A Blender Bender!

I’m frequently asked for recommendations of protein drinks or recipes for the 1st stage of ‘eating’ after WLS. For the former I say trial and error (often the latter) will guide you to the one you like – I didn’t find many, they were mainly overly sweet and synthetic tasting – I preferred to stick to milk, soups and smoothies during this short period of time.

This recipe for a fruit smoothie has become a ‘stayer’ in so far as I still have it now and again when I want a meal in a glass (and in a hurry in the morning), and it was a recipe I used in the early Fluid days of my new WLS regime post-op. It is called 5-a-day smoothie because, yes you’ve guessed it – it has 5 of your 5 a day fruit and vegetables recommended for a healthy diet.

From time to time I have added non-flavoured or light vanilla-flavoured protein powder to this smoothie to boost the protein content – a single scoop works well with this quantity (or you could add some dried milk powder instead).

5-A-DAY SMOOTHIE

Ingredients

METRIC/US

1 eating apple

1 dessert pear

10 g/small handful spinach leaves

5 tbsp low-fat coconut milk

¼ ripe avocado, peeled and chopped

150 ml/2/3 cup fresh orange juice

Method

Core the apple and pear and cut into small chunks.
Place in a blender, food processor or smoothie maker with the spinach, coconut milk, avocado and orange juice. Pulse until smooth and well blended.
Pour into a glass to serve.

SERVES 2

WLS PORTION: ½-1

V suitable for Vegetarians

CALORIES PER PORTION: 283

PROTEIN: 3.2g

CARBOHYDRATE: 40.8g

FAT: 12.5g

Image courtesy of Aldi