thirty thankful days-day 8-my morning drink

Every day in November I am posting something I'm thankful for, and I would love to have you join me!  Link to your thankful post below, or write about it in the comments.  Let's be thankful together!

Everyone has one, it seems.  A morning drink.  Coffee for many.  Tea for some.  OJ.  Hot water with lemon.  If my friend Beth could make them at home it would be the Gingerbread Latte.   It's the drink that you grab for, maybe even before you are fully awake.  You find some comfort in the mug or glass--easing yourself into your day.

Well, I didn't have one.  Although I had been known to pour diet coke in a coffee mug and pretend I had a morning drink,  I knew that didn't count.  Not liking coffee or tea has been a challenge for me.  I longed for quiet moments with my Bible and cup of whatever, like others described.

Well, now I have one.  It's a green smoothie.  As I've mentioned before, we've been trying to make better choices when it comes to nourishing our body around here.  We are working to get rid of much of the bad, and add lots of good.  One way we are adding the good is with our green smoothies in the morning.

What's a green smoothie, you ask?  Well, if you google it  you are going to easily find out.  They are pretty popular to make.  Basically its a lots of greens blended with fruit and ice.   It ends up mostly tasting like the fruit, but you get tons of nutrition in with those greens.  I learned a lot from reading greensmoothiegirl.  She has lots of info on her website, and many videos on youtube as well. I defer to her if you would like more info on the benefits of green smoothies. But I'm convinced.

We received a super-dooper blender as a gift, and it's pretty amazing.  My husband says it's like having a jet engine on our counter!  It will blend anything.

So with the incentive of getting better nutrition in my family's bodies, and the fun of a new gadget--I started making green smoothies every morning.  Dave and I usually have 2 large ones, and the kids each have one.

There are lots of green smoothie recipes out there...and I don't use any of them.  Instead I wing it every time.   Here are the basics of what I do.  First I add water.  Then I add some flax oil and chia seeds (for the extra nutrition--my family doesn't notice they're in there.)  I put in a few generous handfuls of greens.  Spinach or Chard most often.  After the greens, I (sometimes)add carrots and then either a banana or avocado for creaminess.  Then some fruit--fresh and/or frozen.  I put in at least some frozen fruit for the icyness factor.  I try not to overdo it on the fruit--more veggies is better.  I sometimes add stevia for sweetness.  Last of all, I top the whole thing with some ice.

Then I hit the button and the blender threatens to lift off my counter.  :0)

I pour my family their smoothies, wave goodbye as they leave and then sit down with mine as I read my Bible,  catch up on blogs, facebook, etc.  The whole time, I'm sipping that smoothie.

I am so happy I have my morning drink.  Diet coke in a mug is nice and all...but I gave up diet coke in March and haven't looked back.  I love handing the smoothies to my family each morning--blessing their bodies with a little nutrition.  A little love in a cup to send them on their way.

Do you have a go-to morning drink?

What are you thankful for?  Link up or comment!  Let's fill up blogland with thankfulness!

A few simple instructions for the link up:

-please link to your specific thankful post--not just your blog

-please link back to theGoodlife in your post so others can join the fun!
-feel free to grab the 30 thankful days graphic--I haven't figured out how to make it a button yet.  I'm such a techy, huh?