In The AM

Mornings are a bit of a struggle around this house. Especially seeing as how right now it's about 5 degrees out and dark at 7AM. Nothing makes you want to get up from your warm cozy bed more than a cold dark world, said no one ever. Seeing as how both of us end up squeezing in as much sleep/bed time as possible, there is usually little to no time left for breakfast. That's why when I found these off of Pinterest from Monica at The Yummy Life (ps you're a saint), I hopped on that bandwagon in two seconds flat. A: they're good for you. B: they taste fantastic. C: they're SO easy. D: grab and go, baby.

The first ones I made were not fantastic. Triple berry and pineapple do not work together. I'll admit it. Plus, that particular recipe yielded a little too much smoothie for us to handle. So I did some tweaking with the measurements and made my own flavor, and I do believe I found the honey hole.

What you'll need (MAKES ABOUT 4 SMOOTHIES):

• 2/3 c of oats (don't use steel cut! rolled will be your best bet - super cheap in the bulk section of your grocery store)
• 2/3 c of yogurt (I use Chobani Vanilla 0%)
• 2 2/3 c of fruit (either frozen or fresh, I use half strawberries, half triple berry blend)
• 2 2/3 c of juice/milk (I used half milk/half juice the first time. On the good ones, all apple juice)
• 4 tsp chia seeds (we found ours at Whole Foods)

      OPTIONAL EXTRAS: Using the recipe above, we don't feel the need to add anything else. But feel
      free to add your own stuff!

• 2 2/3 tsp (or more) sweetener (honey, agave nectar, etc)
• 2 2/3 tbsp (or more) jam/preserves (to add a little more punch with the fruit flavor)
• 1/3 to 1 1/3 tsp spice (apple cinnamon flavor in the fall anyone?!)
• 2 2/3 (or more) tsp cocoa powder
• 2/3 tsp to 1 1/3 tsp vanilla (see Monica's Cherry Vanilla Smoothie, looks DELISH.)

Since we don't have a food processor, we use our coffee grinder (use whatcha got!) to break down our oats and chia seeds. Blend those until you have essentially a powder. No chunks, otherwise you'll be chewing your smoothie.

In your REAL blender, throw in your yogurt, liquid, fruit, and oat/chia powder. Blend all of the necessary ingredients thoroughly before you add in any sweetener. Taste it, and if it's not to your liking, tweak it from there (i.e., add honey, more fruit, etc). Once completely blended, (I usually blend for a good 3-4 minutes), pour into containers. We use mason jars so we can bring them along. We've done all individual jars, and also one big jar. If you had a fancy Magic Bullet of sorts, those individual cups would work perfectly as well.

This part is key. Put them in fridge for at least 4 hours. We usually do overnight. Like Monica said, this is so the oats/chia can soften/thicken/absorb all of the above and make a thick creamy smoothie that is delish. Once that time is up, toss those bad boys into the freezer to make 'em nice and cold. Since we keep ours in the fridge overnight usually, I toss them in the freezer right when I get up, so by the time we run out the door they're cold enough but thawed so we can have them asap.

These are so good because they're filling. They're not done with ice, so nothing gets watered down. Thick and creamy berry-licious smoothies. Just how I like 'em.

So tell me, how crazy busy are your mornings? Do you get a chance to read the paper and have your coffee/smoothie, or are you like Kyle and I and run out the door like a chicken with your head cut off? Any good flavors you've discovered? Share them!

PS: Check out Monica's blog The Yummy Life. She has a TON of fantastic recipes for everything. She also has a make-ahead oatmeal recipe that might just be your cup of tea!

xx