With summer days gone by, it's time to hit the road running...but, "WAIT, not without a healthy breakfast!"  Even though our schedule became more hectic this week with work and school starting back up, we still wanted to pack in the nutrients before heading out the door!  To make our end of the summer transition smoother, I decided to make smoothies for breakfast!  Smoothies are easy and fun to make, and the best part about smoothies is they are just like GOD's mercy:  they are new every morning!  Depending on what your taste buds are in the mood for, you can whip up a creative smoothie in no time!  You just need to have a durable blender or smoothie maker available and your favorite smoothie ingredients on hand.  
                  I know my family loves fruit, so this past week I made sure we were stocked up on lots of frozen and fresh fruits so I could add them to our smoothies!  Of course, we need some type of liquid base for our smoothies, so having plenty of yogurt, milk, and other liquids available is a must.  These days, I try to keep maple syrup on hand to use as a sweetener if needed.  Pouring a little in to sweeten things up added the extra flavor our smoothies needed!  
                  When time allowed, my kiddos had fun making the smoothies with me and trying variations of ingredients.  J.T. says his favorite smoothies are those in which we added lemon.  The lemon livens up the smoothie and gives the other ingredients a sour kick!  J.T. and Aysia's least favorite smoothie so far is the one we had this morning - the GREEN kale smoothie.  I decided to change things up and make a green veggie smoothie instead of a fruit smoothie.  Well, just the idea of adding leaves to our smoothie turned the kids off quickly, not to mention the green color.  Shawn suggested using food coloring to make the smoothie more desirable!  Ella was the bravest kid in our home this morning!  She drank the most of her kale smoothie.  Personally, I enjoyed it!  To me, the green color represents healthy.  So, I say, "drink it up!"
                  Everyone has different opinions when it comes to what taste good!  That's the great thing about making smoothies, you can make a different kind for all your family members!  For quick, healthy breakfast, lunch or dinner smoothies, I encourage you to stock up on your favorite fruits and veggies and start creating smoothie recipes of your own!  I have included below some simple smoothies ideas we tried this week.  Just click on J.T., Aysia, and Ella's photos to see the recipe ideas. Looking forward to making a dessert smoothie tonight:  chocolate, bananas, cashew butter!  The possibilities are endless!!!