Breakfast! The Meal of Champions

I love breakfast!

It's got to be one of my three favorite meals of the day for sure! And breakfast is good any time of the day. Pancakes for dinner? You betcha!

Wait.

No. That's the old me. The new me doesn't get to scarf down blueberry pancakes like there's no tomorrow. The new me chooses breakfast wisely. A good breakfast can determine how the rest of my day goes. If I have a good start, I'm more likely to keep the momentum the rest of the day.

And what makes for a good breakfast? Protein! Who knew? Isn't it strange that most of our breakfast choices are carb loaded? Pancakes and french toast and muffins and bagels and donuts and waffles and all that other yummy stuff. Eating protein instead or at least WITH our carbs is the way to go. It helps us feel fuller, faster, finer.

So, that's what I've been trying to do. Get a serving of good protein in every morning.

Bacon and sausage protein? Nope.

More like eggs, peanut butter, ground flax seed, low fat cottage cheese protein.

My new favorite breakfast these days is a homemade fruit smoothie along with a piece of whole grain toast smeared with peanut butter. Ahhh! Delicious, nutritious, and non-malicious.

Evelyn's Probably-Not-So-Original Fruit Smoothie:

*sliced up fresh fruit (Use whatever's lying around the kitchen. This week it's fresh strawberries, kiwi, and pineapple. Thank you Costco and Bountiful Baskets!)
*8 oz light, nonfat vanilla yogurt (This will sweeten up your smoothie "naturally")
*1 cup of ice
*a little soy milk (or cow's milk) to make it the consistency you want
*2 TBSP ground flax seed (I found a 3 lb bag at Costco for something like $6)

Side note: Flax seed is a great source of protein, fiber, and omega-3 fatty acids. It's easy to throw into foods like baking mixes, cereals, soups, and of course smoothies. After a friend in AZ told me about the benefits of flax seed I did a little investigating. You can find flax seed in three different forms: whole seeds, ground up, and liquefied into oil. From what I read, not that I'm ANY kind of expert, ground is the way to go. Whole seeds will just pass through the system undigested and flax oil does is too processed and does not contain all of the beneficial seed.

Use a blender to mix up your smoothie ingredients, pour into a glass, and enjoy!

The first day I made this I had three little kids snooping into my glass vying for a drink. Since then I make extras and share. Hey! If it's healthy for me, it's healthy for them. And they think they're drinking milk shakes for breakfast. Hand me The Coolest Mom award now, thank you.

I would love some new breakfast ideas. Got some???