Gotta Fatten Up This Baby: Avocado Strawberry Milk Shake

A few weeks ago I wrote about how my daughter has “failure to thrive” and is under weight for her age. We were unsure at first if it was connected in some way with her special needs, or if she perhaps had some other problem that we weren’t aware of, but all of her tests have come back normal and in the past two months she  has finally started to gain some weight. In fact she gained a whole pound this month!One of the things we’ve realized is that because of her special needs she has struggled to get enough calories when we spoon feed her purees - she hasn’t lost her tongue reflex and so most spoon fed foods just end up coming right out all over her cloths. Then we discovered that she really liked these cupsand was able to get some good lip closure and keep liquids down when using them. So, we started putting purees in her cup and getting as many calories as we can into her through smoothies and milkshakes. Last time I shared my sweet potato milk shake recipe, which continues to be a personal dessert favorite (I think I eat more of it when I make it than Sage does!) Today I want to share a new high calorie, PediaSure alternative…

The Avocado Strawberry Milk Shake

1 avocado

1 large scoop ice cream

1-2 spoonfuls vanilla yogurt

A handful of fresh strawberries (I used about 5)

1 teaspoon vanilla

Whole milk or heavy cream (enough to thin to desired consistancy)

1 tablespoon honey (optional - don’t use with babies under 2)

Directions: Add all ingredients except the milk/cream to a blender or Vitamix and blend. Slowly add in some milk/cream until the desired consistency is obtained. Enjoy!

NOTE: For more of a nutritional punch you can add ground flax seed and or nutritional yeast and it still tastes great.

Rejoicing in the journey, Bethany Stedman