Happiness is a morning smoothie

Forty grams of banana

not imported from Havana,

Yogurt, flax and berries bluey

all went in my morning smoothie,

Here in Michigan, not Montana.

Yes, we have no bananas . . .

That's no banana . . .

. . . we have no bananas today.

The UK Independent reports here on a fungus which threatens to devastate worldwide Cavendish banana production, a major food source for hundreds of millions of people, including smoothie lovers everywhere:

Since it emerged in the 1950s as the replacement for another banana variety ravaged by an earlier form of Panama disease, Cavendish has helped make bananas the most valuable fruit crop in the world, dominated by large multinational growing companies such as Fyffes, Chiquita and Dole.

But the crop – and many other banana varieties – have no defence against TR4, which can live for 30 years or more in the soil and reduces the core of the banana plant to a blackened mush.

Blueberry Smoothie

Let's face it, the most important meal of the day is breakfast. But who has time? And who has the time to make it healthy? The answer is, you do. Here's a simple, fast way to get some calcium, some good bacteria for your gastrointestinal tract, the rich antioxidants found in blueberries, plus the abundant sources of omega 3 fatty acids, minerals, and fiber found in ground flaxseed meal and raw wheat germ:

Blueberry Smoothie

1 ripe banana

.5 cup frozen blueberries

.5 cup yogurt, Stonyfield Farm Plain Fat Free Organic

2 T raw wheat germ (available refrigerated at most health food stores, usually less than a dollar per pound)

2 T whole ground flaxseed meal, Bob's Red Mill, refrigerated

1 packet Splenda, to sweeten

.5 cup fat free milk, to thin

Add the first three ingredients to your food processor and pulse until blended. Then add the wheat germ and flaxseed meal and pulse. Add some sweetener, and then the milk, pulse, and you're done. You'll need a really big glass for this! Instead of sweetener and milk, you can substitute some fruit juice, if you'd rather. I sometimes do.

So there you go, out the door with four super foods in your tummy, just like that! One nice side benefit of this recipe is that all that ground flaxseed meal kind of "expands" in your stomach after about an hour, making you feel really full. You won't feel like eating for hours. If you don't like the feeling, just adjust the amount down to suit yourself.