Tropical Carrot Smoothie

Our friend Heather from heather_kidskitchen is at it again with a new delicious and kid-friendly recipe! January's featured veggie for Veggie Buds Club is the incredible carrot and Heather created two recipes for our members, this "Tropical Carrot Smoothie" recipe and a "Carrot Chips with Ranch Dip" recipe (we'll post this one next week- the suspense!).  

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Heather is a mom of two boys, ages 5 and 3, and cooking instructor specializing in bringing cooking into preschool classrooms. After college, Heather knew she wanted to be a teacher, but first followed her lifelong dream of going to culinary school. Teaching cooking combines both of her passions, and she truly enjoys introducing young children to the joys of cooking with fresh ingredients. Find Heather on Instagram (@heather_kidskitchen), where she shares inventive kid-friendly recipes and ideas for cooking with kids at home.

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Like a tropical vacation in a glass! Kids will love measuring and adding ingredients to the blender, helping to chop the carrot, and pressing the buttons on the blender.

Ingredients
-1 small carrot, peeled, trimmed, and chopped* (about ½ cup)
-1 Clementine, tangerine, or ½ an orange, peeled
-1 heaping cup frozen pineapple, mango, or a combo of both
-½ cup plain Greek yogurt (or non-dairy yogurt)
-1 pitted date (or 1 tablespoon honey)
-¼ cup coconut milk (or milk of your choice)
-1 tablespoon hemp seeds (optional)
-Handful of ice
-Shredded coconut for garnish

Instructions
1. Add everything to a blender and blend until smooth. Blend in additional ice if you want a thicker smoothie.
2. Pour into glasses and sprinkle with shredded coconut. Enjoy!

*If you don’t have a high speed blender, I recommend grating the carrot so it blends more easily.