Tropical Smoothie - recipe for a quick breakfast replacement

If you've been reading this blog for a few weeks you have probably figured out we lead a busy life.  My "real job" is in technical recruiting, Ross is an instructor at a college, furniture builder, and the primary driver for Roma who has a full schedule of school and activities.  Most weekdays they are up and out of the house by 6:30, so my mornings are spent making breakfast and packing lunches for both of them as they head out the door.  In addition to the dancer snacks I pack, and the frozen lunch thingy I put in Ross' lunch, I make smoothies.

I started making breakfast smoothies last semester because Ross' day started with tennis and he had very little time to eat before, nor did he want anything heavy.  So, the breakfast smoothie became a "thing" in our house.  There have been good ones and bad ones.  Lumpy ones and runny ones.  Every day they change based on the stuff I have to throw into them (and my mood) and each night I get commentary about the quality and ingredients.

The other day I got this message from him:

Yay!  It was good.  He liked it!  And he let me know early in the day so I could remember what I put in it.  I hurried to write it down on a post-it note and now here it is for all to enjoy!


Tropical Smoothie

• 4 chunks of frozen bananas - my secret smoothie weapon....got bananas getting too soft or turning black? Peel them and break them into chunks and stash them in a zip top bag in the freezer.  
• Trader Joe's frozen pineapple chunks
• Jumex Mango juice (also works with mango flavored coconut water)
• protein powder
• fiber powder 
• soy milk (or coconut, almond, rice, or cow milk....your preference)

Using a blender or Magic Bullet (I love mine and can't live without it!) put the banana chunks in the cup, add pineapple up to 3/4 of the cup, pour in the mango juice until the cup is 3/4 full, add 1 scoop of protein powder, 2 tablespoons of fiber powder (or flax seed if you prefer) and blend.  

Blend for about a minute and take the blades off and stir.  Top the cup with soy milk and blend again for about a minute.  Enjoy! 

Tip#1 - invest in some sports bottles with wide tops for ease of filling and a decent size drinking spout and then you can send your family on the road with a healthy, portable smoothie that has less sugar and expense than a morning stop at Jamba Juice.  

Tip #2 - The entire top shelf of my freezer is "smoothie central" and has bags and containers of frozen fruits and purees for smoothies.  When you have fruit that is starting to get mushy or over ripe but is not moldy, rather than throw it out, peel it and freeze it.  I slice strawberries and freeze them flat on a tray before dumping them into bags.  I take grapes off the stem and freeze them too.  Ditto with any berries, cherries (take the pits out), pears, oranges, etc.  About the only thing that doesn't freeze well is watermelon but that too is possible if you puree it and freeze it in dixie cups or ice cube trays.  Got left over coconut milk from making Thai food, yep, into the ice cube tray it goes for freezing.  When its time to make a smoothie mix and match flavors to create what ever you are in the mood for.