We like Breakfast

We are breakfast people. If fact, we in this household are fairly grouchy until breakfast has been eaten. I'm using the term 'we' very loosely here, since I am the only one who actually fits in the category. 

After attending a green-drink class taught by our neighborhood healthy lady, I was super fired up about adding veggies to our usual breakfast smoothies. So I ordered an extra large bountiful basket. Turns out, you can put all kinds of stuff in a smoothie! 

 See these beets here in the front? Throw in a chunk, and no matter how pukey greenish brown your veggie smoothie may be, this little powerhouse root will turn it a gorgeous deep red color. And, come to find out, as long as the drink is red my kids will consume it. 

After chewing our way through the first few mornings of smoothies, we decided to finally buckle down and buy a "real" blender. Our Shopko special had been doing a great job considering we only paid $30 for it six years ago, but...

There was this great sale on Blendtec's at Costco, which happened to correspond with a tax return...

Thus endeth the justification. I LOVE MY NEW BLENDER!! 

So this is basically what my countertop looks like every saturday morning, and throughout the week we blend it all up and slurp it down. It's been just over a month, and now I don't know how I ever did without my morning fruits and veggies.
Here's the unofficial and incomplete Kepsel guide to making a green drink taste good:

Our smoothies are about half fruit, half veggies. 

Put in a little bit of beet. The color makes it taste better.

Bananas can cure a gross smoothie. If it tastes funny, put in another banana. Voila!

Make sure it's cold. If I have extra smoothie, I always pour it into an ice cube tray and freeze it for tomorrow. If I don't have any frozen smoothie, I throw in regular ice cubes. Cold is key. 

Ginger adds a fun little kick, but don't add too much. Made that mistake once, and only once. 

Carrots, cucumbers, and beets are much sweeter than you would think, so don't worry about adding sweetener. 

If you buy too much produce, and it's starting to wilt, blend it up and freeze it for later.

I'll add more later if I think of any. Basically you just have to learn to love the taste of grass. Then you'll be set:)  If you're already making fruit smoothies, start by adding just one chunk of something green, and build from there. You might love it.

I love my morning drink. If I close my eyes while I drink, the taste is exactly the way my garden smells in august - when everything is green and ripening and wet. These smoothies are getting me through winter, physically and mentally/emotionally!