For those early mornings when there's only minutes until the bus comes and everyones fighting about who's wearing who's tee shirt while frantically rushing around the house searching for lacrosse sticks and last night's homework, smoothies are the answer.  I feel rather proud of this smoothie, it's become an old friend. It’s the way I’ve slipped flaxseeds (and an occasional teaspoon or two of fish oil – but don’t overdo it) into my children's breakfast for the last 10 years without them really noticing or complaining. 

Most of the time my girls aren't hungry at 6.30am and I don't really function until the second cup of coffee has hit the system, so I need something simple and nutritious. I try hard to cram as much goodness as I can into each glass without them being aware of it to raise objections and I think I've mastered the art of pulling a fast one. It may be conditioning but they ask for this now.

In the blender combine;

1 frozen banana (if you don't have a frozen banana just throw in a handful of ice cubes)
A healthy handful of strawberries (frozen or fresh)
1/3 cup Greek yogurt (plain, vanilla or lemon flavor)
1/2 cup milk (skimmed, low fat or whole, or you can subsitute almond, goat or soy milk)
A generous squeeze of agave nectar
1 tablespoon of flax seeds
1 tablespoon of vanilla whey protein powder
1 teaspoon of fish oil (optional)

Blitz in the blender, the noise this generates is guaranteed to wake up any stragglers.

Pour into a glass and prepare to wake up!