Secret Ingredient Mixed Berry Smoothie

For the last few weeks my life has been that of a Dance Mom.  Lucky for me, my Dance Mom world is unlike the popular reality show and fills my days with love and the most amazing support as all of us moms work together to get our girls on stage.

Hours have been spent applying glittery rhinestones, sewing elastic bands and embellishments on hats, shopping for the perfect color socks and hair pieces, and planning menus that will fuel the girls for their moments in the spotlight.

While shopping for and creating the costume items is indeed time consuming, I know the job will get done.  It's getting the proper foods into the girls that requires actual skill.  The intense rehearsals and competitions that these talented girls participate in place them firmly into the athlete category, and their bodies need to be fed as such.

As the girls come off the stage, moms can be heard coaxing water, fruits, and proteins.  Dehydration causes cramping and with the energy exerted the girls can quickly find themselves short on water and fuel.  However, Liv tells me that eating after just getting off the stage and getting ready to go right back on leaves her stomach a bit off, but sipping something seems to work well.

Our girls in action!

Enter the smoothie.  Care needs to be taken though, that the chosen smoothie is filled with healthy ingredients and not topped off with ice creams and/or refined sugars.  Hence we frequently make our own so we can control the ingredients.

With an invitation from DailyBuzz Food to try and review Ocean Spray's Diet Cranberry Juice coinciding with last weekend's Competition Showcase, I took the opportunity to bring a version of Ocean Spray's Mixed Berry Smoothie to the performance.  Cranberry has been a favorite of my kids since they were little, and with 1 cup bringing 100% of the recommended daily value for Vitamin C, it has earned a spot in our smoothie ingredient list, however the full juice version can pack a caloric punch.

Using the Diet version, Liv's smoothie brings fewer sugars, and filling in with protein filled, low fat vanilla bean yogurt and a rainbow of frozen mixed berries and mango even more vitamins are added to the mix.  Missing in my rainbow though was the color green.  But that was an easy fix!

Adding the spinach can be your little secret...

Long ago I discovered that my kids don't really care for green foods.  I'm not sure if it's the taste, or simply the color, but more often than not any green foods served on the plate stayed right there... on the plate.  However, sneaky mom that I am, I've tried angle after angle to get the green in and I've discovered that spinach in a smoothie is nearly undetectable if blended properly.  Adding a simple handful of organic baby spinach to a smoothie brings a multitude of vitamins and minerals including a decent dose of calcium which the bones in each of these strong dancers can use.

Packing our smoothie on ice did the trick for Liv's 12 hour dance-filled Sunday.  She sipped her fruits and spinach while chomping on a few almonds, and her energy-filled performance brought tears to my proud eyes.  Together with her teammates, the girls put on a dazzling show showcasing their skill and talent leaving us Dance Moms beaming with pride.
 

Secret Ingredient Mixed Berry Smoothie
This sweet/tart smoothie brings a multitude of vitamins and minerals with fruit, yogurt and a secret ingredient no one needs to know about but you!
adapted from Ocean Spray

3/4 cup diet Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice Drink
3/4 cup frozen mixed berries
1/4 cup frozen mango
1 6-oz container low fat vanilla bean yogurt
1/2 banana
1 handful spinach

Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until no specks of green spinach show.  Pour into a glass and serve.  

Liv Life Note:  We made a double batch of the smoothie and froze the leftovers into mini pops!



I have partnered with Ocean Spray through DailyBuzz to help promote their new Ocean Spray Diet product. I have been compensated for my time commitment to work with this product, however my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments.