Simple, Energizing Breakfast Smoothie

…simple joy by simpler living

What is simpler than a breakfast smoothie! Quick, delicious, and an instant energy booster! We don’t need caffeine in our house, just a fruit smoothie to give a boost to start our day. I simplify our routine by making either a smoothie or a bowl of fresh yogurt every morning as our ” first breakfast”. (Yes, very Hobbit-like!) Here is the simple, fast way we make our smoothies …

Why You Will Love It

You can whip this up in 5 minutes and have a “first breakfast” for everyone or at least fill bellies up enough that they can wait an hour for the rest of their morning food. Smoothies are a great way to add in extra nutrients while still tasting delicious. This recipe is high in protein, calcium and antioxidants. With the extra vitamin C added, we are also boosting immunity first thing in the morning. And did I mention it is so delicious!

Basic Smoothie

The key to a great tasting smoothie is having a basic recipe that tastes great then adding extras that don’t overpower the base taste. My basic recipe is made of a mango or peach juice (no sugar or water added, just 100% fruit juice), bananas, frozen fruit, and unsweetened Greek yogurt.

I use Greek yogurt because even those who are lactose intolerant can drink it. I thought about making my own yogurt last summer after inflation raised yogurt prices very high and I finally did it when it became out-of-stock for a long time. It is so easy to make and incredibly delicious when made with local farm milk that I will never buy store yogurt again. But that’s another blog recipe😀.

Adding enough frozen fruit to your smoothie eliminates the need for ice or additional sweeteners. I usually use half tropical fruit and half berry/kale mixed frozen fruit. Frozen berries are key. Both blueberries and strawberries not only make it taste very good but give it a nice pink color. You can get away with adding some kale if it doesn’t change the whole thing green. Although, some may like green smoothies, but it wouldn’t go very far in my house. Lastly, bananas are a must for making it extra creamy and smooth.

Extras

I like to “sneak” a few additional healthy things in our smoothies that we can’t taste and don’t get enough of elsewhere in our diets. The kale in the frozen fruit mix is one thing that actually makes it in every time because it is tasteless. I’ve also used a little fresh spinach at times. Powdered vitamin C is an easy thing to add. I put in 2000 mg per person without it affecting the flavor. I also have started to add quercetin to help with spring allergies. This is a quick and easy way to get basic vitamins without me having to pester everyone to take their vitamin pills. I like to put collagen powder in just my smoothie, so I add this after I serve the rest of the family. I used to add honey to give it a little extra natural sweeteness but forgot a few times and realized it tastes good without it. There are a variety of extras you can add but I suggest doing a taste test as you add each item because there is a point at which the healthy extra dominates the whole smoothie and it goes from delicious to disgusting. Then you’ll get a bad rep as the smoothie maker and no one will want to drink your smoothies. I made this mistake when my son was young, thinking I could just keep adding whatever I wanted. I thought it was a great idea to add broccoli. The result: he wouldn’t drink my smoothies again for a year! Whatever you add, make sure it is still delicious. Some things, like broccoll, taste better as a dinner side dish!

Recipe

I blend the whole family’s smoothies all together in my Ninja Blender. This recipe makes three 16 ounce smoothies or six 8 ounce smoothies. I put the frozen fruit in last and softer ingredients first so it doesn’t jam the blender blade. I measure with the blender container as I put ingredients in to make it very simple.

Ingredients

• 16 ounces of juice (mango or peach are my favorites)
• 16 ounces of plain yogurt (I use unsweetened, Greek yogurt)
• 3 bananas
• 2 cups frozen fruit (variety but always with lots of berries)

Optional Extras

• Vitamin C powder
• Quercetin
• Collagen
• Kale
• Fresh spinach
• Honey

Mix in blender and serve to the delight of family and yourself!