I don’t believe in single-use appliances.

If I could live in a world where I just pretended they didn’t exist, I think I would feel better on a day-to-day basis. Not because there’s anything inherently wrong with them, especially if you’re able to find one that significantly improves your life.

But the other day, while walking through a grocery store, I saw a tool that was specifically designed to just remove avocados from their peels, and something inside me snapped.

Have you ever peeled an avocado before? It’s practically one step. Once the avocado is open and the pit removed, you just slide a spoon between the fruit and the peel. It takes probably 10 seconds.

But that little avocado peeling gadget? That’ll take up room in your cabinets forever. And it didn’t even cut the avocado open. It was basically just replacing a spoon. How often are we making guacamole without a spoon on hand?

If you have this avocado peeler in your own home, I don’t judge you. I really don’t. Maybe you do make guac on the daily. Or maybe you don’t have the grip strength to hold on to those slippery avocados. I can come up with valid reasons for owning one. But not for my house.

Meanwhile, these kinds of single-use items seem to lure my husband in with a siren song. I haven’t even mentioned that the avocado peeler exists to him, because I know we’ll end up with one, just in case we decide to start making guacamole by the pound.

But there are some instances where I’m just… wrong. And that single use item really could make our lives infinitely easier.

Case in point: Our new single-serving blender.

Before my husband and I moved in together, I never wanted to buy a blender, period. Because how often do you really blend things? And how much space would that take up on our counter?

Surely, we were never going to be blender people. Especially since I love a good hot breakfast. We added an immersion blender to our wedding registry for sauces and called it a day.

But recently, Hunter went down a rabbit hole of smoothie recipes, wanting to have more options for an on-the-go breakfast. Eventually, he sent me a screenshot of this one (with no other identifying information on where it came from, unfortunately), asking if I could make it for him to try.

Have you ever tried to make a smoothie with an immersion blender? No?

Well, after the first one, you’re ready to buy just about anything to get the job done faster and with less mess.

I went back and forth on whether I should just bite the bullet and buy a full sized blender (which wouldn’t even fit in our cabinets), or if I should go for the single-serve version, until I saw the smaller version on sale at the grocery store.

I walked out of that store $30 poorer, but knowing I’d be able to retain my sanity if my husband’s smoothie kick lasted for more than one smoothie. Which, thankfully, it has. I’ve been throwing these Berry Banana Smoothies together for him almost every morning on our way out the door, and that little blender has more than made up for the cost.

Plus, they’re pretty delicious, if I do say so myself. Hunter has been enjoying slightly different versions of this recipe as I’ve tweaked it. And I’ve been enjoying taking a sip of his smoothie, sending him off to work, and then pulling my half of a bagel out of the toaster.

Don’t worry, I’m not converting to a liquid diet anytime soon. This is still a food column.

BERRY BANANA SMOOTHIES

Ingredients
1 cup frozen berry mix (I prefer frozen over fresh for convenience, temperature and texture.)
1 banana
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/3 cup milk
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1 teaspoon blue agave syrup/honey (I’ve used both. Blue agave is sweeter, so go light on it.)
1 tablespoon strawberry protein powder (Optional. I add this for my husband, and skip it for myself)

Directions
■ Add frozen berry mix to blender. Blend until broken into smaller pieces.
■ Add remaining ingredients into blender. Blend for about 10 seconds, before scraping sides and blending again until smooth.