some veg smoothies!

I actually use mine so much it is left plugged in on the kitchen side. I do cook nearly all meals from scratch though. It's brilliant for making sauces as you can add veg into it. Good for mixing batter (I am lazy I know). Also good for making smoothies (you can freeze them into lolly's for the summer too)

Also to clean I put in some tap water and turn it on. It cleans the blades and the 'cup' part in seconds. As in rinses off any sauce. Then you just dip it in the sink and give it a quick wipe or chuck it in the dishwasher. Really no need to be cleaning under blades ect just make sure you 'clean' it like this straight after use.

my inquiry was about a smoothie blender, not a slush puppy machine.

makes me want to buy a slush puppy machine - and a soda stream - just to piss off the holier than thou anti-smoothie brigade!

There's nothing wrong with smoothies! Are the people slagging them thinking of juicers??

I went past a shop the other day that had slush puppy syrup in the window (might have been "the works").

Agnes - the reason smoothies are a bigger sugar hit is because you've taken off the peel etc and broken down the structures so your body doesn't have to do it. It therefore goes in as much more simple sugar and hits your body more quickly. When I had GD, my diabetes dr described it as being like "taking the wrapping paper off the present"! Same goes for orange juice or apple juice and it's why I just don't have them any more, ever 😭😭😭

OP - if you used it once or twice a month, say for sunday morning brunch, would you think it was worth it? That might be more likely than expecting to do it every day? You can also use blenders to make lovely soups or real treat drinks, say an ice cream milkshake.

In terms of veggie smoothies, you could always buy a couple of ready made ones first to see if you like the taste?

We've got the Ninja. It's plugged in permanently next to the cooker, so I remember to use it. Like PPs, I don't like the green/vege drinks, but like fruit smoothies, and use it to pulse nuts and sauces.

Probably wouldn't replace it if it broke down tomorrow tho.