The "Naughty Monkey" Smoothie

Around our house, smoothies are part of the daily routine. Around 3 o'clock every afternoon, the kids come wandering into the kitchen passionately declaring how hungry they are and looking to see what's going into the blender this time.

Seriously, my kids eat like hobbits. So after serving breakfast, baby breakfast, mid-morning snack, brunch, lunch for the baby, lunch part II, and  with dinner looming just around the corner, I've had it up to my ears with making people plates and wiping the table after them. Enter the:

Here-Kid-Drink-This-Concotion-In-A-Cup-And-It-Better-Fill-You-Up-Smoothie

But seriously, the smoothie is the perfect vehicle for cramming extra nutrients and calories into perpetually "starving" toddlers with little to no mess and in little to no time. They're even portable for those ambitious days I try to accomplish All-The-Errands in the meager two hours between baby's nap and dinner.

Normally, I give our smoothies cool names like "Green Monster Truck" or "Carrot Crusher" to try to get our three-year-olds to drink them with gusto. But it didn't dawn on me until today that I should try letting them name the drinks. I guess sometimes I get a little caught up in "running the house" and slip into "running the show" instead. It's my loss. It turns out, toddlers are pretty awesome at naming things.

Today I was dreaming of chocolate covered cherries while dumping frozen fruit and cocoa in the blender and admiring the pretty fuchsia color it was making. Of course the minions came running as soon as they heard the tell-tale "whir" start up. "What you makin', Mommy. I'm darrrrrving." E even fell on the floor in mock weakness to emphasize the point. "Well, I've got bananas, cherries, chocolate..." (Eruption of little boy giggles.) "I want to call dat a Naughty Monkey!"O announced.

And so the Naught Monkey (Cherry Garcia) Smoothie was born! And, my, is it good! O kind of has a point with the "naughty" part because there are no veggies in this sweet treat. But (and that's a big but), it IS worlds healthier than the doughnuts I actually was craving this afternoon. Here are the ingredients! Simply blend until smooth. Maybe one day I will update this with a little beet juice or a purple carrot to nutrient-it-up a little. Maybe. Probably not :)

Naughty Monkey Smoothie

1 frozen banana

1 1/2 cups frozen cherries

1 cup almond milk

3 Tbs vanilla protein powder*

1 1/2 Tbs cocoa powder

1 Tbs plain almond butter

*Our protein powder is sweetened a little with stevia so -if omitting- you may want to add a dash of your own sweetener to get the full dessert-like effect.