Of course, that would be too good to be true! But how about a quick, easy and healthy alternative that could be served for either breakfast or an afternoon snack?

During the chaos of the morning routine, when it’s raining and your kids are refusing to wear socks and the cat is depositing a hairball in the middle of the hallway, it would be nice if something would go smoothly.

Stage left: Enter a blender, some fruit (fresh or frozen), a little yogurt and voila! a smoothie saves the morning! Kids will love to place their orders with you, so that you can create their special faux ice cream breakfast. Instead of trying to please the troops by taking out four boxes of cereal and two kinds of frozen waffles, try these simple, healthy ideas instead:

Smoothie Basics

1. First, pour the liquid ingredients (juice, milk or yogurt) into the blender.
2. Dump in your fruit. Frozen fruit makes the smoothie thicker, so it feels more like a milkshake.
   1. If you have some bananas that are turning brown, peel them, bag them and then throw them into the freezer – they will be the perfect addition to your smoothies!
   2. Feel free to add extra stuff to your smoothie, like flax seed meal, which is high in Omega-3s. The smoothie will taste so good, they won’t even notice!
3. Blend until smooth. (You can use a hand-held “stick” or “immersion blender”, which is a little easier to clean than your larger blender.)

Wish We Were in Hawaii

• 1/2 cup low fat vanilla yogurt
• Splash of orange juice or milk, if desired
• 1/4 cup frozen pineapple chunks
• 1/4 cup frozen mango
• 1/3 frozen banana

The Blue Banana

• 1/4 cup low fat milk
• 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
• 1/2 banana
• 3/4 cup frozen blueberries

These recipes make one kid-sized smoothie. To be more efficient, double this recipe and drink some yourself – it is better for you than your usual coffee-only breakfast!