Smoothies are so easy and quick to make!  All you need are a few staple recipes in your fridge and pantry, such as;

Your choice of sweetener (honey, agave nectar, brown rice syrup, maple syrup)
Instant oats
Chia seeds or flax seeds (optional-for an extra health boost)
Greek yogurt
Your choice of milk or formula/breast milk
Fresh fruit (or veggies!)
A large blender or immersion blender (if you use the latter the smoothie might have to be pureed in batches, depending on the amount)

My son loves smoothies and so do I!  Every so often I do a cleanse which consists of a healthy smoothie every morning (including a probiotic, protein powder, etc.) but I obviously keep my son’s simple…yet delicious! His all-time fave is my Creamy Tropical Fruit Salad Smoothie)

Smoothie options are endless.  For me, it’s more about trial and error, and trust me, I’ve tried many unlikely combinations and surprisingly enough they always turn out pretty tasty (some more than others obviously!).  I came up with the idea of making this pineapple and coconut (aka. pina colada) smoothie by simply looking in my fridge…my husband had just chopped a fresh pineapple and I had half a carton of coconut milk sitting on the bottom shelf (awaiting its doom because I can never drink all of it fast enough to beat the expiry date!)

(Makes about 1 1/2 cups)
2 cups instant oats
1 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 cup chopped pineapple (fresh or canned without liquid)
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. agave nectar
1 tsp. ground flax seeds
2 tbsp. unsweetened shredded coconut

* This makes a VERY thick smoothie (more like oatmeal) which in my case is ideal.  From my experience, when preparing food for a toddler, the equation is as follows:
the thicker the concoction = the less mess to clean up!
For a less dense smoothie, I suggest adding initially only 1 cup of oats then adding 1/4 cup at a time until you get the desired consistency.  **Remember, the smoothie mixture will thicken up a bit as the oats absorb the moisture from the liquids.

Add all the ingredients to the blender, adding the oats last if you opt for a less dense version.  Blend until well combined.

Adjust any of the ingredients (such as sweetener, oats, etc) to taste.

As I said, this makes a VERY thick “smoothie!”

No complaints here…he couldn’t have shovelled it down any faster! 😉

As I was quite pleased with the end result, I stored only half the remaining amount in baby cubes for my son.  I added some more coconut milk to the mix and whipped up a delicious mid-morning (and hearty, might I add!) snack for me too!

Do you have any favourite smoothie combinations?! I’d love to try out a new recipe!