Breakfast choices, episode II

When you get old enough that lactose stops agreeing with you, you need a breakfast alternative other than the cereal and milk you've eaten for your whole life (what a sad day). Enter the brave new world of the smoothie.

Like fruit salad, smoothies are not something you really need a recipe for. Just experiment with throwing in handfuls of this and that until you hit on the formula you like. Mom adds all sorts of stuff that I don't, like protein powder, coconut oil, and almond milk. She recently started using chopped kale, which turns her smoothies a repulsive vomit color, but who am I to judge?

Anyway, this is what I put in my breakfast smoothies. And no, I'm not actually so anal retentive as to weigh out the ingredients every morning, but I did just this once so you can refer back to this recipe when I'm old(er) and (more) senile and Mom or you have to blend up my morning smoothies for me.

Fruit Smoothie

Time: <5 minutes

If you want to boost the protein and calcium without using protein powder, try adding a few spoonfuls of silken tofu; you won't even taste it.

100 grams (1 cup) frozen mango chunks

50 grams (½ cup) frozen strawberry slices or blueberries or cherries

150 grams (~⅔ cup) plain yogurt, regular or Greek, preferably nonfat or low-fat

5–10 grams (1–2 tablespoons) flaxseed meal

1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder (optional)

1 medium banana (~100 grams unpeeled), preferably cold from the fridge, broken into a few chunks

2 Medjool dates (~38 grams), pitted

~⅓ cup (80 grams) dairy or unsweetened nondairy milk, as needed

Add the ingredients to the cup of your regular or bullet-style personal blender in the order listed. Blend until smooth.