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I have to admit, when I've watched Simon Cowell judge on "The X Factor," I didn't think of him as the type of person to be drinking spinach smoothies and watching cartoons every morning. It didn't seem quite his style. But that just goes to show how little you know about a person by watching them on TV. 

 

In a recent interview, Cowell shared his breakfast routine which has remained fundamentally the same for the last five years. Once he has hit his alarm clock twice, his breakfast is brought to him by his housekeeper. First on the menu? "Hot water with lemon. Then papaya juice with lime. ('Tastes delicious, looks great,' he rhapsodizes. 'It looks fantastic when it's brought in in the morning. It's just the best-looking thing in the world.') Then oatmeal. Then tea. Then three different smoothies — a spinach smoothie, an antioxidant smoothie, and a super smoothie with seven fruits. I love to wake up in a good mood and look forward to what's coming," he says. "As soon as that tray is put in front of me, I can't wait to have it. I like looking forward to things."

 

I think my problem may be that my food isn't brought to me on a tray. Really. I would very much enjoy having this for breakfast, but I am not sure I would enjoy making it every morning. But that aside, let's do a quick run down of his breakfast. 

 

Lemon juice in hot water. If you were puzzled by this, you should know that it's probably not served for its culinary attributes but because many believe that lemon water first thing in the morning helps a) alkalinize the body and b) cleanse the liver. 

 

Papaya juice, if freshly made, is one of the best sources of enzymes. Many people eat it (or in this case, drink it) for this reason (as an aside, my doctor mentioned that papaya is often genetically modified, so he recommends only buying organic). After a more traditional breakfast of oatmeal and tea, he has no less than three smoothies. And I thought I was accomplishing something by having just one on busy days. 

 

His housekeeper shared the following recipes. 

 

Spinach Smoothie: 1 banana, 2 large handfuls of fresh young spinach, the juice of half a lemon, a small amount of freshly crushed ginger, a small glass of water, a tablespoon of honey, and 12 ice cubes, served in a tall glass with a black bendy straw.

 

Antioxidant Smoothie: One large carrot, 2 sticks of celery, 1 banana, 1 green apple, 25 green grapes, 3 slices of fresh ginger, 1 tablespoon of honey, 1 cup of orange juice, and 10 ice cubes.

 

Super Smoothie: 126 milliliters of grape juice, either red or green (30 grapes), 20 milliliters of blueberry puree (15 blueberries), 20 milliliters of strawberry puree (9 strawberries), 20 milliliters of apple puree (half an apple), 10 milliliters of lingonberry juice (8 lingonberries), 8 milliliters of acerola juice (5 acerola berries), and 8 milliliters of aronia juice (5 chokeberries).

 

I'll be sure to try these recipes with a "black bendy straw."

 

This fruit-filled breakfast is perhaps a bit sweet for me personally, but obviously antioxidant-rich and a couple pars above average. I guess it is no surprise that Cowell holds his breakfast to high standards. 

 

Related smoothie ideas on MNN: 5 seasonal smoothie recipes