My little girl (age 4) has some sensory issues with eating because she was on a ventilator for awhile (very strong gag reflex). She is thin and it can be a challenge to get calories into her, but the biggest issue is she doesn't eat fruits or veggies because of the texture (she gags and vomits). I get some into her by cooking and mashing... add things to pasta sauce, etc but I'd like her to have some fruits in her diet. So I have been trying to give her smoothies. No luck so far. I don't know how to make them "sweet enough" for her without adding sugar or a lot of honey. I use whole milk yogurt as a base which might be part of the problem as it is tart... I need suggestions/recipes!

So far I let her pick the fruits (she WANTS to eat them, she licks them, she just can't swallow them without a problem) and I made:
raspberry (the seeds bothered her, I'll try this again but strain it)
blackberry (same issue)
strawberry "too sour"
banana (not sure why she didn't like this)
banana peanut butter (same)
blueberry "too sour"

Recipes please? Anything to get fruits in a smoothie into her? The sourness seems to be the biggest problem.

I would definitely recommend not use yogurt as a base. How about fruit juice? Just to get started.

I really like cantelope smoothies myself. I also like banana and/or avocado as a base. Apple also adds some sweetness. You could plan a base of banana, apple and another fruit and a splash of fruit juice? maybe none.

Instead of yogurt as the base, perhaps use cottage cheese, or even dry milk.

Are you opposed to using Splenda or stevia? I give my kids Splenda when I'm making them chocolate milk or a sweet treat.

Applesauce is naturally pretty sweet.

Dried fruit is also naturally very sweet--I've never tried making a raisin smoothie, but dropping a few in to sweeten up a blueberry shake might work.

Skip the milk.

Try OJ, banana, and strawberry.

Or Apple juice, blueberries

Or carrot, apple.

This book has lots of ideas.

http://www.amazon.com/Big-Book-Juice...3258168&sr=8-1

GL!
A.

Howdy. You might try using the silky soft tofu instead of yogurt. Not really much flavor to it, so any fruit you add will make it sweeter than yogurt would be. Bananas are quitwe sweet if you let them ripen a lot, and apple juice is quite sweet to use as a thinning liquid to make the smoothies easier to swallow. Almond milk is another good choice and I think it comes in flavors, though I usually drink the plain kind. I think all of those things are also pretty easy to digest. If you add some peanut butter or nutella, it would raise the calories and fat, just make sure to thin it out, I would guess.

I hope that helps a bit. Oh...and I would be willing to bet you could add a jar of baby food fruits to the mixtuee too..they are already quite smooth.

Barb

Puree of cherries folded into lightly sweetened whipped cream to eat with or lick off of a spoon.

Fresh watermelon juice

In-season and very ripe peaches, especially white peaches are naturally very sweet.

Try granitas made from fruit purees and water. Pour mixture into baking pan and freeze, scraping every 30 minutes or so until you have a sort of fruit snow.

Give Lifeway brand fruit flavored kefir a try. It's sweetened, but not outrageously so, and it also has fiber.

Look for Goya brand fruit pulps in the frozen section of the grocery store for a variety of uses.

I do the silken tofu thing (SILKEN=IMPORTANT, mori nu)

it gives it a nice smooth texture without having any real flavor of it's own I just add fruit, soy milk (my preference, but you could just add milk ) and I also use splenda or agave

What great ideas!! I knew you guys would have some ideas, thank you so much!

I never thought of using tofu or cottage cheese. I want her smoothies to be as calorie dense and protein rich as possible. My bananas might not have been ripe enough... OJ + banana + strawberries sounds very good. ANd cantaloupe! Soon we will have it in season and it is so sweet.

Oh and she LOVES whipped cream. I will try fruit purees folded into whipped cream, too.

If you use a banana that is very ripe it lends a lot of sweetness to your smoothies. I like to add frozen blueberries, strawberries and a little OJ to mine with some yogurt as well.

This might sound crazy but what about using Muscle Milk? It's chocolate and has lots of protein in it, which she probably needs.

What a lucky little girl to have such a dedicated mommy!

Mango also blends very smoothly - no seeds or pulp

Mmm they all sound good - I am definitley no help. I buy the yoplait ones.

Not a smoothie.. but have you tried freezing the fruit for her to eat as a frozen treat?

Oh good idea, I used to like frozen bananas when I was a kid!

I really like frozen mango and frozen pineapple