my latest latest breakfast

a great smoothie + thoughts on the PROTEIN OF IT ALL

I got a note from one reader named Audrey after my newsletter went out this past Tuesday: “Thank you for lists and for acknowledging the cra cra horror now. In addition to the 5 calls app, check out Indivisible.org. Excellent resource to mobilize locally.” Thank you, Audrey!

How are you handling current events the dumpster fire? Proceeds from today’s newsletter will go to the Trans Justice Funding Project. xooxo

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I try hard not to define or measure success with numbers. But Substack makes it pretty difficult to avoid range of charts and graphs and lists each time you log in (if you’re a writer here — perhaps it’s better if you’re just reading?). Anyway, while I have no interest in ranking the popularity of my newsletters, they do.

And it feels somewhat interesting to me to know that the most popular newsletter I’ve shared thus far is this one about the breakfast I was making on repeat:

My latest breakfast

I’m glad that the one at the top of the list includes a lot of nuanced talk about diet culture, eating disorder recovery and expectations. I’m glad the one at the top of the list is about making life in the kitchen — and in our bodies — easier.

And here’s the part where I tell you that pretty much when I shared that newsletter, I got sick of that breakfast (just like I predicted I would!). I’ve come back to that overnight oat/chia concoction a few times over the last year, but it’s out of the regular rotation.

And it’s been replaced by my new love, which is this passion fruit smoothie I’ve been drinking nearly every single day.

Passion fruit is one of my absolute favorite flavors in the world. I love TART stuff. I would take key lime pie or Atlantic Beach Pie over chocolate cake any day. I like my margaritas with about equal ratios of lime and tequila. You get the idea.

I usually don’t have this smoothie first thing in the morning. I often have coffee and toast while Grace and I do our word games (is this routine the secret to our happy marriage? maybe!), but I have this smoothie as a kind-of ‘second breakfast’ after that.

I make it by blending:

• this frozen passion fruit which is available nationwide (and if you’re in the Kingston, NY area, Hannaford on Ulster Ave. has a TON!)

  • if you can’t find frozen passion fruit, passion fruit juice like this (or fresh passion fruit juice!!) works well and maybe add a little ice to the smoothie or pour it over ice so it’s as cold and icy as using frozen fruit

• a little Greek yogurt

• and coconut water for the liquid — I love this one (not sponsored!) but it’s not the cheapest — any coconut water is fine!

After that’s all blended, I add some unflavored whey protein powder (I use this one because I find it to be pretty flavorless — a good thing! — and it blends well).

I like to blend the passion fruit, yogurt and coconut water first before adding the protein powder because I find when the protein powder gets blended with everything, it somehow makes everything *too* creamy. Which sounds weird, I know. It’s a hard texture to explain. Creamy is great! But protein powder blended for a long time becomes almost too velvety. This is a tiny detail but it’s my personal preference and I just like sharing all the tiny details with you. So blend the smoothie first, then add the protein powder just for a second or two to combine it.

I like whey protein because I’m not vegan and it’s often cheaper and blends better than the vegan alternatives. But you can use whatever protein powder you like…or don’t include protein powder. It’s your smoothie! There are a lot more thoughts on protein powder below.

I decant my protein powder into a glass jar because I find that easier to scoop and seal that the bag or container it comes in. Also Grace says my favorite hobby is decanting things.

I eyeball all of these ingredients but for one smoothie, it’s basically:

• 2/3 cup frozen passion fruit cubes (or ~ 1/3 cup passion fruit juice)

• 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt

• 1 cup coconut water

• Optional: as much or as little protein powder as you’d like

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Oh also! I blend everything in my beloved single-serve blender (again: not sponsored!). I love this thing because it just feels so much easier than a big pitcher blender and I often just drink out of the same cup I blend in. It’s also great for blended salad dressings.

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Why do I include protein powder?

Ugh, the protein question is tricky! Just the word “protein” makes all of my diet culture hackles go up. I fear that the ever-increasing obsession with “getting enough protein” is just a modern way of saying “I want to eat the smallest amount of food possible so I can feel full without eating more than that because I’m scared of being fat and protein fills me up….but it’s not okay to say all of that these days so I just say I’m working on getting enough protein.”

I know I am not immune to this and have been actively complicit in the conversation about protein-rich eating. I’ve written about it and offered classes for protein-packed snacks. You can read some more of my thoughts on protein here, if you’d like.

This is all to say I’m still working this all out for myself.

I know I feel more satisfied (i.e. more full) if I put protein powder in my smoothie than if I don’t. But it’s also okay if you just want to enjoy a delicious, frosty passion fruit mixture without it being something that makes you feel full. It can just be a delicious thing to drink! But sometimes I just want a smoothie while I’m driving or working at my desk and don’t want to deal with crumbs, and it’s nice to have an option that beefs a smoothie up a bit.

I also do competitive powerlifting and have a competition coming up next month (state championships, baby!). This is a highly niche hobby that has been both massively healing for all of my body stuff (see here!) and also a little complicated because it often has me thinking a lot about things like PROTEIN! And it just involves so many numbers and your progress is marked in literal pounds (lifted, not lost, but still). I often wonder how my allegiance to protein might shift if I didn’t do powerlifting. But for the season of life I’m in right now, powerlifting continues to make me feel really good and I have fun doing it and eating a lot of protein helps me feel my best while I do it.

Also I like having protein in my diet that isn’t just meat, fish, etc. and I feel like protein powder is a nice way to supplement those items. But I don’t rely on protein powder for all of my protein intake. I like VARIETY in my eating most of all. And protein powder allows me to have something like a passion fruit smoothie be part of that mix.

So…it’s all complicated. I really liked the way

Virginia Sole-Smith

and

Corinne Fay

recently discussed it here:

"You Can Count Your Protein and Still Be Nice to Fat People."

I guess where I land is: eat whatever you want — just don’t impose it on everyone around you or be a jerk about it.

…thanks for coming to my TED talk.

In all seriousness, I really appreciate having this space and community to noodle through these thoughts with. What are your thoughts on protein? What do you think of all the talk about it? Including…this! Asking for a friend…

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Scared of frying at home but kinda want to? Join me Sunday for DEMYSTIFYING FRYING !!!

I promise I won’t be saying anything about protein during class….

xoxooxox Julia