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As a working mother, you’ve likely run into the problem of having a bunch of hungry kids and not having the time to cook something for them.

That can lead to ordering out or fast food, two options which inevitably don’t provide a lot of healthy choices from which to select. So what’s a Mom to do in that situation? Smoothies just might be the answer you’re seeking. They’re easy to make and can be frozen, so there’s great convenience for the working mother. Since you control the ingredients, they’re bound to be healthy. And, since kids are predisposed to loving cold, icy treats, they’re likely to accept smoothies as a meal or snack far more readily than they would other healthy alternatives.

Your first step is to find the smoothie blenderthat works the best and fits your budget. Once you’ve got that in the bag, you’re ready to follow these instructions toward tasty smoothies and healthy, happy, full children.

Make It Fresh And Then Freeze

Find some time at the end of your work week, like a Sunday night, and get ready to make a bunch for the week. This will allow you to use fresh fruits and vegetables in the smoothies if you prefer, or you can do frozen if that’s all you have. Then you can just thaw them out a bit and serve when the need comes for a quick meal.

Balancing Out The Good Stuff

Ideally you can put a little bit of fruit and vegetables into each smoothie. Kids are often reluctant to eat those foods on their own or as side dishes to main meals, but putting them in colorful smoothies is a good way to get them to eat healthy. If you’d really like to add more health benefits, try to avoid sugary fruit juices as an ingredient and maybe substitute Greek yogurt for milk.

Taste Counts

No matter how much fun a smoothie looks, if it tastes lousy, kids aren’t going to stick with it. So if you want to put potentially bitter vegetables like spinach or kale into the smoothie, considering including bananas as well. They have a well of eradicating the taste of some of the more bitter ingredients, so that kids can taste some of the sweetness that’s emanating from the other included fruits.

Better Ways To Sweeten

You’re defeating the purpose of the smoothie if you ladle on heaps of sugar onto the healthy fruits and vegetables. Consider other ways to sweeten the ingredients that you’ve included. For example, cinnamon works well with things like blueberries, while honey makes for a good combination with strawberries.

Experimenting To Perfection

One of the great things about smoothies is that there’s no right or wrong way to make them. So try different combinations of ingredients, or maybe even get the kids involved and have them make their own suggestions. The end result will be a fun way for the kids to eat healthy and an easy way to take the pressure off of Mom.

Written by Natalie Bracco for Working Mother and legally licensed through the Matcha publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@getmatcha.com.