Coffee Almond Chocolate Smoothie

A Coffee Almond Chocolate Smoothie is what's getting Andria Frankfort through the first week of empty-nesting.

It’s a new world over here. An empty nest. After 22 years thinking first and foremost about pregnancy, babies, little kids, and now big kids, it’s disconcerting. Like when the first baby was a baby, starting to eat real food, and I was entirely confused about what to feed her. But now, the babies can feed themselves. And the grownups are wondering what to do, again.

So, in need of something to make that wouldn’t go totally overboard with leftovers, and in need of a serious pick-me-up energy-booster, I started making Coffee Almond Chocolate Smoothies. Think iced coffee and Frappuccino had their own baby. Coffee Almond Chocolate Smoothies definitely bring the jolt of energy a weepy empty-nester needs (okay, all of us need that jolt some days – or all days), but they’re a little more fun than a plain old iced coffee. And having lost the giggling that fills my house when my girls are home, I do need some fun.

At least for this week, Coffee Almond Chocolate Smoothies are my fun. I’m still tearing up seeing the girls in their (too-short) uniform skirts roaming the grocery store with their moms. But at least I have a little treat waiting for me in the water bottles my kids didn’t take with them to school.

Coffee Almond Chocolate Smoothie

2 cups ice
1 cup coffee
¼ cup almond milk
1 banana
2 dates, pitted
2 tablespoons almond butter
½ tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

Put all of the ingredients, in the order listed, into a strong blender like a Vitamix. Blend on high until the smoothie is a slushy consistency. Makes 2.