Because I can’t eat potatoes every morning…

In what feels like a past life, I would wake up early every single day – be it for the 6:30 am start to my ten hour work day (four days a week), or to get to the gym early, or just because I am a maniac morning person. My city dwelling alter ego loves to get up and go. The girl that exists today? Not so much. While I still wake up early, I definitely do not rush out the door either. Most mornings are spent hanging out on our porch/living room/dining room/bar (I love that I’m outdoors even at home!), sipping delicious coffee, watching birds, willing the cow across the “street” to come over and say hello, and chatting with the boyfriend and cats.

As I’ve mentioned before, I have a bit of an insatiable appetite. What can I say? I really love eating! It would be all too easy to slip into a routine of going out for a huge breakfast every day. Luckily for me, there is no shortage of delicious fruit; so instead, I’ve gotten into the habit of drinking smoothies for breakfast. It’s just enough to get me through a morning surf session or a long swim and it's a healthy start to my day. The smoothies usually consist of whatever fruit looked best the day before, but lately I’ve been loving strawberry banana smoothies mostly because this was the first time I saw strawberries at the fruit stands, and I definitely left Oregon with an appreciation of good berries.

Strawberry Banana Smoothies:

1. Add 1 cup of strawberries and 4 to 6 bananas, depending on size, to the blender.

2. Add 1/3 of a cup of pineapple or orange juice and 6 to 8 heaping tablespoons of plain yogurt.

3. Add 1 to 1 1/2 trays of ice and blend until smooth.

Note: these measurements are approximations. In general, half the blender is filled with fruit, yogurt, and juice, and the other is filled with ice.