As a busy mom, mornings can usually end up being breakfast free (or full of a quick bowl of sugar cereal). By the time everyone get up, gets cleaned, and gets ready to get out of the door by 7AM (which never happens), there is hardly any time for the traditional bacon and eggs. Even though I don't have to be at work until 9AM, I try to spend about 45 minutes to an hour (Lord willing) Monday through Friday at the gym lifting and/or cycling in winter or outside in the spring and summer running at the track (Plus another 30 - 60 minutes after work pushing out some more cardio if time permits.) So after showering, packing my gym/work bag, picking up all of E's toys leftover from the night before, making sure the dishes are done, throwing in a load of laundry, doing some folding, wiping down the bathroom and a few other odds and ends, I need to make sure that I have enough good proteins and carbs in my body before I hop on my bicycle and head to the gym.


Winter has been rough on my body. Between all of us (and literally everyone we know) battling a series of upper respiratory infections and the flu (despite the vaccine) and the effects winter plays on some lingering auto immune issues I have had since a child, I have not been my usual strong, agile self lately. That it why it is even more important that I have a clean, healthy breakfast. For this (and a number of other) reason, I absolutely love morning protein smoothies.

Since I started lifting again about two years ago, I have played around with protein powders trying to find one that I like, both taste and nutrient wise. I have tried plant based methods (and still use hemp protein at times), paleo powders, and your good old fashioned giant tubs of protein powder with the pictures of the guys whose biceps can engulf you with a single swipe. Going into your local GNC as a female you feel like you have accidentally entered the men's locker room: a bunch of jacked-looking dudes glare at you wondering why a girl has entered their territory. So, when I have absolutely no interest in dealing with that nonsense I usually just hit my local Whole Foods and pick up what I have found to be my favorite protein powder so far: Tera's Whey. Their simple, clean formula gives me a little under half of my daily protein needs in two scoops that are not only flavorful, but they are moderate in calorie, carbohydrates, and are easy for me to digest. Plus, at about $20 a container, I'm not complaining.

This morning, as I stepped on cars and did dishes, I made one of my favorite smoothies with my protein powder: spinach & blueberry with chia seeds. You can pretty much make it in your sleep and it has a nice boost of Vitamins A and C, plus a little calcium and iron. The recipe is easy to make and has a great texture: not too thick so that it can be drank quickly, because we all know that it quite important some days. It is also under 300 calories if you use Almond Milk and contains no added sugars. You can see the photo below for the recipe.



One of my pet peeves with smoothies is that everyone likes to chock them up full of things like juices and other sugars like chocolate, ice cream, sherbert etc...making them pretty much devoid of what nutrition may be lingering behind it all. Don't get me wrong, I love my Smoothie King franchises when I get to them, but I'm not keen on ordering the 1,700 calorie "smoothie" meant to taste like birthday cake, because, well, there is enough sugar in there I could have baked an entire cake with and eaten half of the bowl of icing and still had some left over!.

Needless to say that I didn't end up having my breakfast right away this morning. No, in fact it ended up being something like this and it does pretty much every other day:



...because life happens and let's face it, those "perfect" breakfast moments only happen with SAHMs in the suburbs and in Amish families. At least I was able to keep my nutrition in balance even when my life is not.