A week-and-a-half ago, my youngest came down with influenza, followed closely by my husband. I held my breath for the next 5-7 days waiting for my three-year-old and myself to get it. Those 5-7 days came and went with no signs of either of coming down with it and the sick ones rebounded fairly quickly. 

I should have known better.

A full 10 days after his initial exposure, my three-year-old came down with a fever and tested positive for the nastiness the following day. As I type this, the oldest is still sick and I’m hanging on to my sanity by a thread. Needless to say, there has not been much time for anything outside of pushing fluids, disinfecting everything in sight, and desperately trying to get any semblance of sleep. Throughout this whole ordeal, getting my kids to eat their vegetables is not something I have energy for.

Enter my go-to smoothie.

I’ve made many variations of this over the years, but this base has remained the same. I love it – it’s easy, chalked full of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. It’s a sure fire way to get good food in my kids. 

Sick Day Smoothie Recipe

Serves two kids or one adult

• 1/2 banana
• 1 cup milk (I use almond milk, but any kind works.)
• 2 cups loosely packed spinach (You can easily add more, it doesn’t have much flavor.)
• 1 scoop protein powder (I do half vanilla, half unflavored.)
• 1 cup frozen berries (I use a triple berry blend, but you can use any berry combination you like.)

Blend the first four ingredients until completely liquefied. Add berries. Blend and serve!

A few notes:

• We have a Ninja blender (which I LOVE) and this recipe will fit into a single serve cup for that blender type.
• You can use fresh berries for your smoothie, but you will need to add ice as well. The frozen berries double as ice, which thicken the smoothie up.
• The longer you blend, the more friction it will create, which will give it a more liquid consistency. Blend with care if you don’t want it too runny. 
• Other things I have added throughout the years include flax seeds, chia seeds, steel cut oats, kale and/or pomegranate.

Stay healthy, mamas! 

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