I hope you all had a wonderful and mindful Thanksgiving. Now its back to work and time to cleanse from all that apple and pecan pies!!!!

I have to confess that my saving grace in this life are smoothies. I love knowing that the first thing my family gets in their system in the mornings is a good dose of fruits and/or veggies. I don’t make it every single day, mainly so we get a sense of variety, but I do make them almost every day. On Thanksgiving morning, I made a delicious Beet Smoothie. I do realize BEETS are a hit or miss. Some people love them, and some think they taste like dirt. To be completely honest, my kids do not enjoy eating them as a side. I’ve tried roasting them, raw, marinated with oil and vinegar., marinated in an orange/ginger sauce… but no matter what I do, I usually get a strong “I don’t like beets!” I can’t get my toddler to eat one and my older boys will eat a couple just so they get their dessert, but they don’t enjoy them.

But smoothies are a different story. Even though my kids, at first glance, complain that they don’t want beets in their smoothie, once they try it they always like it. Even my little one (my picky one) chugged 3 cups of this stuff!!! Yes I said 3!!!

Smoothies have several benefits (other than their nutritional value)

1. Peace of mind. After my child has 3 cups of a nutritious smoothie like this one, it takes the edge off for the rest of the day. I know my toddler is likely not to have dinner (the most difficult meal). I know he is likely to get some form of junk at school. And I know I’m not with him at lunch time, so I don’t know how he will do with the lunch I prepare him. But even if the rest of the day is a total disaster, I know he has been nourished.

2. Food does not go to waste. We buy highly perishable foods…and most of these foods are expensive. It is really sad when you have to throw it away because you didn’t make it within its shelf life. Smoothies allows you to use a lot of vegetables and fruits at once, especially when you see that the greens are starting to wilt or the fruit is too ripe. You can approach your kitchen more from a clean up crew perspective than anything else. Scour your fridge for any veggies/fruits that are just about to go bad (and that go well in a smoothie of course) and use those that day. If you are clueless as to a recipe for any particular item, just google it. For example, google beet smoothie and tons of recipes will show up). There are even apps for that. Tip: look through a few recipes to find one that has several ingredients you have in your fridge. You don’t have to follow the recipe exactly, it is just a guide so you know what fruits and veggies work best together. But if something calls for oranges and you only have apples…it is not the end of the world, you can use what you have.

3. Its quick and easy. All you really need for a good smoothie is a good blender. One of the best investments I have ever made is the Blendtec. Seriously. The consistency you get with a high power blender is just plain and simply worth it. Its nice that you don’t have to overthink a smoothie recipe in the morning. You grab what you’re going to use, give it a good rinse, chop what needs to be chopped (with a high power blender you only need a rough chop at best), throw it in there, and press a button. Voila!!!

4. You can boost it up. Catching a cold? Throw some vitamin C and D in the smoothie (I open up the vitamin c tablets and pour the powder in the smoothie…with vitamin D I have drops so I add some drops). Don’t like swallowing multivitamins (toss it in the smoothie). You can also add superfood, seeds, coconut oil, protein powder…your options are unlimited. A lot of these additions don’t change the texture or taste of the smoothie but really boost up the nutritional value. This does take some experimenting however. Chia seeds (for example) WILL change the texture of the smoothie… this is something you may or may not like. But this is a journey…its okay to get one thats not so great once in a while. You’ll learn and next time it’ll be better.

Here is my Beet Smoothie recipe.

• 2 Beets (raw)
• 8 ounces of orange juice (I squeezed a bunch of tangerines and put the juice from that)
• 1 long stalk of celery
• 1 apple
• 1 cup of spinach
• water

Have a fantastic week!!!!