Wrecked? Meet the gluten-free mom smoothie (vitamin-rich to refuel your day)

You've been up since 6am, running on an almost empty stomach; you are beyond wrecked and you still have a gazillion things to do today. Right. Let's change that now. Grab these ingredients on your way home from work and get blending. Meet my newest addition to the Monday smoothie offering – The Mom Smoothie. Get the blender out – this ones a zinger. Ingredients

• 1 cup of frozen pineapple chunks
• 1 cup of frozen mango chunks
• 1 ripe banana
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1 cup of milk (my fave is coconut for this but, almond, hazelnut or rice milk will do)
• If you need a sweet kick, add a drop of maple/agavé syrup, raw honey or a few plump dates to taste

Method 1. Get all the fruit and whack it into the blender until its thick and creamy. 2. Put the excess into a freezer-safe cup and it will stay fresh for up to one month in the freezer. 2. To make this recipe vegan exclude the milk and honey. It's naturally gluten-free. Why it works Orange-coloured fruit are full of Vitamin C and all you need to survive a hectic day of school runs and little screamers. Tips 1. Buy your frozen pineapple and mango in an Asian market if you have one nearby, and buy it in bulk – then fire it into the freezer. When time is tight, you'll always have something healthy to whizz up. 2. Triple the recipe ingredients to have enough for times you need to grab something on-the-run. 3. Pop in a scoop of Vanilla frozen yogurt for extra creamy goodness. 4. Peel overripe bananas and put some into ziploc bags to have on-hand for other HerFamily.ie smoothie recipes. Have a taste for a certain fruit but, don't know how to incorporate it into your smoothie? Mail me: karen.forde@herfamily.ie