Confession: Our fruit bandit no longer willingly eats vegetables that are not cleverly disguised.
I guess there are exceptions like he loves raw carrots, and he will eat broccoli in any form. Potatoes only in the shape of French fries and tomatoes in the form of pasta sauce.
Geez…this was never the case with Eliza. She was begging for Eggplant Parmesan at the age of 4, noshed on raw asparagus as a toddler, and loves taking juice shots with me any day of the week. What the heck is going on with that fruit bandit?
Lately I have been disguising veggies in any way I can. Maybe you noticed the spinach that I snuck in that green smoothie bowl, or you may have noticed I put kale in my “cheesy” kale chip popcorn a while back. Basically any way I can work in a veggie these days is a bonus.
If there is one thing that is undeniable it is that the fruit bandit LOVES juice! He will sip anything you put in front of him with the name juice attached to it, so the past few weeks I have been blending juices to get just the right amount of fruit to veggie ratio in hopes that I could come up with something he would go nuts over.
This juice was hands down a winner! I was able to sneak fennel and cucumber in this juice by mixing them with green apple, pomegranate, ginger, and vanilla paste. You read that right, I put vanilla paste in our juice!! Have you ever done this? Holy cow it’s amazing, and the kids go nuts for it.
The crushed ice I use for this juice is actually made from frozen coconut water cubes, tossed in the blender and processed until it looks a lot like snow. The kids love it and it adds an added boost of essential electrolytes to their juice which I love too!
Yield:
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PinIngredients
- 1/4 bulb fennel
- 1 Persian cucumber, unpeeled
- 2 green apples
- 3/4 cup pomegranate seeds
- 1-inch piece of ginger
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
- 12 coconut water ice cubes, blended into shaved ice in the blender
Instructions
- Juice the fennel, cucumber, green apples, pomegranate and ginger together. Stir in the vanilla paste.
- Divide the coconut shaved ice between 2 glasses and pour the juice over the ice.
This is not only kid approved but definitely adult approved for sure!
Duuuude- vanilla paste is such a good idea in juice! I’ve put vanilla extract in a smoothie before, but I bet vanilla paste gives it that extra oomph! I love that you hid veggies in this juice – all of the fruits you added sound so delicious together.
Thanks Sarah, I am hopelessly addicted to vanilla paste and pretty much putting it in everything these days! It is so great added to juice and I love seeing the little flecks of vanilla bean in my glass.
Looks like a healthy delicious adult or kid “snow cone”!!
This drink sounds real tasty and healthy too.