I have been seeing a lot of high protein recipes online. Recently I made a high protein breakfast fruit pudding with the intention of using it for make ahead breakfasts. I made it a few times. I ate the whole thing almost right away nearly every time. Which was not the plan.

At the same time that I bought the high protein puddings, I also bought a vegan vanilla protein powder. I’d never had any protein shakes prior to tasting this mix. For some reason I assumed I wouldn’t like it as a shake. I did try making a cake with it. It was fine but it wasn’t vegan - or worth posting. Then one morning I was feeling completely wiped out and I decided to just mix some up with some water and frozen berries.

It was so nice. And so easy. The next time I made it I decided to add a bit more goodness to it with some porridge oats, chia seeds and flaxseed. And it was even better. I soaked them overnight and it seemed to add some creaminess to the shake.

The protein powder I use contains artificial sweetners like sucralose and steviol glycosides, which provide enough sweetness for the unsweetened frozen fruit I used. Depending on what protein powder you use, you may need to add some sweetness to this. You could do this with bananas, dates, maple syrup, caster sugar or whichever sweetner you prefer. If you’re looking for something that doesn’t use protein powder, try these.

I really like this. It’s a quick and easy breakfast highly nutritious option. I easily develop intolerances to certain types of food. So far this seems fine. Really good in fact. But I think that is one issue with protein shakes to be aware of. Just listen to your body and work with what works for it. Why is this so hard to do sometimes?

Vegan Berrylicious Breakfast Smoothie

Yield: 1 (400 - 500ml)

Suitable for: Gluten-free diet

Ingredients:

• 1 scoop (~30g) vegan vanilla protein powder
• 20g porridge oats
• ½ tbsp chia seeds
• ½ tbsp flaxseed, grinded
• 1 cup, or more according to your tastes, frozen berries, like raspberries, blackberries, cherries, blueberries, etc

Instructions:

1. Soak the oats & seeds overnight

   Place the porridge oats, chia seeds and flaxseed in a bowl with about 150ml of water. Cover the bowl and leave to soak overnight.

2. Make the smoothie

   Pour the contents of the bowl into a blender, together with a scoop of protein powder and 200ml of water. Mix until well blended. Then mix in the fruit. Mix well until it’s thoroughly blended. If it’s too thick add a little water - but mixing enough can also make it less thick.

Enjoy!