Breakfast has been my long standing favourite meal of the day – until recently. As a woman of a certain vintage, the sins of the past are catching up with me and much faster! According to the experts (no I am definitely not one when it comes to hormones and diet), coffee before food is a hormonal mishap and protein is the new golden child – must be present at every meal or internal disaster ensues. And as much as I enjoy food, there is something calming about knowing each weekday morning I can throw the same few ingredients into my Nutri-bullet and breakfast is as good as done, hormones are happy (so I’m led to believe) and the desire to raid the chip cupboard an hour later is avoided. This is my go to breakfast when thinking amongst other things feels one hurdle too many, its got coffee, its got protein and it tastes pretty damn good too.

Worth making?

Yes – if the advise that food before coffee or together is better for middle age hormone balance holds true
Yes – if you want a smoothie that keeps you full until your next meal, its not a light weight
Yes – if you are after low effort, low thought breakfast that ticks the boxes
Skip it – if you are attached to your morning coffee ritual and the idea of throwing one into breakfast will set your day on the wrong foot. I get it, it took some getting used but I’m a two a day so still get my hot coffee mid morning
Skip it – if you’re after a slow, sit-down breakfast, which I still highly rate!
Skip it – if you don’t have a blender that is powerful enough to crush ice smoothly (I use a 1000 watt Nutri-bullet and it is quickly becoming one of my favourite kitchen tools) you’ll end up with a lumpy smoothie and nobody wants to drink that.

Equipment

1 Nutri bullet or high power blender Blender needs to be powerfull enough to crush ice

Ingredients

1 small ripe banana
1 1/2 tbsp chia seeds
1 shot espresso
2 tbsp vanilla protein powder I use a plant based protein powder
1 tsp cinnamon
200 ml almond milk
200 grams plain Greek yoghurt (unsweetened)
1/2 tsp honey
1 1/2 tbsp Natural peanut butter use an unsweetened natural peanut butter

Instructions

Add oat (or almond) milk to the NutriBullet cup first.
Stir in the chia seeds and let them sit for a minute or two to start softening.
Add your prepared espresso (make ahead so it’s not hot, or drop in an ice cube to cool it down).
Spoon in the peanut butter, then add the yoghurt and honey.
Add protein powder, banana and cinnamon
Finish with a few ice cubes. Blend until smooth.

If its too thick, add more milk or a bit of water. Too thin? Add a bit more yoghurt.

Notes

The order of ingredients doesn’t really matter. Main thing is to let the chia seeds soak in the milk for a few minutes so they start to soften. You could make this the night before and leave it in the fridge minus the ice cubes of course, you may need more milk or water as the chia seeds will absorb a lot of the liquid. I make mine pre-workout (about an hour before I have it) so espresso has time to cool and chia seeds can do their thing.

Make it your way

Swap peanut butter for almond or cashew butter – any nut butter will work but don’t recommend any over processed sweetened butters
Use any milk you’ve got — oat, almond, dairy all work
No yoghurt? Skip it or add a bit more milk (you’ll lose some thickness)
Adjust the coffee — stronger, weaker, or leave it out entirely and swap for water or more milk
Add a date or extra honey if you want it sweeter (the banana usually does enough especially if its very ripe)
Make it thicker with extra ice, or thinner with more milk
Freeze the banana beforehand if you want it colder and creamier
Add 1 to 2 tb cocoa powder for a mocha style flavour or use chocolate flavoured protein powder

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