Well today is officially in the books as far as homeschool goes. Wanna know something AMAZING? We were done by 12:00. Okay. Maybe not necessarily amazing. I realized that if all teachers only had to teach ONE student, they’d probably work a short day too. Miss Cora literally breezed through everything I had planned, and I am left sitting here wondering what the heck I am going to do to beef up my lesson plans for this little brainiac. I was pretty sure when I wrote out our workload that we would be doing math sheets, science videos, reading, spelling, cursive practice, and vocabulary from 9:00 to 2:30, with some left over for after we picked up Miss Celia from her new school. But nope. Girlfriend totally dominated that first grade core work. What to do…what to do…

That’s for another post. Today’s MOST exciting moment is my absolute favorite. The BEST way to start the school year, every year, even if that start is in the dog days of summer. The Pumpkin Smoothie. Yes. I. Did. I couldn’t wait. I had to break it out. And was it delicious? It was. Did the girls go insane for it? They did. And the best part…it was GREEN!

Wait wait wait! Don’t grab your barf bags yet… this was actually totally fantastic and an easy way to sneak green goodness into anyone who is not a fan (and I am no different in this particular instance). So here it is, my GREEN PUMPKIN SMOOTHIE, inspired by this blog. (Seriously, how can you not want to follow a blog called hummusapien?)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup canned organic pumpkin (I get mine at Publix- it’s seasonal at TJ’s and not there yet)
• 1 frozen banana (and my secret to keeping these smoothie-ready is having them peeled and wrapped in foil)
• 4 T frozen plain greek yogurt (mine were frozen into an ice cube tray)
• 1 T organic flaxseed meal
• 2 big handfuls of greens (I used sweet potato greens, which came in my farm share, but you can use spinach. I DON’T recommend kale- it’s easily detected here)
• 1 T pumpkin pie spice (I just sprinkle in cinnamon, ginger, and allspice, since I like those and I can never find organic pumpkin pie spice for a decent price)
• 2 tsp maple syrup

Throw it all in your blender and blend until smooth- YUM!!! Pour it in your monogrammed Tervis tumblers and you’re on your way to granola mama heaven. My girls both drank these right up. They’re packed with protein, fiber, and vitamin A to keep them full and ready for school. What a win! (And I may have had 2 of them. Because they are delicious.) This will no doubt be our quick answer to breakfast on the go as we race to get all 4 kids out the door in time for Celia’s dropoff.

Wishing you and yours a great start back to school this year!

xoxo~ LWH