Every morning I have a routine that includes a smoothie.  I feel strongly about drinking milk and eating fruit, so I’ve combined the two.  I keep frozen fruit and whole milk on hand.  Add a little stevia, a half of a banana, five cubes of ice, and voila, it is perfect.

For variety I use about five strawberries or a small handful of cherries or a small handful of pineapple, and you get the picture.   I’ve been known to make it with mango or peaches, too.   I also use a cup of whole milk.

I was fortunate to grow up with fresh milk delivered daily from a small dairy near my hometown.  Mr. Davidson brought us a glass quart of fresh room temperature milk everyday.  You had to shake it up to get the cream on top to mix with the rest of the milk.

Today, out of a longtime habit I still shake my milk, even though it doesn’t need it.  My kids noticed this years ago.  It was a mindless habit left over from my childhood.

Speaking of my childhood, everyone I knew drank whole milk; and I cannot remember many elderly broken bones back then.  There was an occasional broken hip, but not as many as we seem to have today.

My paternal grandmother lived next door to us, and she suffered from vertigo when she reached her 70s.  We would hear her fall next door in her big old wooden house that set a good 6 feet up off the ground.  We knew to come quickly, and we expected something to be broken but it never was.  She lived to be 91, and except for a wrist break she never suffered anything serious.

I bought her groceries when she was in her 80s and noticed that she drank a gallon of milk a week.  She set a good example for all of us.  She kept moving and busy, she ate small portions but she ate every kind of food that she wanted including milk; and she kept a positive attitude.  She is my role model for living well into my elderly years.

As for my smoothies, to the fruit and milk I add my vitamins to the mix.  I take 320 mg of Magnesium Citrate, 25 mg of zinc and 5 mg of melatonin, all in capsule or tablet form.  I open the capsules and pour in the contents and/or toss in the tablets. 

I take all three of these to help me sleep, and they work very well.  You can read more about my problem with sleeping and what my doctor suggested Here in an earlier post.

Lately, I’ve been adding my collagen powder, too.

I have been known to add other flavorful ingredients to my smoothie, such as a few pecans or walnuts and/or a teaspoon of flax seeds.  It changes the texture somewhat, but I love it.

I also add extracts from time to time.  If I use pineapple for my fruit, then I add some coconut extract  and some rum extract.  It makes a great tasting virgin pina colada.  I’ve been known to make these later in the day substituting rum for the rum extract.

When I make a peach smoothie, I like to add orange extract.

I’ve even added a teaspoon of instant coffee for a coffee-flavored smoothie.  The coffee flavor goes with almost every type of fruit.

I mix my chosen ingredients together in a blender and blend until I cannot hear the ice banging around in there.

So there you have it.  My morning smoothie has become a real breakfast routine for me, along with an egg and some whole wheat toast.

Do you have a morning breakfast routine to share?  Or do you know of other ingredients that can add variety to my smoothies?  Please do share!