Smoothie (Mocha or Chocolate)

Ingredients

updated 12.06.19

1 litre of milk (part replace with plain yoghurt if you like)

3-4 bananas

4 pears (if you don't use pears then double the bananas - but for some reason it tastes sweeter with both fruits)

Optional -  strawberries to taste

1 cup of ground almonds

Half to 1 cup of protein powder (If you are just using almonds, double the quantity) - Please see the foot of the page for advice on protein powder

Optional: half a cup of cocoa if you want a chocolate smoothie

Optional food flavouring eg orange or strawberry

Quick 3-Minute Version

I recently by accident discovered a much quicker, less thick version of this smoothie. I had no pears at home, but I did have a banana and some strawberries. 

I put the banana and about 6 strawberries  into a measuring jug then added 500 ml milk and a good dollop of both ground almonds and protein powder, some coffee/cocoa paste (meaning I mixed them in with hot water). I whizzed up the lot with the stick blender. Easy! 

Method

Heat the pears and bananas in the milk. Just before boiling point, turn off the heat. If you come back to the pan 30 to 60 minutes later, the pears will be soft.

Place in a blender with all the other ingredients (or put all ingredients in the pan and blend with a stick blender) and blend til smooth.

IMPORTANT: You need to experiment with quantities and proportions to find the right taste for YOU. Treat this recipe as a starting point for your own perfect smoothie.

Freezes brilliantly. I usually make some on the weekend and freeze in the beakers then every night take one out to defrost for my breakfast next day.

What Sort of Protein Powder Should I Buy?

A client asked me this recently so I thought I would give everyone some info on this.

The world of health products is stuffed full of fake and overpriced 'health' foods. Protein powders are no exception! Some guidelines:

#1 Do not assume all protein powders are sugar free. Check the ingredients and have your hidden sugars checklist at the ready. 

#2 It is best to get the sweetness from fruit (and cheaper too).

#3 Pea protein is not great - it is quite allergenic. I was given a pack of pea protein once and I did use it, but I would never buy it regularly.

#4 If you are in the UK, a great cost-effective site is The Grape Tree. I am lucky enough to have a branch in my town and the protein powder there is much cheaper than Amazon

#5 I have not tried this sunflower seed protein powder, but it is a good example of their products 

#6 I have found that unsweetened protein powder can be bitter. The solution is cocoa and if you like it, coffee (but go for decaff!) which really masks that taste.