I love making my own juice and smoothies, even though it can take a bit of effort. Over the years, I’ve tried to cut down on the work by buying a juice that’s really easy to clean and sticking to a few basic recipes that don’t cost an arm and a leg. Smoothies and fresh juice are a great way to get in your daily serving of fruits and veggies without having to eat a plate of steamed or raw produce, and they’re also good on the go and for families with toddlers.

Making Toddler-Friendly Smoothies
Have you seen those nifty little pouches in the grocery store that are filled with baby food and applesauce? Well, now you can actually buy reusable versions of these online and they are the absolute best way to get your toddler to drink smoothies. They’re dishwasher and freezer safe and are also BPA, PVC, and phthalate free.

To make toddler-friendly smoothies, all you need are a few basic ingredients and a blender. A popular recipe is a banana-strawberry recipe made with:
•    2.5 c. plain Greek yogurt
•    2 bananas
•    2 c. strawberries
•    4 c. torn kale leaves
•    Juice from ½ lime or lemon
•    A little bit of milk or water to thin the mixture if needed.
Simply blend these ingredients together and then bag them up in the reusable pouches. Or, you can also store it in a mason jar in the freezer if you have extra. To thaw, just put the pouches or the jar in the fridge overnight or for a few hours. If your kids are picky about the tart taste, you can start off by using flavored yogurt instead of plain.

Toddler-Friendly Juices
Making your own juice is pretty easy too, if you have a good juicer. I use the Breville BJE200XL Compact Juice Fountain 700-Watt Juice Extractor because it’s less expensive than the larger version and it still has a ton of power. Also, despite being the smaller version, it’s not small at all and it’s super easy to clean, which is why I got it in the first place. Since you’re only adding veggies and fruit, your juice will only have natural sugar, which is great for toddlers. Try this popular recipe that has inexpensive ingredients and is tasty for both adults and kids alike:
•    1 granny smith apple
•    ½ large cucumber
•    1 handful of spinach leaves
•    ¼ in. cube of ginger
•    1/8 lemon
Go ahead and scale this recipe up. This amount of produce will only make enough juice for one serving for one toddler. With the juicer I use, I can juice up to 4 apples, 1 bag of carrots, and 2 oranges at a time before having to clean it out and dump the juice into another storage carton.

Fuentes, L. (n.d.). Homemade fruit pouches / smoothies for school lunches.MOMables Real Food Healthy School Lunch Meal Ideas Kids Will LOVE.
Robinson, B. (2013, January 7). 10 fresh juice and smoothie recipes kids will love.Disney Baby.