Quick Smoothies for Busy Mornings

I really like green smoothies and I think they are a FANTASTIC way to start the day and a nutritious addition to my diet.  Unfortunately, I have to be at work at 6am and have a 45-minute, one-way, commute.  This means that if I don't want to wake up at 3am, or spend $6 for a smoothie at a store, I have to be very efficient with my time in the mornings. 


Breakfast is very important to me and I NEVER skip breakfast.  For me, it's like a foundation to my day.  The few times I've skipped breakfast, I've paid for it with nausea and some pretty intense irritability.  Anyhoo, I wanted to start making green smoothies as a breakfast instead of a snack or something after dinner, but was concerned about the time to assemble, wash, cut, and put away all the different things I like to put in my smoothies.  Then I had a lightbulb moment: **light**  Why not take the time on Sunday to assemble my smoothies in separate containers?  That way, all I'd have to do in the morning is dump the container in the VitaMix, and be done.  I really felt like a genius at this point.  Not that I think that I'm the only one whose thought of this, but that I felt pretty smart for finding a great solution to my problem. 

So, I got out 5 containers along with all my smoothie-makin's and took about half an hour to get it all together and clean up after myself.  Here's a picture of the process:

In these smoothies, I was inspired by Katherine Natalia's Green Thickies.  I used spinach, collard greens, oranges, carrots, celery, a tad bit of broccoli, grapes, almonds, cooked quinoa, and flax.  First, I have to say that I think my veggie to fruit ratio was a bit off since these were very veggie-esque, even when blended with yogurt and orange juice.  I think I was a bit over-excited about how great this was going to be and how healthy I was going to feel.  Next time, I'm going to add more fruit. 

What worked out great is that when I came downstairs to make my breakfast, I dumped the container's contents into my VitaMix, added a bit of yogurt and juice or water, blend, pour, and enjoy.  I could even take it with my on my drive when I was REALLY running late.  So, all in all, I think this is another preparation that I'm going to add to my repertoire of things that make eating healthier easier. 



What do you do to make eating healthy easier and better fit your life?

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