Morning Blend: Smoothie Recipe

Lori:

With both of us parents working, mornings are a bit go-go-go for us. After our morning wake-up call over the baby monitor, we all get ourselves dressed, and while Dave heads for the door, the rest of us sit right down for breakfast. One of our favorite breakfasts is a smoothie or shake (it goes by both names in our house) to get us charged up for the day. You may have a version you like, too, but here is ours:

In a countertop blender (ours is a magic bullet), in no special order, put:
Yogurt - about 2 Tbsp is just about right

Fruit - almost fill the cup
1/4-1/2 frozen banana
Any other fresh or frozen fruit, seeds or skin removed if necessary. We keep the skins on pears, peaches, and nectarines, but take it off of apples. Bagged frozen berries are particularly convenient, and I like to freeze any fruit that is browning and would not otherwise be eaten to throw in the blender.
I tried adding kale once (yes, that is kale like the leafy green vegetable) and while I could not taste it AT ALL in there, it did make the texture of the drink a little rough. If you can get past that, it's a great add-in.

Ground Flaxseed - about 1-2 Tbsp (this causes a texture that is an acquired taste, but worth it for all the benefits of flax)

Apple juice and/or water - to almost the top of the fruit

Blend till smooth. For breakfast, often Matt and Abby have a cup with this smoothie each and almost always ask for seconds. This plus a little dry cereal (wheat O's) is the perfect breakfast. Leftovers can be refrigerated and be diluted with more juice as needed.

Drink up!