I have found one of the hardest things about being a mum is trying to get enough nutrition into a little person who recoils at the sight of fruit and vegetables. Whilst my four year old will consume an endless quantity of apples and carrots – that’s it and all other fruit and vegetables it seems are off the menu. As a result her diet has been less than varied and repeated attempts to get her to eat anything from oranges to spinach has failed – so I had to get sneaky!

Because the pace of life has generally moved at such a frantic pace for me over the past few yers – juggling being a full time mum to my little one and a writing job that’s kept me out late most nights as well as other projects, I needed a quick and easy solution which fast became a family favourite – ‘frozen juice pops’ – well that’s actually the name the four year old gave them but it’s stuck.

SO every day Felicity now scoffs mouthfuls of strawberries, oranges, blueberries, nectarines and even spinach and brocoli – and keeps coming back for more. It’s the simplest thing, really just frozen baby food and i’m sure you’ve all been whipping these up for years too – but if not here’s a quick recipe:

1 punnet strawberries

1 cup frozen blueberries

1/2 cup of cranberry juice

two handfuls of spinch leaves or two florets of brocoli

small nectarine

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend really well into fruit smoothie adding a little water to make sure it’s the consistency of a liquid as oppsed to fruit pulp, then pop into ice cube trays or iceblock moulds to freeze.

You can mix any fruit or veges into it. I always go for the sweetest seasonal produce to avoid the need to sweeten it up – however if the mix does need to be sweetened a little, I add 1/4 cup of lemonade to it at the end (after blending). I always test taste before freezing to make sure the vege content isn’t overwhelming the fruit flavours, if it is, add more furit to taste. It’s best to pour through a sieve before freezing to ensure there’s no lumpy surprises at the bottom too!

My daughter and all her little friends love them on a hot day. Usually we get the cry for ice blocks but instead of feeding themselves up on sugary treats that are often full of food colouring, they are loading up with nutrition and they can’t tell the difference because they are so yummy!

They also make a cheeky cocktail for mum and day at the end of a long summer’s day by popping a couple of fruit pop cubes into the blender with your favourite tipple – good with vodka and then add to soda or lemonade. Yummy with a kick of nutrition.

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