Tuesday, May 12, 2009

breakfast cookies and shakes

I just gave the kids cookies and shakes for breakfast, and was glad to see them gobble them up. That’s because the cookies were packed with nutritious whole grains and nuts, and the shakes were actually smoothies loaded with fresh fruit and yogurt.

And my kids think I’m the coolest mom in the world.

The smoothies were simple: frozen mangoes, vanilla yogurt, and a little bit of orange juice. Often I use frozen fruit from Trader Joe’s for smoothies--the three berry blend is awesome--but I’ve also taken to freezing my own. Overripe bananas are a great addition to smoothies. Just throw them in your freezer—peel and all—and whip them up with other fruit. (Take the peel off before you put it in the blender.) Have a handful of strawberries leftover from dessert last night? Throw them in the freezer. Overripe pineapple or papaya? Throw them in the freezer. You get the idea.

I found the mangoes on the “clearance” shelf yesterday—four overripe mangoes for a dollar. What a bargain! I chopped them up, put them in my freezer, and was ready to roll this morning. Poke around the produce section of your grocery store for these deals, and if you don’t see a bargain shelf, ask. I’ve bought beautiful, ripe and ready-to-eat fruit for a song, and most grocery stores are thrilled to sell it to you.

You can find the cookie recipe here: Zonya’s Breakfast Cookies.

Don’t let the oat bran and ground flax seed scare you. You can find them in the bulk section of many grocery stores, or in the baking aisle. They may seem expensive at first, but a little goes a long way. Whole grains are so important, and most of us don’t eat nearly enough of them. I made up a huge batch of these cookies a few weeks ago and keep them in the freezer. I pulled a dozen out last night for our breakfast this morning.

And voila. Breakfast is served!

Nutritious. Kid friendly. Economical.

Three of my favorite things.

4 comments:

Justin said...

that right there is a huge win... well done! excellent call on freezing slightly overripe fruit! and for the clearance fruit too... a few weeks back em and i were at meijer and i found 3 small mangoes for i think $0.49. I brought them home and ate them (with ava) as a dessert... they were PERFECT. even better idea with freezing them for smoothies.

me=jealous of that breakfast.

Llama Momma said...

Thanks, Justin.

Meier has the best clearance deals on produce, if you hit it right. One time I bought six ripe pears for a dollar. Not even overripe--just ripe.

3 Mangoes for 49 cents? WOO HOO. Love mangoes. Just don't like paying a buck a piece for them...

Mandy said...

Very smart! I love anything that hides the good stuff from kids.

turnitupmom said...

Can I be a cool mom too?? I'm definitely going to check out that recipe! Thanks :)