Back when I was keeping regular office hours, breakfast was always tough. I don’t know why it was easy to prepare lunch the night before but then over and over again forget about breakfast, but it was. There were months of quick grabs on the way out the door—a muffin, some leftovers, cookies whenever they were around. (Of course.)
And honestly, even though nowadays I’m most likely still in my pajamas past 10 AM (and you’d assume that such a fact would imply leisurely gourmet breakfasts), I’ll just be honest: in actuality, the biggest thing that’s saved me is the smoothie.
See, sometime last year—around the same time that all kinds of other changes were happening—I started making smoothies. I had made them before (a certain blueberry-orange-banana one made its appearance around here just weeks before my diet change), but this was different.
There were bags and bags of frozen fruit, for starters, blended in all kinds of new combinations. In the beginning, it was strawberries, bananas and raw milk. Maybe with cocoa powder added, maybe with yogurt or kefir if I were out of milk. Strawberries turned to blueberries turned to mixed berries and back again. Sometimes there were mangoes or kiwi or pineapple added in. At some point I started adding raw eggs for protein. And a few times, I tried greens like kale—but it wasn’t until this year that greens became a staple, thanks to a few experiences of intensely green shakes (as inspired by the nutritional research and consultation being done by these guys). I felt my tastebuds changing and grew to really want vegetables in my smoothies, too.
Then there was one more thing: last month, when Tim and I went to visit my family for a few days, my dad surprised me with the perfect gift:
a brand-new Vitamix
(I know, I know, but I told you, he is crazy generous).
I almost cried.
So I tell you all that to say, or to explain, that somewhere along the line I became someone who has a smoothie every. single. morning. Like many changes, it happened gradually, naturally, the way changes often do, but when I look back, I’m kind of awed by how different things look.
You know, it’s like the way that you stand your kid against the wall and mark his height each year or, you water your tomato bush every day but then suddenly notice it’s bloomed!. Sometimes it’s not until the looking back that we see change best.
Today, my morning routine is pretty simple: throw ingredients in the Vitamix, pour into glass or old kombucha bottle, and head out the door.
There is always fruit:
and a few big leaves of greens (kale, collards, chard):
with liquids—milk or kefir/yogurt with water:
then I throw in some cod liver oil for Omega 3s (you won’t taste it anyway, and it’s easier than trying to remember to take a spoonful every day) or a few probiotics:
The possibilities are endless, so things never get boring. And the particular version I bring you today is the one I made Sunday, filled with the flavor of fresh peaches (which were $0.69 a pound last week) and the grassy kick of greens. The name’s a little hokey, but the taste—and the nutritional value—definitely isn’t. Peaches N’ Greens: now that’s a good breakfast.
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