I’m about 35 week pregnant and on Monday the 19th my pre-term labor started, also known as Braxton-Hicks. We weren’t sure if that was labor but after 24 hours of consistent and regular contractions my husband and I decided to go to the hospital.
It seemed we made the right decision. I was in labor but because my doctors wanted to keep that baby inside me for at least one more week they gave me a shot that stopped my contractions and advised me to stay in bed for the next few days.
Though, it’s really hard to stay in bed or sit on the sofa while there are still so many things to do and with the laundry basket is calling my name.
Since we came back from the hospital I’ve had a few minor contractions but nothing really big and painful. I try to do less. I try to be more lazy. I try to enjoy this time. (Even though I’m having contractions now and then while writing this post 🙂
The only thing that I haven’t changed in my schedule is making my morning spinach smoothie.
A month ago, my doctor prescribed iron supplements, and since then I’ve also increased iron in my diet a little. I tried to bring some of these changes into the family diet but my husband is too stubborn and spinach or beets are too much for his taste buds.
Some of you may remember my post about what a picky eater my daughter used to be. These days, she still has particular taste buds, like her father, but it’s nothing compared to what it used to be. She even likes my spinach smoothies. Sometimes she eats more, sometimes less. It depends on her mood and on the ingredients I use. They are not always the same.
Last time I made a spinach smoothie, I let her play around the table where I was taking pictures for my blog post. On the table was fresh spinach, my smoothie and a few strawberries.
She watched me for a while and after that she started playing with the spinach and feeding it to our dog.
When she saw that we both were interested in that spinach—me by taking pictures and moving it around and our dog by trying to figure out what to do with this green and tasteless thing—she wanted to try it, too.
She ate a few leaves and she shared her smoothie with me. I don’t know if she will do it again but I was really happy that my Little One enjoyed some fresh spinach and nobody had to force her to eat it.
I actually am quite liberal when it comes to her eating habits. She is 21-months-old but often I let her pick what she wants to eat and not having a sweet tooth she always picks a fruit, yogurt, milk or Cheerios, never things like cookies. From an infant who didn’t want to have anything to do with milk today she is a milkaholic…
Many times she does not want to eat what I cook but there is no special treatment for picky eaters in our home. With both her and my husband being a little bit too picky for my taste, the rule is simple:
“I try to make something that I think you’ll like but if for some reason you don’t like it… well… you have to get through it or make yourself a sandwich.”
Sometimes she goes hungry for a while if she doesn’t like what we are all eating at the dinner table and it seems like she is OK with that. After we are done with dinner she patiently waits for her next meal which is a fruit or a yogurt right before bed.
I’m happy to see then, since I’ve started making all kinds of smoothies for breakfast, that my daughter has gotten more open to different flavors, and I know that she gets the nutrition her little body needs to grow healthy and strong.
For moms who want to try to make spinach smoothie for themselves or their kids, here is the recipe:
- 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt (can be substituted with almond milk)
- 1 orange, juiced
- 1/4 cup pineapple (fresh or canned)
- 1 banana
- 1/3 cup pomegranate juice
- 1/4 chia seeds
- handful baby spinach
Using blender mix everything together and enjoy!
Tip: The smoothie tastes better when chilled before serving. Both the almond milk and pomegranate juice can be frozen into ice cubes the night before using them.
How about your kids, do they like healthy food and different kinds of greens or do you have to use tricks to make them eat it?
This is an original post to World Moms Blog from Polish Mom Photographer from California. You can also find her blogging at Mom Photographer.
The photographs used in this post are credited to the author.
Ewa Samples
Ewa was born, and raised in Poland. She graduated University with a master's degree in Mass-Media Education. This daring mom hitchhiked from Berlin, Germany through Switzerland and France to Barcelona, Spain and back again! She left Poland to become an Au Pair in California and looked after twins of gay parents for almost 2 years. There, she met her future husband through Couch Surfing, an international non-profit network that connects travelers with locals. Today she enjoys her life one picture at a time. She runs a photography business in sunny California and document her daughters life one picture at a time. You can find this artistic mom on her blog, Ewa Samples Photography, on Twitter @EwaSamples or on Facebook!
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Really enjoyed your Interesting Blog on the Spinach Smoothies etc, my daughter is expecting her 1st Baby our 1st Grandchild this July 2012.. Good luck with your pregnancy, I will be passing on your advice to my daughter…. Dee
congrats to your daughter. expecting 1st is so exciting (and scary). I think that the best thing in being a new parent is not to panic. I did that a few times and every single time it wasn’t worth it.
Wow, that sounds like a great recipe for a spinach smoothie 🙂
I will try it out too sometime.
It is really good. These days I add spinach to almost any smoothie I make (maybe not the chocolate one.lol). Great thing about spinach is that it’s almost tasteless in those smoothies and so easy to hide… the only thing is that the smoothie is green 🙂
My twin son and daughter have very different food preferences despite getting the exact same food as babies when I steamed and pureed all their food and never once bought jarred baby food, not even when we traveled (my chance to brag just a little). My daughter loves fruits and vegetables, even my sauteed spinach with lemon and garlic. My son loves carbs and meat. Of course, both love ice cream! They started getting picky after they turned 2yo but my husband and I stick to the rule that if they don’t want to eat what we offer, then they don’t eat at all, and we find that after waiting (or throwing a tantrum) for several minutes, they begin to eat what’s in front of them. So I guess my suggested trick is wait it out (wear earplugs!). If they’re hungry enough, they’ll eat. We also keep very regular meal and snack schedules, no eating in between, which I think helps them build up an appetite to eat what we provide.
My husband found a great web-site related to this topic that might be useful to everyone: http://www.raisehealthyeaters.com/. See her post “The 10 Essentials for Raising Happy Eaters”. And thank you so much for the spinach smoothie recipe! Be well and STAY IN BED ;D
The thing is that even with previous experience in carrying for small kids I panicked when my daughter started her “being picky” period. There was a time that she didn’t want to eat almost anything. I got mad, I got upset, I got scared but we worked that through, though and if the same happens with the second one I won’t be so scared anymore. Our daughter used to have tantrums when she didn’t want to eat what’s on the table and she wanted something else but that passed because we ignored her behaviour. These days she simply understands that she doesn’t have to eat BUT she won’t get anything else… and she is totally fine with it 🙂
Today I made lentils and brown rice for dinner. It was successful — you never know, right?
Since having my second child I rely a lot on frozen vegetables. I know fresh is better, but I also think we eat a lot more vegetables because we always have a selection of frozen on hand — peas, green beans, wax beans, lima beans, carrots, broccoli, corn, etc. Also, the preparation is so quick.
I like to make greens every week or so using a bag of frozen collard greens, and a bag of frozen mixed leafy greens in water that I have already boiled and removed turkey bacon. The more my husband and I eat that, it has become more familiar and my older daughter will eat the greens. She will eat raw spinach if we call it dinosaur greens.
We definitely don’t make enough smoothies and this is something that my older daughter would enjoy doing — thanks for the recipe!
I hope all goes well, and I am rooting for you in the birth of your new baby!! Good luck and best wishes!!
Jen 🙂
A few days back I made mixed beans&brown rice patties in tomatoe sauce and my daughter gobbled it up. I was SO surprised, I couldn’t believed. I was happy because it showed that my patience and consistency in not giving up on her is paying off now. Many times when she doesn’t like something the first or second time I just keep giving it to her every time I make it and many times she eats it after all 🙂
Jennifer, I think that frozen veggies are much better than veggies that are bought fresh but kept in the fridge for a few days. Frozen kept their nutrients MUCH longer. The same with fruits. I use many frozen fruits in my smoothies and they work great! I though, use much too less collard greens and beans in my cooking. They intimidate me. Lately I’ve been cooking more with beans more often but still not enough, I think.
hugs,
I’ve found that an easy time to use beans is whenever I’m doing something with chopped meat. Like for example, I sautéed ground turkey, pinto beans and frozen corn with apple sauce and dried rosemary. Or, if I want to make taco meat, I use an all natural taco seasoning and I add black beans to my ground beef.
I have trouble finding other ways to get more beans in our diet besides just eating them as they are!
Great job on continuing to introducing your daughter to new, nutritious foods!
That is good news about the frozen fruits and veggies.
You should give collard greens a whirl in your smoothie. Each different green packs a different punch of good things, so mixing up different types of green is a good idea. But, of course, easier said than done!
Keep me updated on your recipes that your daughter likes!
Jen 🙂
I am just making chili with ground turkey in it. If I knew it earlier I would’ve used your advice and add some beans. Will do it next time. Thank you, Jennifer.
Great post! I LOVE green smoothies and it is an almost daily part of our diet (although for some reason when I was pregnant with baby 2 I could’t stand them! But now its back to normal! 🙂
As for my kids, they both love green smoothies. My son’s (7 1/2) favorites are spinach-banana-honey-flax and plantain-passion fruit-mint-flax; my daughter’s (13 months) favorite is banana-mint-sesame. I will try your recipe, it sounds great!
I wish you well with the baby – I hope everything goes as you desire!
I’m glad you liked this post ! And thank you for your kind words.
You know, I can’t stand many things I normally eat when I am not pregnant 🙂
Your passion fruit-mint smoothie sounds SO DELICIOUS!!! I add mint to my smoothies as well. It’s so refreshing!
I’ve noticed that my daughter preferes her smoothies with banana in it. I think because its more sweet and she is very familiar with banana taste. she LOVES bananas in general.
Today I made yougurt-avocado-apple-kiwi smoothie and she wasn’t a big fan of it, but I gobbled it up like it was the best dish on the Earth and with the leftovers I made a facial mask (AVOCADO and YOUGURT are great for our skin).
I always wish I had time to make smoothies in the morning. They are so delicious and nutritious. Your idea of using frozen fruit might help speed up the process in the morning – I’ll have to give that a whirl. As for my kids, they generally eat pretty healthy. My daughter will always chose to first eat anything that is green on her plate, although she doesn’t like beans. My son was generally not picky as a baby, but became pickier as a toddler, usually centered around texture (he doesn’t like anything mushy, like avocado). He also will not try something again, if he had a bad experience with it once. I like the idea, of not giving in and giving them different food if they don’t like it. I usually make enough side dishes, that everyone has something that they will eat on the table, but occasionally that doesn’t happen, and I might have one of them crying about it. I guess I just need to suck it up! 🙂
Btw, I love the pictures, ESP the one of the dog trying the spinach!
btw, our dog will eat almost anything these days. she eats carrots and beets 🙂
Aya, for those smoothies you can use frozen fruits as well. I don’t use a lot of them because the smoothie would be too cold for my daughter to drink and sometimes I don’t drink the whole thing and I always keep it in the fridge for lunch. If I used frozen that smoothie would be too watery by that time. But other than that I would be using frozen fruits: much easier and faster to make smoothies with.
As for avocado my daughter used to like it as a toddler now she doesn’t like the texture as well but yesterday I made avocado-kiwi-banana smoothie and she gobbled it up like never before. Maybe you should try that with you son. Avocado is really healthy. Lately I found out that my daughter will eat more of something if I give her dressing (homemade based on plain youghurt) on plate.
Our daughter used to get very mad when she wanted to eat something else than food that was on dinner table. but as you said , we had to suck it up and today she is better than ever with eating 🙂
Yum! I want to get some pineapple and give this smoothie a try. A friend recently told me about chia seeds and is obsessed with them. I have yet to experiment with them but you have given me another reason to give them a go.
Yogurt is an after dinner staple in our house. We, too, offer it as a night cap for those evenings when dinner didn’t thrill the little people. I once read somewhere that yogurt was a food that helps you sleep better and have been offering it for “dessert” ever since.
Thanks for sharing the recipe and your story!
And Good luck with your new baby!
I use chia seeds in almost everything I make: breads, cookies, muffins and cupcakes, homemade dressings, even in pizza crust. Of course: smoothies. The same with flaxseed meal. Those are great because they are tasteless so you can hide it in everything.
Yougurt goes in our house by gallons these days. Both, me and my daughter eat it every day 🙂
thank you for reading!