The Answer For When You Want a Smoothie, but Can’t Make One – Chia Seed Protein Pudding!

I start almost each day with a protein smoothie. It’s a quick, efficient way to get a bunch of protein down the hatch and I can mix in creatine or anything else I want. I toss kale in there and don’t even taste it. I love it and it’s quick and easy and fits into my busy morning schedule.

The problem is…there are some days I can’t make one and I need something prepared ahead of time, like on the Sabbath.

I tried just preparing a smoothie ahead of time and stashing it in my freezer. Let me say this…I tried this so that you don’t have to. Not only did it take me an hour to chip away at that thing, it also was not the tastiest. The texture just…changed. I also wound up with melting chips of protein smoothie everywhere as I stabbed it with my spoon. It was not worth it. I tried just using a shaker bottle. Again, yeah no. I had clumps of protein powder floating in the liquid-y mess that was my “smoothie.”

And then…I looked at a recipe for a chocolate chia protein smoothie on the blog Running On Real Food and eureka!

I used to make chia seed pudding, but those versions were all pretty high in carbs and sweeteners and low on protein. This version uses the protein powder I already had (I’m using Birdman Falcon right now…pareve and kosher) and I’ve found I can sneak in anything I normally would put into a smoothie into it, like creatine or other supplements or even kale or fruit. Best of all, the macros are closer to what my smoothie was and I can blend one up and put it in the fridge for the next morning without texture issues. The texture when blended turns out like a mousse and it’s nice.

I will say that you may want to adjust the amounts of sweetener or cocoa powder depending on what your protein powder tastes like. Just give it a test and add or reduce next time. Also, if you’re not into stevia, you can substitute any other sweetener here and be fine, just make sure you account for it if you’re counting calories or macros. You could also certainly vary the flavor by leaving out the cocoa powder and using different flavors of protein powder or adding in fruit.

Enjoy!

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