Green Berry Smoothie

I love smoothies in the morning. They're quick, filling and nutritious.

How is a smoothie filling? If you make smoothies like the ones I do, when you think about it, you're putting in a couple servings of fruit, two or three servings of vegetables, a couple of servings of nuts, and a superfood supplement. If you were to eat all of that separately it would be a pretty good meal.

I'm not a heavy eater at breakfast time... I used to be. At home, I would fry eggs and hash browns, make breakfast sandwiches, or put some fried eggs on top of rice. And I would always be super hungry again in a couple of hours, probably because my metabolism sped up super quickly to deal with the shock of all that food. In the past few years, I've weaned off of that. What good was it doing me to eat a fried meal in the morning and then snack all day until lunch? Now, I make a delicious smoothie about an hour after I wake up and I can keep going until lunchtime without discomfort from hunger. I made this transition slowly and I am glad I did!

That said, here's another smoothie I enjoy. The superfood powder that I list as optional really adds in a kick of healthy goodness and energy - I enjoy Amazing Grass Berry Flavor Drink Powder.

 When it's on sale, buy extra fresh berries and extra bananas. Slice the bananas into one inch slices and place on a piece of parchment paper in a single layer. Freeze them, and then place into bags - do the same with the berries. This way you always have frozen fruit for your smoothie and you don't have to use ice.

No picture because, well, the deep green superfood powder makes no smoothie look pretty ;)

Green Berry Smoothie

Layer these ingredients in the following order:

• about 1 cup frozen banana slices
• 4 frozen blackberries
• about 1/3-1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries and strawberries
• 1/4 cup cashews
• 1 1/2 cups baby spinach leaves
• 10 fresh mint leaves
• 1-2 cups vanilla soymilk (depending on your blender and how thick you want the smoothie - just make sure the frozen fruit is completely submerged)
• 1 scoop Amazing Grass Berry Flavor Drink Powder (optional)
• 1-2 teaspoons honey

Blend, starting on a low speed and increasing slowly, until completely smooth. Give it some time - it takes a minute for the cashews and spinach to break up.