Banana Berry Smoothie

I was completely prepared to tell you all about my rockin' morning today.  We started off great - I woke up early, showered before the kids got up, put the crockpot going with some red beans for dinner, made smoothies for breakfast, woke up the kids and had Bug going on her new morning routine, everyone was up and happy.  We were laughing and playing and getting things done with no stress, no fighting, no whining.  I was writing this awesome "we've got mornings conquered" post in my head through the whole thing.  Then...

Yep, there's a 'then'.

THEN the kids followed me into my room.  THEN I left my room to grab a shirt out of the laundry room.  THEN Bug and Tank found a pair of scissors and cut some pretty ribbons to play with...from a brand new shirt I just bought (way on sale!) and haven't even worn yet.  I must confess that momentarily de-railed our no stress, on time, "we've got morrnings conquered" morning.  The new lessons I have learned?  No one in my closet unless they have a job. . . and I probably shouldn't leave sharp objects in the reaches of my 2 and 4 year olds.  Lucky for me - the part they cut was the tie.  I can likely sew it back together or replace it with a belt.  And the kids did not cut themselves/one another --- no children were harmed in the making of this blog post.

But let's get back to happier times, shall we?

The smoothie.  Bug is just like me in that she doesn't like to eat in the morning.  However, since she's started school, I try to cram something in find creative ways to feed her.  I took her to the store with me yesterday (you know, that whole, 'if they participate they are more likely to try' idea) to pick out some fruit for a smoothie.  We got some frozen mixed berries and tart cherries, some fresh bananas and orange juice.  We talked about smoothies (yummy, good, you will like these) all through the store.

This morning I grabbed all of this

2 cups frozen berries
1 cup frozen tart cherries
3/4 cup orange juice
1 Tbsp wheat germ*
2 bananas
*Totally optional, but no one will notice, it's packed with vitamins (!) and I happened to have it in the pantry

Throw everything in the blender

and give it a whirl.

MMMmmmm... pretty and fruity!

So what did Bug think??? It was a no-go. She gave it to the boys and opted to eat a grand total of 6 grapes for breakfast.

The boys (and myself) loved it.

Until it was out... that caused much distress.

Happy again with a quick refill.

Try this for your little ones (and/or yourself) in the morning.  It's a great way to start the day.  And don't forget to hide the scissors!
Get the printable recipe here.

Linking up at Works for Me Wednesday, The Wiegands, Fingerprints on the Fridge and Imprintalish