Mornings around here can be a little rough, especially Mondays. Add to that an 8:45 appointment with the pediatrician, and plans for a proper breakfast have gone out the window. Well...for me anyway. I am happy to just grab that first cup of coffee, but I promised to start taking better care of myself this year. This last birthday hit me pretty hard. I wanted to eat better, exercise more and all that good stuff. I did a little Pinterest-surfing to find a breakfast I could whip up while the kids ate their cereal. I admit, sometimes I have to bring it in the car, but it is a balanced and protein-packed meal nonetheless!

If you look online for a green smoothie recipe, you'll find endless listings of pretty much the same drink. Most use spinach with a liquid (juice or milk), a sweetener (frozen bananas or other fruit) and a yogurt thickener. I wanted to add protein anywhere I could, so I used almond butter and almond milk. There are versions of the milk that have added protein as well and I grab that one when I can. Occasionally I substitute chocolate for the vanilla just for a little variety. By using oats, you get a bit more substance and fiber I don't like chunks in my drinks though, so I choose to pulse it into a powder befoe adding the liquid. Any yogurt is fine but the Greek version has...you guessed it, more PROTEIN. One serving of this powerhouse has at least 27g of protein, plus loads of other vitamins and minerals. It looks great on the breakfast table to boot! Don't be afraid of any individual ingredients. It tastes JUST like a peanut butter & banana milkshake! I have even been known to indulge in one for "dessert"; it's just that good. My husband and I used to have one every morning until he developed an allergy to bananas. Now we leave that out of his and add blueberries (be forewarned: it's no longer going to hold that beautiful green hue, but more of a brownish purple.) Our three year old requests one too and the one year old just sucked down his first few tablespoons this morning! So here's to breakfast, happily being put back on the to-do list...enjoy!

Ingredients

1/2 cup old-fashioned oats, uncooked
1 cup unsweetened (vanilla or chocolate) almond milk
1/2 cup Greek yogurt, unsweetened or vanilla
1 organic banana
2 large handfuls baby spinach (preferably organic)
1 Tablespoon creamy almond butter
1/2 cup frozen mango chunks, or ice

Pulse the oats in 1 second intervals for about 10 seconds, or until it is powder-like. Add the milk and remaining ingredients, blend until smooth. Drink while cold!