I watched ‘Fat, sick, and Nearly Dead’ the other day. I honestly didn’t know what to expect from it. I really thought it was something similar to the ‘SuperSize Me’ documentary that had everyone running away from McDonalds.

Turns out, I couldn’t have watched a more timely documentary. This month on Shelly’s Friday Favourites I’ve been talking about smoothies and juicing, and I don’t think you could find more information about the health benefits of juicing anywhere else. I’ve been researching the topic and looking at recipes all month, but that documentary really demonstrated how you could turn your life around with juicing.

Not everyone can or should start out on a hardcore regime the way Joe did in the documentary. Sometimes you need to just substitute out one meal a day to get going, so why not start with the most important meal of the day?

Breakfast is something you often skip out on because you’re in a rush or you just don’t feel like eating so early. But breakfast really is the one meal you should be eating. It kicks starts your body and gives you the energy to get through the morning, and it can rev up your metabolism for the rest of the day.

Rather than eating nothing for breakfast, start the day off with a breakfast smoothie or breakfast juice. Making a breakfast smoothie or juice is actually really easy too. To get started, you just need a good juicer or blender. After you’re set up in your kitchen, head out to the farmer’s market or fruit stand and look for your fruits and vegetables.

Breakfast smoothies and breakfast juices usually consist of fruit with some veggies mixed in. If you can, be sure to buy organic. If I can’t access organic fruit, I throw the fruit a sink of water with vinegar and lemon juice mixed in. Then I scrub the fruit and vegetables with a brush and let it air dry. This removes some of the grime that lives on non-organic fruit.

Here’s a quick list of fruits and vegetables to get you started creating breakfast smoothies and breakfast juices. You can also add a little ginger root or flax seed:

  • Strawberries
  • Blueberries
  • Apples
  • Mango
  • Pineapple
  • Raspberries
  • Blackberries
  • Kale
  • Spinach
  • Beets
  • Avocado
  • Lemon

Once you have your fruits and veggies ready, it’s time to get started. Here are some of the best breakfast smoothie and breakfast juice recipes:

Jump Start Green Juice

5 large leaves of kale, ribs discarded, leaves roughly chopped
1 lemon, zest and pith removed
1 large apple, roughly chopped
A 2.5cm piece of fresh ginger
1 sprig of fresh mint

Push all the ingredients through your juicer. Alternatively, you can chop all the ingredients and pop them into a powerful blender with 120ml of water, then pass
the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer and drink immediately.

 

Marvelous Mango Breakfast Smoothie

1 ripe mango
1 cup plain low-fat yogurt, chilled
200 ml skim milk, chilled
1 tsp honey

Blend in your blender on the smoothie setting and drink immediately.

Cucumber Kick Start Breakfast Juice

1 handful of basil leaves
1 cucumber, cut in half lengthwise
½ lime, zest and pith removed
1 apple, cut into wedges

Juice everything into a glass and drink immediately.

 

 

Blueberry Blast Off

Blend and enjoy!

3 or 4 ice cubes, optional
1 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1 cup fresh orange juice
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (if frozen, omit ice cubes)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Breakfast smoothies will definitely get your day off to a good start, and even with greens added, I swear they taste delicious.

 

Get your taste buds ready – Next week on Shelly’s Friday Favourites we’ll talk green smoothies.

Create your own smoothie breakfast with one of the many blenders at Best Buy.

Shelly Wutke
Editor TV & Home Theatre
I'm a Vancouver freelancer and tech enthusiast. When I'm not writing you'll find me on my farm with my alpacas, chickens, and honeybees. Visit my website Survivemag