I haven’t been very inventive in the kitchen lately because of a super busy schedule and back-to-back weekend trips to Maine, but one culinary delight to come out of a caffeine-fueled, jam-packed calendar is this banana-hazelnut coffee protein smoothie. I don’t drink coffee regularly because I hate the feeling of being dependent on caffeine to function in the morning (there was a dark time in my life when I was fully addicted to coffee for a solid month and had to endure splitting withdrawal headaches for two days to break the habit), but I do enjoy a nice iced coffee here and there.

My go-to for coffee is P.S. Gourmet which, in true Southie fashion, is an absolutely hilarious establishment without even realizing it’s hilarious. It’s just so….so “Southie.” They mark any bill over a $10 to make sure it’s not counterfeit—even if you’ve clearly just taken the $20 bill out of their ATM. Every morning I walk in, I overhear bits of conversation like, “Yeah, I’ve been goin’ tannin’ because Robbie likes it when I’m wicked dahk.” And they have a sign on the door warning you not to sell drugs inside. I fucking love that place.

Anyway, the other day, I had half of a large banana hazelnut iced coffee left, so I decided to pour it into an ice cube tray and turn it into smoothie fuel. (As a side note, freezing coffee in ice cube trays is also a great way to keep (unfrozen) cups of iced coffee cold without watering them down with regular ice cubes.) I added in a banana, rice milk, some vanilla protein powder and flax seeds and blended it together into a perfect post-workout breakfast smoothie. It wakes you up and gets you the protein fuel your body needs.

Ingredients

This will make one glass, on the smaller side.

• 1 cup banana hazelnut coffee ice cubes
• 1 banana
• ¼ cup vanilla rice milk
• 2 tbsp vanilla hemp protein powder
• 1 tbsp flax seeds

Nutrition Facts

Calories: 259
–Calories from Fat: 54
Total Fat: 5g
–Saturated Fat: 0g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 39mg
Total Carbohydrate: 44g
–Dietary Fiber: 11g
–Sugars: 19g
Protein: 8g

I’ll end with P.S. Gourmet’s television commercial for those of you who don’t live in the Boston area and haven’t had the pleasure of watching it. I can’t decide if it’s the worst commercial ever or…the best.

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When I’m planning to host a get-together, I have a neurotic fear that there won’t be enough food or enough alcohol for my guests. So I always end up planning this entirely ridiculous menu of foods and doing like 18 trips to Whole Foods in the upcoming days and force-feeding everyone snacks they don’t want like the overbearing Italian mother I am destined to become.

My book club last month was no different. Luckily, about halfway through my cooking frenzy, one of my friends was like “dude, enough.” It saved me from making too many snacks, but left me with a bunch of pears, melons and cantaloupe that I had been planning to grill, wrap in goat cheese and prosciutto, and drizzle with honey (delicious—try it!). Since making hors d’oeuvres for yourself is…awkward…I decided the next best use for the melon was clearly a smoothie.

Now, I almost didn’t post this recipe because I found the texture a little…different. The avocado makes this a creamy smoothie, and I’m not entirely sure what I think about that. If you’re into that thick, creamy texture though, then this is the smoothie for you.

Melon Avocado Super Seed Smoothie

Ingredients

This will make 1 large smoothie or 2 smaller ones.

• ½ an avocado
• 1 cup chopped melon
• 1 cup frozen pineapple chunks
• Juice from ½ a lemon
• ½ a banana
• 1 tsp chia seeds
• 1 tsp flax seeds
• 1 tsp hemp seeds

If you try it out, let me know what you think about the texture of the smoothie.

Nutrition Facts

Calories: 395
—Calories from Fat: 156
Total Fat: 17 g
—Saturated Fat: 2 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 41.5 mg
Total Carbohydrate: 61 g
—Dietary Fiber: 13 g
—Sugars: 37 g
Protein: 7 g

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Normally, I don’t keep peanut butter in my kitchen because, like with ice cream, I can’t eat that shit responsibly. Fool me once, shame on you, Peanut Butter. Fool me twice, shame on me. Down a jar with a spoon in under two days for the twentieth time, and I GIVE UP DAMNIT. (That’s how the saying goes, right?)

But, in the spirit of Thanksgiving binging, I decided to indulge myself at the grocery store. And, shockingly, I’ve been putting it to use in a healthy way, save for the occasional finger dip-and-swoosh move. (Don’t judge me; food tastes better when you eat it with your fingers.)

If you’ve never added peanut butter to your smoothies, you’re not doing it right. This peanut butter berry smoothie is delicious, refreshing and filling. A perfect breakfast option.

 INGREDIENTS

This will make 2 servings:

• 2 cups frozen mixed berries (Whole Foods sells a frozen berry mix of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries)
• 1 handful fresh raspberries
• 1 handful fresh blackberries
• 1 banana, chopped
• ½ cup low-fat 1% milk
• 2 tbsp peanut butter
• 1 tbsp flax seeds (optional)

What’s your favorite smoothie ingredient?

Nutrition Facts

Calories: 314
–Calories from Fat: 79
Total Fat: 6g
–Saturated Fat: 1g
Cholesterol: 3mg
Sodium: 101mg
Total Carbohydrate: 49g
–Dietary Fiber: 13g
–Sugars: 22g
Protein: 10g

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This smoothie took me out of my comfort zone. Normally, when I think “smoothie,” I think “fruit.” And with fruit comes a certain level of sweetness. While this pumpkin smoothie does contain banana, it struck me as a little flat at first sip. And I don’t necessarily mean that in a bad way—you just need to go into this wanting a healthy, pumpkin breakfast drink, and not a summery fruit smoothie.

Taking inspiration from the countless Shipyard Pumpkin Head beers with cinnamon-sugar rims I’ve already consumed this fall at various Boston bars, I decided to add a pumpkin butter and cinnamon rim to this smoothie. BOOM. Talk about a taste improvement. Healthy pumpkin breakfast beverage turned into delicious, lip-licking autumn smoothie.

INGREDIENTS

• ½ cup canned pumpkin puree (or puree fresh pumpkin yourself if you enjoy overachieving and annoying others)
• ½ cup low-fat plain Greek yogurt
• 1 tbsp pumpkin butter
• 1 banana
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ¼ tsp pumpkin pie spice
• ¼ tsp cinnamon
• For the rim: a smidge of pumpkin butter (smidge is a technical term) and a pinch of cinnamon

Mix everything together in a blender.

Invert a glass in pumpkin butter to coat the rim. Alternatively, just dip your finger in the pumpkin butter jar and smear it around the rim. I did the latter because I am a Neanderthal. Next, dip the rim in cinnamon, or just sprinkle it around the edge on top of the pumpkin butter.

Pour in the smoothie and enjoy!

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This cherry kale smoothie is one of my favorite ways to start off the week (especially if I’ve been blowing off working out and enjoying a beer or two or ten all weekend). It’s delicious, but not so overwhelming fruity that you forget it’s healthy. Every time I make it I feel like I’m restarting myself for the week.

Here’s what you’ll need for this cherry kale smoothie:

• 1 heaping cup pitted cherries
• 1 banana (put it in your freezer over night to bring down the temperature of your smoothie)
• 2 handfuls kale
• ½ cup orange juice
• 1 tbsp. flax seed

This green smoothie is filling and makes for the perfect breakfast. Even better, it takes advantage of cherries, which will only be in-season for a little while longer. It’s depressing how quickly summer is coming to an end, but I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty dang excited for fall foods. COME TO ME, HONEYCRISP APPLES!

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