Make smoothies like a boss

I am going craaaazy right now. My kid is turning 2 this weekend! Not only am I weirded out by how old he is (and how old I am!), but I am attempting a mad dash to get everything ready for his party. I have this absurd tendency to go above and beyond when it comes to throwing parties. Things are about to get a little nuts around here.

But I am taking a break from my party planning to talk about something delicious- breakfast! And I love  breakfast cereal. I loved to wake up and pour myself a bowl of sugary goodness with a splash of cool milk. It was hardly any work and it tasted great every single morning. I didn't think anyone could love cereal as much as I did until I met my husband. WOW. This is how bad it is- every now and then I would take a break from the cereal routine and make a breakfast of melt-in-your-mouth pancakes, with sizzling bacon, and hot scrambled eggs. And he would look at it and say (in a very gentle, timid manner), "Honey...I would kinda just rather have cereal."

So with our combined love of cereal and milk, we spent quite a bit in those isles of the grocery store. And then when I tried to start eating better, cereal didn't seem to be the healthiest option. Sure, I tried to justify it for a while- I mean, there's milk, so that's a serving of dairy right? And there has to be some sort of grain in Lucky Charms- but in the end I knew I needed to change my ways. But the best thing about cereal is how EASY it is. I mean you wake up, throw a couple of things in a bowl and you're done! Is any healthy breakfast going to be easier than that?

But guys, I gotta tell you, my skepticism was all for naught! I discovered smoothies and I now declare them my official favorite breakfast food! No more sugary cereal! Smoothies taste super yummy, are so easy to make (throw a few things in a blender, I mean, come on) and they are not full of processed junk. And, you know how after you eat cereal you're hungry like 30 minutes later? Smoothies keep me satisfied for most of the morning. And the smoothies I make have grain, fruit, dairy, and protein in them (and sometimes *gasp* the occasional vegetable. But don't freak out, I'll explain later), so they are the perfect healthy food.

It's taken trying many smoothie recipes, and tweaking most of them, but I have found a few smoothie flavors that you can't go wrong with (unless you don't like fruit...is that possible?). Since I promised recipes, I have included my 3 favorites below. I don't really have specific measurements for the ingredients. I just "eye it" and throw it all together. Don't you just hate it when people say that? But I have tried to be as specific as possible for you. Also most of the fruit I bought at the store, cut up and froze them myself. No need to spend $500,000 on frozen fruit from the store. I also use oatmeal in the smoothies which really helps to keep me full. Ever heard about how oatmeal sticks to your ribs? It's so true! Anyway, enjoy and be sure to try your own twist!

Strawberry Oatmeal Smoothie
-half filled bowl of strawberries
-half a banana (frozen)
-half a peach (frozen)
-1/2 cup of oats
-spoonful of peanut butter (protein!)
-spoonful of vanilla greek yogurt
-enough milk to blend ingredients (I start with a little and add more until the blender is mixing everything smoothly)





Blueberry Oatmeal Smoothie
-a cup of blueberries
-half a peach (frozen)
-half a mango (frozen)
-spoonful of greek yogurt
-1/2 cup of oats
-milk





Ok, so remember my little comment about having the occasional veggie in my smoothie? That's where my green smoothie comes in! A green smoothie is basically any smoothie that you add spinach to and I am in LOVE with them. I know, I know, it sounds gross. But I finally got up the guts to try it and guess what-- I couldn't taste the spinach at all! There's so many other strong flavors (especially if you add yogurt or peanut butter) that you wouldn't even know the spinach was there. A veggie that you can't taste? Perfect for me! Although you can add spinach to the smoothies above (and I have!), I put my favorite green smoothie recipe here.

Strawberry Green Smoothie

-1/2 cup of oats
-half bowl of strawberries (frozen)
-half peach (frozen)
-spoonful of greek yogurt
-handful of spinach
-orange juice

If the taste of this smoothie is too bitter for you, add peanut butter or honey to sweeten it up a bit. I've also used kale in my green smoothies. I am obsessed with these things!


Little side note- Being a former Jamba Juice employee, I think I already had a built in love for smoothies. But after working there for some time, I quickly realized that they are not very healthy (imagine me looking very sad when I discovered this). Most of them are chalked full of froyo (their frozen yogurt) or sorbet. If you are going to Jamba Juice for a healthy option, choose one of the all-fruit smoothies. That's the healthy way to go! If you're going for a treat- by all means, indulge in a Chocolate Moo'd   :-)

Cage wishes you good smoothie eatin'!

Boring scientific note- All the main ingredients of my smoothies (strawberries, blueberries, spinach) are antioxidants. That word is becoming quite popular nowadays. I swear I see it everywhere on the newest "health" foods, but I have to wonder if people actually know what it means. When your body is busy breaking down substances (like glucose, remember that?) by metabolism, it is creating energy. One of the processes of metabolism is called oxidation. And while oxidation is good, in the sense that it helps create energy, it is bad in the sense that it creates harmful waste products. These substances can cause damage to our cells and some people think that they are the main reason for aging. I don't know if that's true or not. What I do know is that there are some foods, superfoods (I love saying that), that will fight off those waste products for us, so that they cannot damage our cells. Talk about heroes! So now that you know what antioxidants are, try including them in your diet. Here is a list of superfoods that I found- http://foodmatters.tv/content/superfoods