I don’t know about you but my mornings can get pretty crazy. I have 3 kids at home right now all leaving the house at 3 different times, plus I try to exercise in the morning so I have the rest of the day to blog and get other things accomplished. I’ve been doing things over the last few years to Help My Mornings Run Smoothly and now I’m going to share them with you.
1- Make sure all homework is complete and in backpacks the night before. Also any papers that need to be signed and returned. The same goes for you, have everything you need to leave the house by the door so when you leave you can grab and go.
2- Have kids take baths and shower the night before. I like knowing my kids have washed off the grunge of the day before they hop into bed for the night, plus it saves a ton of time in the morning.
3- Prepare lunches the night before and place them in the fridge. If you prepare the lunches right after dinner you can then do the dishes and clean up the kitchen for the night.
4- Lay out clothes the night before. There are a couple ways I make it easy for my kids to get dressed quickly in the morning. You can check out this post on planning kids clothes for the week. It saves on time to have your clothes planned out the night before also.
5- Have a nutritious breakfast planned and everything ready to go the night before. Like I said, my kids all leave the house at different times so sending them off with an easy and great tasting nutritious breakfast is important. My kids love smoothies and my daughter can even drink her breakfast while she’s getting ready in the morning.
I love Carnation Breakfast Essentials Powder Variety Pack because everyone can pick their favorite flavor. Did you know the breakfast provides many nutritional benefits including 21 vitamins and minerals, 13 grams of protein, and as much calcium as a 6 ounce cup of yogurt? That makes this momma happy! Ammon already had an idea of the smoothie he wanted to make and it’s so easy even a 10 year old can make it.
He chose the dark chocolate, then added a cup of almond milk and half a frozen banana. You can also add a couple crushed ice cubes if you like to make it a little thicker. Mix in blender.
We love bananas in our smoothies so I always have my freezer stocked with frozen bananas. They’re easy to freeze, just wait until the bananas are really ripe then cut them into 10-12 pieces. Place each one into a snack baggie and freeze. Now they’re ready anytime you want a banana smoothie. Since the bananas are frozen they add thickness to the smoothie so you don’t even have to add ice if you don’t want too.
Ammon’s been really proud of his food making skills lately. He loves experimenting so I know he’ll be coming up with even more great tasting morning smoothies.
I couldn’t let my kids be the only ones having a nutritious smoothie so I made one of my own.
Ingredients:
Classic French Vanilla Carnation Breakfast Essentials Powder
1 cup almond milk
1/2 frozen banana
10-12 raspberries
2 crushed ice cubes
**Mix in blender**
Click here for more great Smoothie Recipes.
Carnation Breakfast Essentials Powder is available at Safeway and available in Rich Milk Chocolate, Classic French Vanilla, Classic Chocolate Malt, Dark Chocolate, Strawberry Sensation and of course, the Variety Pack.
Great tips! We absolutely love Carnation instant breakfast. We enter the school world this fall and I am a little nervous.
I love smoothies in the morning. Thanks for the tips!
Great post! I need all the help I can get with making mornings smoother. 😉
We love Carnation Instant Breakfasts! They make for such an easy breakfast.
Such great tips! My youngest has been really picky in what she eats every day, so this would be a great thing to try with her to get some good nutrients in her starting in the morning. Thanks for the recipes!
Good tips! I’ve been tempted to try these smoothies, now I will. 🙂
I hang 2 weeks of outfits in my 9 y/o closet. I use a shirt hanger abd a skirt hanger, Iput her under pants and head band around the top of the 2 hangers to keep the outfit together so in the morning when she pulls it out of her closet it is all together. I socks to one of the clips on the skirt hanger. It makes it so much easier for her in the morning and I enjoy taking my time and putting together cute outfits for her instead rushing in half asleep and just grabbing the quickest thing I can find is probably going to come a ed for her to wear.I know there will come a day when she will want to pick out her own clothes but for now she is satisfied in choosing which outfit she will wear.
My boys are NOT morning people, and they’re just not interested in food until they’ve been awake for at least an hour. Carnation Instant Breakfast is the only way I can get nutrients in them early in the morning.
I would also agree with getting everything you possibly can done the night before. That goes for everybody! We have about a 20 minute reset routine that includes picking up toys, getting clothes out for the next day and any other “reset” tasks that need to be done. Then it’s time to brush teeth and get in bed.