a simple real food recipe :: immune booster smoothie

There’s nothing quite like walking in to storytime with your perfectly healthy kids to a room full of green snot noses, sneezing, and hacking little tots.

Seriously?!

Well there is no turning around to go back home because the girls are super excited about story and craft time. And to be honest I’m not afraid of my girls being exposed to some bugs. It’s good to clean the system out every once and a while with a cold (read THIS for more on this – I couldn’t agree more). The girls actually fight off bugs super fast anyhow.

But with the holidays around, family gatherings, a newborn super tiny baby niece that I don’t want bugs around, and an already cranky teething 18 month old on my hands…I’m just not in the mood for 2 sick toddlers.

So we do the best we can to avoid the kid that has to go up to everyone else’s kid for a hug with his green snot nose…

…and we do up this great smoothie for lunchtime 😉

This is also a perfect recipe to make Popsicles out of (especially if your little one has a sore or scratchy throat).

You’ll need:

1 cup whole yogurt (if you are dairy free use coconut milk yogurt or just do up some coconut milk or filtered water/ice)

1 cup frozen blueberries (ours were from summer blueberry picking!)

3 pastured egg yolks

2 TB melted coconut oil (warm over stove – not microwave)

1 TB elderberry syrup

1 TB raw honey (local if possible or try THIS)

Filtered water, whole raw milk, or coconut milk to thin out to desired consistency

**Optional** other immune boosting add-ins if the kids are truely ill: echinacea drops, vitamin D drops, vitamin C tabs. (Please note I get these items much cheaper at our local health food store than what is listed here – I linked up so I could answer the “what brand do you use” question all in one!)

1. Blend together! This amount fed both girls for lunch with a few homemade crackers.

Kitchen Tips:

1. The yogurt delivers probiotics to their bellies – the gut is the first line defense for the immune system so giving it a fighting chance is important. If you don’t have yogurt around use whole milk, coconut milk, or filtered water and add in a good quality powdered probiotic. Just be sure the milk is organic. Preferably raw for the extra probiotics and gut enzymes. The milk should not be ULP.
2. You can read more about the immune boosting benefits of elderberry syrup HERE.
3. The pastured egg yolks and coconut oil deliver beneficial fats to feed the brain and nourish the body so it can fight off infection the way it is supposed to. Read THIS and THIS on the yolk benefits and how to pick out pastured eggs.
4. Read about the benefits of raw honey HERE.
5. This is also super yummy (and pretty!) with black, purple, or red grapes instead of the blueberries!
6. Don’t forget to try it as a Popsicle!

YOUR TURN!

Seriously – what do you do when you walk into a “germ factory”?! Let me know how you like the smoothie if you try it!

This post was shared at Real Food Forager’s Fat Tuesday, and Real Food Freaks Freaky Friday, and The Polivka Family’s Family Table Tuesday!