Claire Wright
Serves: 2
Prep time: 1 min
Ingredients:
120g pureed roasted squash (see method for how to make this) or unsweetened canned pumpkin puree
1 ripe banana
2 tsp ground cinnamon or mixed spice
1 glass dairy or unsweetened non-dairy milk
Veg Portions / Serving: 1
Recipe created for Veg Power by Claire Wright. Food photography by Claire Wright | addsomeveg.com
Claire Wright from addsomeveg.com shares 3 simple ways to prepare squash that the whole family will enjoy.
This 4-ingredient squash smoothie is super sweet and kid-friendly. Make a big batch of roasted pureed squash and freeze it in ice cube trays to have on hand to whip up this smoothie, our squash & chocolate muffins, or any recipe that calls for squash/pumpkin/sweet potato puree in no time!
Method:
Blitz all of the ingredients together in a blender until smooth. Taste and add more of any ingredients if you feel it is needed. Add extra liquid and blitz again if it’s too thick. Serve cold.
*to make the squash puree, see our squash & chocolate muffins recipe here.
Engaging Kids
Kids who engage regularly with veg through veg-themed activities, such as arts and crafts, sensory experiences, growing and cooking are shown to be more likely to eat the veg they engage with. Encouraging kids to engage and play with veg is the handy first step to them developing a good relationship with veg and life-long healthy eating.
Kids in the kitchen
Let the kids own this recipe: get them to peel the banana, add all the ingredients to the blender and push the blender button to blitz. Get them some glasses to pour it out into.
Activities
While getting kids to interact with veggies for real and using their senses to explore them is best, encouraging hands off activities like arts & crafts, puzzles & games or at-home science experiments can be a great start, particularly for those who are fussier eaters or struggle with anything too sensory. Use these veg-themed activities as a stepping stone to interacting with the veg themselves. We have loads of crafty downloads here, puzzles here, and quirky science with veg here.
Sensory
Once you feel your child is ready to engage a little more, you can show them how to explore the veg you have on hand with their senses, coming up with playful silly descriptions of how a veg smells, feels, looks, sounds and perhaps even tastes. Find ideas, videos and some simple sensory education session ideas to get you started here.
Serving
The moments before food is offered can be a perfect opportunity for engagement that can help make it more likely a child will eat it! Giving children a sense of ownership in the meal can make a big difference to their feelings going into it and the pride they take in it. You know your child best, but if you aren’t sure where to start, we have some fun and simple ideas for easy roles you can give them in the serving process over here.
Claire Wright
Claire has been working with children, food and communications for over 15 years, and is our Editor at Veg Power, helping translate expert advice into small, practical steps for busy families, and creating recipes that are actually simple.
Similar recipes
