Americans are notorious for skipping breakfast. Many will tell you breakfast is a cigarette and a cup of coffee. Not exactly the best way to start the day from a nutritional standpoint. Worse, we’ll often grab a fast-food breakfast on the run and exceed our recommended daily allowance of fat and salt with the first meal of the day. That’s another bad start.
The reason so many of us struggle with the morning meal has a lot to do with our lifestyle and workstyle. We just don’t seem to have the time in the morning to make what many people define as a “good” breakfast. I’m guilty as well, and if I wasn’t eating eggs, sausage and cheese on an English muffin from a drive-thru, I was eating the same at home with a bit of zapping in the microwave and a rushed few bites before I was out the door. And then I discovered smoothies.
At first I made a few smoothies as a recreational drink. It was more of a novelty and sometimes a dessert. As time went on it started to occur to me how simple it was to combine some highly nutritious fruits, dairy products like yogurt and skim milk, and maybe a few ice cubes to give it a refreshing chill. It occurred to me that I was combining a lot of things that I should be eating for breakfast instead of the bad things like 1,000 milligrams of salt and 900 calories from saturated fat with a side of 700 calories from bad carbs.
Since that moment, I make a smoothie every morning and it takes all of 60 seconds to put together from start to finish. Some mornings I take my time and spend up to 2 minutes making one. I’ve even started making them for the family as the kids panic to find their school books or race out the door because they’re late for work or “their friends are waiting.”
If you’re so inclined, buy a smoothie maker or pull the blender out of that cabinet above the fridge where you store all the stuff you don’t use. After you get in the habit and try a few of these recipes, that blender will probably find a permanent place on the counter top because you and your family are using it everyday. Here are some of our breakfast favorites:
Steve’s Strawberry-Banana Smoothie
(Makes four 8-ounce smoothies)
This is the smoothie that started it all for me at breakfast. It’s also featured in the photo above.
Here’s the routine:
Ingredients:
2 cups skim milk
1 cup yogurt (plain or flavored)
2 bananas cut into chunks
20 strawberries cut in half
2 ice cubes
Directions:
Drop the ice cubes into the smoothie followed by the yogurt and then add everything else. Blend until smooth. Serve
Anna’s Banana Pineapple Smoothie
(Makes four 8-ounce smoothies)
This one almost feels like it should have an umbrella in it.
Ingredients:
2 cups skim milk
1 cup pineapple yogurt
1/2 of a pineapple chunked
2 bananas chunked
Directions:
Same deal. Yogurt first and everything else on top. No ice cubes. Blend until smooth and serve.
Jan’s Thank You Berry Much Smoothie
(Makes four 8-ounce smoothies)
This one is becoming the family favorite. We’ll vary the berries depending on what’s in season. Sometimes we’ll pick our own berries from the Mulberry tree in the backyard or the black raspberries growing in the field next to our house.
Ingredients:
3 cups skim milk
1 cup blueberries
1 cup raspberries (black or red, whatever’s on sale)
1 cup chunked strawberries
3 ice cubes
Directions:
Ice cubes first and everything else on top. Yogurt is optional. If you add a cup of yogurt, reduce the skim milk by one cup. Blend until smooth and serve.
Mike’s Everyone in the Pool Smoothie
(makes four 8-ounce servings)
Leave it to the scientist in the family to experiment. I also think it’s because the fruit in the house tends to vary from day to day. This one is always different and always good. We like to guess what’s in it.
Ingredients:
2 cups skim milk
1 cup yogurt
2 kiwis chopped (or 1/2 cup chopped pineapple)
1/2 cup blueberries (or raspberries)
1/2 cup strawberries
1 banana chunked
1 mango chunked
1 peeled pear (or apple) sliced
2 ice cubes
Directions:
Same deal. Ice cubes first and everything else on top. Blend until smooth and serve.
And there you have it. You can always create your own with different combinations or just use one fruit. It makes a better breakfast than most of us are currently having. If you need a little protein either add a protein-powder mix or try some peanut butter on a bagel. That’s smooth too.
