When I was a little girl my parents would come to wake me up for the day and say "rise and shine." Those simple little words would be such a positive start to my day.  So to get the day started off right, I tend to still say this to my kids. Mostly to my youngest since the oldest is "too old" for that. Anyway, mornings can be just a tad bit crazy around here as I am sure it is at your house too. The hustle and bustle to get out the door on time leaves very little room to get a good nutritious meal into our bellies before we tackle the day. 

Having fresh fruit and good, wholesome ingredients on hand allows me to give them something other than sugar laden treats.  Shopping at my local Kroger store gives me a hand in making sure I am prepared for whatever comes at us on any given day. I love that the Natural and Organic Foods have an entire aisle dedicated to just that-natural foods. You do not find that in many other grocery store chains, at best there is just a section with a few items. They have great brands but with an affordable price tag allowing me to get more bang for my buck and that makes this mom feel good about what I feed my family. They have a wide selection of refrigerated and frozen foods as well as fitness bars, snacks, and a growing selection of gluten-free, wheat-free, and dairy-free products. Not only that, but they have a growing selection of health and beauty items as well. 

My kids love it when I make smoothies, and I love that I can control what goes in them.  Most of the time I just dump things in and wait for the magic to happen. Fresh fruits, yogurt, almond milk, the list can go on and on. Also from time to time I throw a little "green" stuff in there without them having a clue. They don't bat an eye and the oohs and aahs are music to this mom's ears. 





The key to making a great smoothie is using wholesome ingredients. While on a grocery run I made sure to pick up what I needed so we wouldn't fall into a sugar laden rut on our crazy mornings. Silk Almond Milk has just 30 calories per serving and just the right amount of vanilla. You won't even miss the sugar. Silk Almond Milk has more calcium than milk, excellent source of Vitamin E, and no cholesterol or saturated fat. Combine that with fresh fruit, orange juice, Noosa yoghurt, and a banana and that there my friends is one spectacular smoothie. 








Sunshine Smoothies

1/2 cup of assorted fresh fruit
2 cups Silk Unsweetened Almond Milk
1/2 cup orange juice
1 8 ounce container of Noosa Yoghurt (any flavor-I used blueberry)
1 banana, sliced

Place the fruit, almond milk, orange juice, yogurt, and banana in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy.  Adding ice cubes can keep it cold or placing your fruit in the freezer the night before and just dump it in the blender the next morning. 


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Blueberry Oatmeal Smoothies

1 cup frozen blueberries
1 small container of plain, vanilla, or blueberry yogurt. (Greek Yogurt works well too)
1/2 cup of almond milk (1%, 2%, or whole milk works too)
2 Tablespoons of honey (may need to add more depending on sweetness of berries)
1/4 cup of old fashioned oats

Ground oatmeal in the blender until fine. Combine the remaining ingredients and blend. Serve immediately.  


Check out Williams-Sonoma's website for many great recipes. My mixer is one I bought on clearance at a big box store but I am really eyeing this immersion blender. My Mom has an immersion blender and I love using it. I could find all kinds of uses for it. Hint to the hubby.....my birthday is next month!

Check out all the blenders Williams-Sonoma has to offer here--->  Blenders

I wanted to share a picture of my daughter before her preschool graduation on Friday.  It is so hard to believe she is going to be a kindergartner in a few months.  Time has really flown by, feels like yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital. 

She is my little helper in the kitchen.  I rarely get to cook anything on my own.  I know she loves it, so I ordered her a cookbook that is all her own, Gooseberry Patch Kids in the Kitchen Year 'round Fun. The first recipe we tried was the Banana-Berry Smoothies.  The first time we made it, in her excitement, I did not read the directions fully. I prepared the fruit and put it in individual baggies in the freezer for the next time.  This morning she was begging me for strawberries, which I did not have, but I had these in the freezer.  Crisis averted!


I decided with the leftovers in the blender to place in popsicle molds.  Placed in the freezer for 4 -5 hours. She was so excited about these and could not wait.  I guarantee we had to check them every hour to see if they were done!


She loved these, I will continue to make these for her.  We think she may be allergic to red dye so red popsicles are not on her list of foods she can eat.  I like being able to make her a treat she can enjoy and not feel like she is missing out.


This book is really cute and would be good for any age. We made these not realizing that these were actually for Memorial Day.  I highly recommend this cookbook for any aspiring chef.


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