This smoothie is one of my oldest sons favorites. As always feel free to sub out the almond milk for your choice of dairy if you want.

• 1 1/2 cups almond milk
• 3 tablespoons vanilla protein powder
• 2 tablespoons rolled oats (or brown rice flakes or quinoa flakes if gluten free)
• 1 medium banana, frozen
• 1/2 cups frozen blueberries
• 1 1/2 tablespoons almond butter
  

Combine all ingredients and blend on high until smooth.

Another day, another smoothie recipe. This one is my favorite so far! As a side note, I found my goji berries at Lucky’s Market, which is a local supermarket similar to Whole Foods, in the dried fruit section.

• 10 grams goji berries, dried
• 2 3/4 teaspoon chia seeds
• 1 cup almond milk, or choice of milk
• 1 ounce vanilla protein powder
• 1 medium banana
• 5 1/2 ounces frozen mixed berries
• 3-4 ice cubes

Soak the goji berries and chia seeds in 1/4 cup of water for 10 minutes. Combine with the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.

My husband has the Centr app and they have lots of recipes and meal plans for their subscribers. We have recently started making their smoothie recipes and have really enjoyed them so they get to be on the website. With these recipes, I will post them as written but know that you can switch out the almond milk for regular milk if you so choose.

• 3/4 cup milk; or dairy-alternative
• 2 tablespoons Greek yogurt
• 3 tablespoons vanilla protein powder
• 1/2 banana, frozen
• 1/2 cups (1/2 oz) baby spinach
• 3-4 ice cubes

Blend all ingredients on high until smooth and creamy, divide between glasses and serve.

When I was nailing down what I would serve at my Christmas Open House this year, I decided instead of having a bunch of mixers and alcohol I would offer my guests mulled wine. I like sangria a lot and to me this was a natural progression for the holiday season. I will include the individual spices that are included, but if you are like me and can’t find whole star anise or cloves, Spice Islands has a spice kit they sell that works just as well (it’s what I used).

• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 orange, halved and juiced
• 8 whole cloves
• 1 whole star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 6 cups apple cider
• 1 bottle of red wine, I used cabernet

Combine all ingredients in a crockpot, including the orange halves that were juiced. Cook on high for 4 hours, or low for 6. Strain out all the spices and fruit and discard when you are ready to serve.

This is the punch recipe that my grandmother and mother would use whenever hosting a party at Christmas. You could absolutely use it year round, but it is somewhat of a Christmas tradition in my family. I made it myself for the first time this year for my holiday party and I had forgotten just how good it is.

• 46 oz unsweetened pineapple juice
• 46 oz Hawaiian Punch
• 1 quart Ginger Ale
• 1 quart cranberry juice

Before serving, make sure all of the ingredients are well chilled. I don’t like to add ice, so this is a pretty crucial step. Combine and stir into the serving bowl or jar of your choice.

My husband found this recipe for me on Pinterest as a surprise and made it for me.  We were both impressed with how smooth and flavorful it was, but easy at the same time. The recipe and photo come from the blog, mymommystyle.com. This recipe makes 2 small mugs of hot chocolate, but could easily be doubled or tripled.

• 2 tablespoons cocoa
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 cup hot water
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• whipped cream (optional, but highly recommended)
• peppermint baking chips (also optional, but really delicious)

Combine cocoa, sugar and hot water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.  Add in the milk and heat through, do not boil. Remove from heat and stir well.  Top with whipped cream and peppermint chips.