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From when I wake up to when I
finish breakfast, I do things in the same order as I’ve been doing them for the past 10 years. That’s because
my secret dream is to be calm, relaxed, and easygoing each day. But the steady
flood of life’s curveballs, mixed in with my having to live with ALS, pretty much prevents that from happening.
As a result, I’ve learned to negotiate what things I can control and what I can’t. So far, I’m in control of my mornings and breakfast, which consists of a tall fruit smoothie and a big mug of coffee. Yup, same thing for 10 years. It may not sound appetizing to you, but the combination is the perfect start to our day for my caregiver husband and me.
My transition to drinking fruit smoothies for breakfast began when I started experiencing ALS-related swallowing issues. I needed thicker beverages, and to simplify my mornings, the idea of drinking a homemade smoothie was born.
Making a fruit smoothie
It’s a simple recipe. In a large (72-ounce) blender, add nine cups of frozen chopped tropical fruit, one package of instant breakfast powder, and two 8-ounce bottles of flavored meal replacement nutritional shake. Blend on high for around 10 minutes. Pour into three tall glasses and three short glasses. Refrigerate immediately.
I drink one tall glass in the morning and have a short smoothie when I take my daily midafternoon break.
My smoothies mean less caregiver stress for my husband since he only has to make a new batch once every three days. Plus, we don’t have to quibble about my breakfast menu, there’s no cooking involved, and it’s an easy cleanup. He just reaches into the fridge, sets out a smoothie, adds a straw, and he’s done.
Oh yeah, there’s also my coffee, but we’ve also made that an easy job. He’s not a coffee drinker, but after a little coaching on how to use a coffee maker with premeasured pods, my brew is hassle-free. (we add 2-1/2 scoops of Thick-it powder)
Surprises and shocks
I have to admit that our final
fruit smoothie recipe is the result of many experiments and a few flops. For
example, we discovered that adding shredded coconut produced a batch of gritty,
crunchy, difficult-to-swallow blend. Yuck!
In the early days, we relied on a standard kitchen blender with the blades at the bottom. But try as it might, it just couldn’t process through the frozen fruit we were dumping into it. Instead of smoothies, it yielded batches of what I renamed to be “lumpies.”
Then there was the morning my husband mixed up a fresh batch and an icky odor of burning rubber filled our kitchen. To our dismay, the motor had given up, mid-blend. Quickly, my husband put the half-blended batch into the refrigerator, hopped in our van, drove to a nearby Walmart, and brought home a professional, powerful, Ninja model. What a wonderful, caring caregiver he is.
Our morning routine has evolved into such a calm, orderly one that we can even share a laugh about those early trials and fails.
That’s the thing about ALS: There are constant challenges, changes, and reasons to have to give up control. I’ve found that building consistency into my mornings helps me cope with the rest of the day. And that makes me feel more in control.
How are your mornings? Try finding the places where you can be consistent. Let’s continue our journey of living well while living with ALS!
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BONUS: In case readers are interested, here are the recipe details for the smoothies:
2 8 0z bottles Ensure, strawberry
1 package Carnation Breakfast Essentials powder, vanilla flavor
2 bananas, cut into 1-inch pieces and frozen (approx. 16 pieces)
3 cups frozen tropical fruit pieces (pineapple, peach, mango, strawberry)
2 cups frozen mango pieces
2 cups frozen sliced strawberries
Blend approx. 10-min. Pour into 3
tall glasses, 3 short glasses. Refrigerate.
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| Dagmar Munn ALS and Wellness Blog |
“Just one small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day.”
Dalai Lama
A version of this post first appeared as my column on the ALS News Today website.