Keeping it Smooth or Going with the Grain?

Making a healthy breakfast doesn't have to be one more thing to do in the morning.  In fact, while you are waiting for the water to boil while making dinner, you could have breakfast mostly prepared for the next morning.  Read further for two ways to do so.

If you have adopted a morning smoothie making habit into your lifestyle to increase your vegetable and fruit intake, here is a tip to make the process faster and more efficient and otherwise making the morning rush a little less rushed. 

Prep the blender the night before.  Meaning, wash and prepare the smoothie ingredients the night before and place in your blender and store in the refrigerator overnight.  If you have one of the stronger blenders on the market, cutting the fruit or vegetables is not necessary either.  Then in the morning, simply pour the liquid and ice into the blender, place the blender jar on the motor device and push start. 

Here are two quick recipes featuring the beautiful golden apricot, soon to be in season.  They are full of vitamins A, C and fiber.   

Apricot Parsley Smoothie

Gather

• 1 cup sliced organic apricots
• 1/2 cup loosely packed parsley
• 4 or 5 romaine lettuce leaves
• 1 tablespoon whole flax seed
• 1 teaspoon chia seeds
• dash of vanilla
• fresh juice of an orange
• squeeze of honey
• 2 cups coconut or almond milk
• ½ cup ice

blender

Now do this

The evening before . . . 

• Place first eight ingredients in blender container overnight
• Cover and store in the refrigerator.

The next morning . . . 

• Add milk of choice and make sure it slides to the bottom of the jar as liquids should go to the bottom of the blender.  
• Add ice.  
• Blend to desired consistency adding more milk or ice to your taste.

If you are looking for a more substantial breakfast but don’t have a lot of time in the morning, whole grain steel cut oats is a great option.  Here is the recipe for a five minute preparation the night before to make it a 10 minute preparation the next morning, saving lots of time as it is typically a 40 minute task.  I have done this several times and the grains turned out great.  Besides tasting good, steel cut oats are more nutritious and contain more fiber than the regular oatmeal.   

Steel Cut Apricot Oatmeal Cheat

Gather

• ½ cup Steel Cut Oats
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 cup apricots, cut into small dice
• 1 teaspoon chia seeds
• 1 teaspoon maple syrup

Now do this

The evening before . . .

• Bring water to a boil.
• Sprinkle oats in water.  Stir.
• Simmer one minute.
•  Cover pot with lid and store in refrigerator overnight.
• Place diced apricots in covered container.      

The next morning . . .

• Add diced apricots to the pot of oatmeal and stir.
• Place pot on stove and cook gently for 10-12 minutes or until soft.
• Drizzle with syrup.
• Sprinkle with chia seeds.

photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthijs/541420352/">.m for matthijs</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a>