Fruitshakes... The Breakfast of Champions

One of the most difficult mental transitions for me when I was pregnant with my first child and in the throes of completely changing my diet, was the concept of eating only raw foods (with a focus on fruits) until lunch.  I mean... what about my morning cereal or bagel?  But it was right there in all the "health through nutrition" information I was studying (www.hacres.com; Dr. Joel Robbins tape series "Pregnancy, Childbirth & Children's Diet" to name a couple).  The science was logical and made sense to me... so, I embraced it and noticed immediate benefits.

Our breakfasts have looked different through the different seasons of their development, but when the boys entered school, we discovered a breakfast that is quick to make and consume, in-expensive, great tasting, and provides all the "green" energy the boys need to keep them mentally alert, provide even energy distribution, while keeping them full until lunch.

We named it "Fruitshake", but another great description is "Green Smoothie" (see pictures below).

Basic Recipe: 

• Banana's (organic recommended)
• Greens-- kale, spinach, cucumber, celery (either indiv or a combination)
• Water (distilled is our choice)

Fill 1/3 of blender with greens.  Add roughly 5 to 6 bananas.  Fill water to cover 3/4 of ingredients.  Blend well.

To change the flavor, add fresh or frozen berries, mango or pineapple... or any combination to the basic recipe above.

Some days I'll add toppings to make it seem like a special treat:  shredded coconut, vegan carob chips, frozen berries etc.

The wonderful thing about bananas is they hide the flavor of the greens!  At Matthew's 11th spend-the-night birthday party, several of his friends decided to be brave and try the green smoothie and they all said it was really good AND they drank it (ok, one of the boys didn't drink a lot, but he didn't eat much either).

Raw greens contain an abundance of protein, are high in fiber, make the body more alkaline and help support our homeostatic balance in the most optimal way.  An excellent resource about greens is a book called "Green for Life" by Victoria Boutenko. 

Green smoothies are also a quick and easy snack option.  Using them as a meal replacement once a day for a couple of weeks can help us parents quickly lose the extra holiday pounds we may have gained:)