Banana Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie Recipe

Mornings in our house are admittedly hectic, and despite our best laid plans, there is inevitably one child who decides the morning is the best time to finish a project or alert me to the fact that I need to stop at the store before school. Even as I am simultaneously packing lunches and signing last-minute permission slips, I have breakfast as a focus of my morning routine. My kids do not function well without fuel, and they know that breakfast is a must in our household. On those days when my kids throw a curve ball into our routine, I stick with staples like my Banana Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie and my Blueberry Yogurt Parfait to ensure my kids are fueled for the school day.

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If your morning routine doesn’t allow for a leisurely breakfast, you are not alone. Our go-tos include cereal, granola, yogurt, and fresh fruit to provide the fuel my kids need to learn and grow. As a family that is passionate about wellness, I strive to purchase natural, organic foods whenever possible. This includes everything from produce and dairy to cereals, snacks, and packaged foods. Finding organic foods used to be incredibly difficult, and I remember shopping at multiple specialty stores to find these items, but Walmart recently added an organic section which includes a variety of breakfast foods from Cascadian Farm and Annie’s. Not only are these products easy to locate, they are reasonably priced and comparable to conventional brands.

Our family is very familiar with both Cascadian Farm and Annie’s. A simple yogurt and granola parfait using Cascadian Farm’s Strawberry Granola is an easy way to fuel my day and carries me through to lunch when work does not allow for a morning break. Annie’s offers some of my kids favorite snacks, and the brand’s Mac and Cheese is another lunchtime staple.

Mornings are so much easier thanks to Annie’s Organic Cereals. Low in sugar, free from artificial colors, preservatives, and high fructose corn syrup, these cereals are rich in whole grains, but my kids would never know it by how good they taste (I won’t tell if you don’t). Annie’s Organic Cocoa Bunnies, which I use in their smoothies, is a blend of oat, corn, rice cereal and cocoa making chocolate for breakfast a reality. For kids who enjoy cinnamon, Annie’s Organic Cinnabunnies satisfies their cravings. This organic, gluten-free cereal is a blend of whole grains and chickpea flour and is a delightful blend of sweet cinnamon.

Breakfast Ideas and Tips

If you struggle to get breakfast on the table, here are my best tips.

Plan morning meals the night before. If my kids are craving an elaborate breakfast dish, I
prepare this the night before so that our limited time in the morning is dedicated to eating and
preparing for the day. You can also set out bowls, spoons, boxes of cereal, and fresh fruit for
kids to eat in the morning when they wake up.
Allow kids to pick out breakfast items and plan their meals. The surest way to guarantee my
kids eat breakfast is to include them when I shop for items at the grocery store. Together we
pick out their favorite cereals and complements (i.e. yogurt, fruit). Not only does this help ensure
they actually eat, it provides me with a teachable moment to talk to them about better-for- you
foods. Giving kids autonomy and a voice has helped ease some of our morning tensions over
breakfast.
Have a supply of quick meals on-hand. As much as I would love to prepare a leisurely breakfast each morning, my reality does not often allow for that. Having a few boxes of cereal and granola on-hand ensures that my kids will start their day off with a meal that will fuel their mind and body for the day.

Banana Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie

Ingredients

1 frozen banana
1 tbsp chocolate peanut butter powder
1/4 cup Annie’s Organic Cocoa Bunnies (plus additional for garnish)
1 cup milk (almond or cashew work perfectly in this recipe)
1 cup ice

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a blender
Blend until smooth
Top with Annie's Organic Cocoa Bunnies
Serve immediately

Blueberry Yogurt Parfait

Ingredients

1 cup Greek yogurt
1 cup Annie’s Organic Cinnabunnies Cereal
1 cup fresh blueberries
2 tbsp honey

Instructions

Layer yogurt, honey, cereal, and blueberries in 2 mason jars

Find Annie’s and Cascadian Farms products in the breakfast section at your local Walmart. You can also view the items available online.

Author
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Caryn Bailey

Caryn is a NICU nurse by day, blogger by night and mom 24/7. She savors the warm Southern California sun and loves to travel, shopping, baking, reading and frequenting her local tea room. Caryn created the column Lavishly Green for Peekaboo Picks Magazine to share her best tips for going green in style, she is the Former editor for Family Review Network, former OC Family Magazine online contributor, former Orange County Moms Blog contributor, former Evenflo Savvy Parent contributor, former member of the Totsy Advisory Board and former freelance writer for CBS Los Angeles.