Guest Post by Selena Moffitt
School’s in! How did your first week go? Yes, for you, not your child. Your kiddo probably rocked it. Moms across the city rocked the “Who-is-that-mommy?” profile trying to get everyone dressed, fed, brushed, and out the door at precisely 7:26 am!
Inevitably, someone dribbled milk on their freshly washed school attire, couldn’t find their shoes or socks or special truck that MUST accompany them into the car, and the baby probably pooped right as you lifted him into his car seat. Perfect. And now it’s 7:31. The dream of arriving to school calm and relaxed is shattered.
It’s time to do something drastic.
Want to shave off a good ten minutes from your morning routine? Skip breakfast. Not food, just the sit-down part. Instead, make a Morning Milkshake. You are smiling, aren’t you? Milkshake for breakfast? Genius. Mom has just received rockstar status.
And, it’s easy. Whip up the milkshake, pour into cups (with lids, of course), give em’ a straw, strap in the car, and you are off to school! Breakfast will be happily in their tummies by the time you reach the school parking lot. The time: 7:36 – PERFECT! You rocked it!
Morning Milkshake
Serves 2 (20 oz.)
10 oz. of milk, milk substitute, or water
1 banana
¾-1 c. frozen fruit or berries
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
2 T. flax meal or flax oil
½ t. brewer’s yeast
1 T. coconut oil
1 handful of spinach (If desired, use blueberries to cover up the green color.)
- Pour the milk, milk substitute, or water into a blender.
- Add a banana, frozen fruit, protein powder, flax, yeast, oil, and spinach. Toss in blueberries, if desired.
- Blend until creamy. Pour and serve.
Chocolate Monkey Milkshake
Serves 2 (20 oz.)
10 oz. of milk, milk substitute, or water
1 frozen banana (if not frozen, add ½-3/4 c. ice)
1 heaping scoop of peanut butter
1 scoop chocolate protein powder
1 T. coconut flakes or oil
2 T. flax meal or flax oil
- Pour the milk, milk substitute, or water into a blender.
- Add banana, peanut butter, protein powder, coconut, and flax.
- Blend until creamy. Pour and serve.
Give it a go, and let me know what style leather jacket you choose. For you are now a Rockstar Mom!
Selena Moffitt is a mom on a mission to help women survive motherhood through simple changes for herself and her family. Her blog, 1 Moms Mission, provides solutions for improved relationships with God, the Earth, and Yourself. She spends most days playing referee to her two young boys and making it through the day alive. In her spare time, she loves to read blogs, compete in triathlons, and hang out with her amazing husband.
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I will post more when I have better access…but brewers yeast and nutritional yeast ARE different. 😉
Oh, hey! I have nutritional yeast! LOL! Thank you, Jamaica!!
Kelleigh, here are the differences between the yeasts:
Brewers’s yeast does have a taste to it…so its best to use very little to keep it from the kiddo radar! Brewer’s yeast is often used as a source of B-complex vitamins, chromium, and selenium.
Nutritional yeast has a cheesy flavor and is a great source of B12 (which is why it is used so much in vegan cooking).
So, really, you could use either one…I sometimes switch it up!
As for the whey vs. protein powder. Seems feasible!
Protein powder: I am new to Azure and I will email with what I use. It really depends on if you want animal protein or vegetable protein. I will recommend that if you go the animal protein route, you find whey powder that utilizes dairy from grass-fed cows.
For GREENER smoothies, use strawberries vs. blueberries, and DARK LEAFY greens 🙂
Sometimes I make “purple monsters” 🙂
Whew…that’s a long reply!
I hope it helps 🙂
Selena Moffitt
Okay, so what is brewer’s yeast, and does it taste funny? Will my kids notice it?
And, can you suggest a good protein powder? (An Azure link, if you shop there, would be great!)
I’ve been making smoothies all summer, and my kiddos just LOVE them!! I love the suggestion to put all of the ingredients together the night before. I’ve been customizing my smoothies by mixing them in little mason jars and attaching them to my blender! Need a visual? http://kelleighratzlaff.com/life/mason-jar-blender-smoothies/
Okay, another question: Do you think I would get the same benefits using liquid whey (leftover from yogurt making) as I would with a protein powder? I’d rather use what I already have, I suppose!
Kelleigh- The Mason jar… brilliant. I have never heard of, much less considered, doing such a thing. I am going to try this tonight. Thanks for the idea!
Okay, I actually don’t know what brewer’s yeast is, but I just had to add this. There is an old-time movie theater in Roslyn, WA that used to put it on their popcorn and it was CRAZY delicious! That’s my thought for the day. 🙂
Ah! You crack me up! Okay, so I’ll just HAVE to figure out what Brewer’s Yeast is! I made green smoothies with spinach for the first time today, and to our disappointment, they did not turn green. 🙁 The boys (and mama) were so sad. I need to find a greener vegetable!!
Brewer’s yeast is otherwise known as “nutritional yeast”. I buy it in bulk at either Winco or Fred Meyers. I use it for making homemade Yumm sauce for Yumm bowls (if you don’t know what that is google Cafe Yumm) and I love popping some popcorn and seasoning it with a tad bit of popcorn oil and yeast, so yummy!!!
I made my kids smoothies with kale, sliced almonds and all other kinds of goodies over the summer. Am I missing something that kale blended up is not as nutritious as eating kale whole? Does blending it somehow remove the nutritional components? It’s still raw, I’m not boiling the holy heck out of it or anything.
I also pureed kale and froze it in ice cube trays to add to pasta sauces and such. Still nutritious right? My kids are really good about eating fruits and veggies, but I’m still learning and love new tricks!
Melody, adding nuts is a great protein bonus!
As for the kale…it is equally nutritious eaten whole or blended! Blending it breaks down the cell walls better, but that may be more detail than you need. 🙂
You are doing an awesome job and I love the frozen ice cube idea. PERFECT
AWESOME idea! I love this, I’ve switched to smoothies myself and the kids are always jealous of my drink, why…seriously why don’t I think of these things myself?!!!!
Oh, and if we’re really going to be in a hurry the next morning I get it all together in the blender and put it in the fridge till morning…Then it’s just one step in the morning… Hit the on button!
Thanks for adding this! They usually do very well in the fridge for a day and maybe two!
Great to add some probiotics to it too! I make a morning smoothie for my 1 year old every morning, gets some fresh fruit and calcium in her and I put her powdered multivitamin and probiotics in there too. She loves it and we’re both happy!
Sheesh, tough crowd. I think it sounds like a complete meal to me, Calcium, Protein, all sorts of vitamins and antioxidants from the fruits and veggies! And if you have kids, you know that none of them will ever choose Kale/spinach, flaxseed etc. But a milkshake, that they’ll take! I can’t wait to try it! Great post!
Thank Jen! I hope it goes well.
I noticed you had Flaxseed pictured, but your recipe calls for flaxmeal. I would say that if time is your enemy, then by all means make a shake for them. I do disagree that they are “wasting energy by digesting food, or that it makes them sleepy”. I have never heard or seen that happen before. Working for a school myself, I see quite the opposite; kids who haven’t had a decent breakfast come to school with no energy. I am going to try out your shakes for myself. All the ingredients are wonderful..adding mango as well to mine. 🙂
Hi Liz! You are right! I did saw one thing and use another. If you do use flax seeds, you just need to give them a whirl in your blender (or coffee grinder) to break the seed open…basically making it into meal.
As far as my statement: Predigestion occurs in the mouth when we chew the way we should – until food is a liquid. When food is in liquid form , it is easier on our digestion, and our body utilizes less energy in the digestive process.
Our bodies get the nutrition, and have more energy afterward in comparison to a meal eaten with minimal chewing.
Does that help explain it better?
I hope you enjoy the shakes! Have a great day.
Dani, you are correct. All the food is there and it’s already “pre-digested” or broken down so that our little kiddos don’t waste energy digesting food and making them sleepy right before school starts!!!
I could go on and on about breakfast cereal, but I won’t…unless someone asks me to do so 🙂
If a smoothie isn’t your thing, then great. The nutrition is far superior to most breakfasts because you can add veggies (especially greens,) which for most kids, is a HUGE improvement. Kids will almost always pick the non-vegetable meal when given the chance 🙂
It’s not like a juicer, which removes the “solid” part of the food. Everything is still there. You are just using a different utensil (straw vs. fork). No different than giving them a whole banana or a spinach salad, etc. What’s your definition of “real” food??? I think adding the protein powder and the brewer’s yeast is going to pack a much better nutritional punch than a bowl of honey nut cheerios, or worse, a toaster pastry on the go.
I don’t think you are being mean. Just overly judgemental. Parenting is hard. I don’t think we should tear each other down in our attempts to do the best we can for our kids. I know this would be a step UP on the nutritional ladder for us some mornings. Not saying I feed my kids junk food for breakfast, but there is room for improvements. But I guess we can’t all be perfect parents like you.
I say bravo to the post.
Wow…a little touchy aren’t you?
Thumbs down on this post. Kids need real food for digestion.
You probably think I’m being mean. But, really, liquid food is not a substitute for solids.
O rly?
Will an ordinary blender work well with the flax seed? I have friends with the VitaMix but I have a cheap blender… their smoothies with Kale etc in them are fab but mine are grainy. : (
thanks
kari
The flax meal may be better for you because flax seed DOES need to be pulverized to be digested. A little trick if you don’t have a high powered blender: you can steam or blanch the kale (in bulk and freeze), that way it isn’t so tough and will be creamier in your smoothie.