Even though most of the recipes I share are fairly simple to put together, many of them take a fair amount of time, and sometimes, time is a hard commodity to come by. I find this especially in the mornings, when the last thing I want to do is give up a few precious minutes of sleep to put together breakfast. The old adage that ‘breakfast is the most important meal of the day’ has been proven true by countless studies, helping to jumpstart your metabolism. If your body doesn’t get it’s morning fuel, it trys to hold on to the nutrients from the afternoon meal as long as possible, instead of burning it right away. Studies have shown that people who do not partake in breakfast have a more difficult time losing weight, while simultaneously putting on weight more easily. Also, those who skip breakfast have a tendency to consume more food than usual at their next meal and are more likely to snack on high-calorie foods to keep hunger at bay until then.
This all sounds like a tremendous hinderance to the healthy lifestyle many of us try to lead, but it’s such an easy thing to solve! If you find yourself short on time in the morning but still want to start the day off healthy, why not try a breakfast smoothie? There’s no real ‘recipe’ involved – use the fruits you like or the ones you have available. The best thing about a smoothie is that you can always use frozen fruit, which can cut down on the cost when the prices are high during the cold weather. My favourite smoothie can be found listed below, and I even make a few day’s worth at one time and stick them in the freezer (if you’re going to do this, my suggestion would be to move it from the freezer to the fridge the night before, so it’s not a solid block!)
Have a good smoothie recipe? Share it in the comments section below!
Strawberry Banana Breakfast Smoothies
Makes 2 10-12oz smoothies
8-9 large whole frozen strawberries
1 fresh banana
1 cup skim milk
1/2 cup 0% yogurt (I usually use vanilla greek yogurt)
1 tbsp flax seeds, whole or ground
- Throw all ingredients in a blender and pulse on low until strawberries are chopped, then blend until smooth. If smoothie is too thick, add a little more milk until desired consistency is reached.
- Pour into smoothie cups, and either enjoy right away or freeze. If freezing, remove from freezer and place in fridge the night before.
Each smoothie contains approximately 185 calories, 2g of fat, and 12g of protein.