My kids are obsessed with the color pink – they have been all of their lives.  When they were younger and I would do the laundry, it was just a pile of pink clothes – the only positive is that everything matched all the time.  The pink spills over into other parts of their lives as well – food.  They are drawn to anything pink (strawberry flavored).  Unfortunately most of what they are drawn to is fake though…and I spend a lot of time trying to explain that to then.  Sometimes they will listen to me, but most of the time they have to try it for themselves before listening to me the next time.

The other weekend we were on vacation in Whistler.  After dinner we went out for ice-cream – yes, I know, but they love ice-cream no matter what the temperature is like.  They stared at all the flavors for quite a while, but my little one had to go with strawberry.  This was soft serve ice-cream – there was no way this strawberry was going to taste good.  Fortunately my older one choose well – vanilla.  My younger one took a couple of bites, and just set it down on table.  She was a little afraid to tell us that she didn’t like it.  The place was empty, and there were a few guys behind the counter just sitting around.  I got my husband to tell them that she had never had this before, and really didn’t like it – and would it be ok if she got a vanilla instead.  He was more than happy to get her a new one.  Thank goodness – and maybe next time she will remember.

Today we didn’t have a lot going on, and the girls needed a little pick-me-up this afternoon.  I looked at what I had in the house, and decided a fun smoothie was in order.  I asked the girls if they were interested, and boy did I get some enthusiasm.  When I told them what I was going to make, they both crinkled their noses.  They both wanted a strawberry smoothie instead – but I didn’t have anything pink to use.  My younger one was most concerned about the color of the smoothie I wanted to make – she was sure it would be ugly – again, like that has anything to do with the taste.  But I agree, something that is visually appealing, is certainly more delightful to eat.

I whipped up the smoothie, and took a spoon, I was in heaven.  I knew if they didn’t devour theirs – I would have no problem finishing them.  I handed them over, and in about 1 minute they were gone.  They both LOVED the smoothie – they told me how smart I was to come up with this combination – even though it was cream-colored.  Mom 1, Pink 0.

Ingredients

• 6 oz. low-fat vanilla yogurt
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk

Preparation

Put all ingredients into a blender, and blend until smooth.  Serve immediately.

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here:  Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie