Vega One French Vanilla Smoothie

I've been drinking a lot of chocolate protein smoothies in the morning after working out lately, so I decided to try Vega One's new French Vanilla flavor and it is amazing! I've been using Vega's products for a couple of years now and they, by far, have the best line of natural, plant-based products. It's essential to eat protein and other nutrients after tough workouts, and the Vega One powder provides just that. It is completely plant-based with no added sugar, contains 15 g of protein,  6 g of fiber, 1.5 g Omega-3, antioxidants, probiotics, greens, and 50% of your recommended daily value of vitamins and minerals. Therefore, Vega One is a great way to start your day, especially if you workout in the morning. I hardly ever need to also drink coffee after having my breakfast shake.

You can get the new french vanilla flavor on Amazon for 20% off. I know it still seems expensive at $55, but the large tub has 22 servings which comes out to $2.5 per smoothie. This is a pretty good price for a meal (since your should be replacing meals with protein smoothies).

This new french vanilla flavor is so good that I'm going to experiment more with the ingredients in my smoothies. I like to keep my smoothie recipes simple so I can quickly make it in the morning. Here's my base recipe, I'm also going to try pumpkin and chai!

Ingredients
3 ice cubes
1 banana (can use frozen banana and ditch the ice cubes)
handful of frozen baby spinach (for added nutrients)
1 tbsp. peanut or almond butter (for added protein and healthy fats)
1 tbsp. chia seeds (more protein and fats)
dash of cinnamon (for various health benefits and good taste)
1 scoop Vega One French Vanilla
1 cup or more of almond milk

Mix together in a blender and enjoy! I use my handy-dandy Hamilton Beach Personal Blender which turns into a to-go cup. The spinach, peanut butter, chia seeds, and cinnamon are really optional in this recipe if you don't have them around. However, they add more nutrients that make this smoothie more of a meal.

If you're not replacing a meal with this smoothie (as in, drinking it after working out in the evening and then also having dinner), then I would either eat a light dinner or just make a smoothie with a smaller scoop of Vega One, ice, and almond milk or water. Protein smoothies have a lot more calories (and nutrients) than you realize and should really be a meal replacement. Also, beware of protein smoothies that you buy at a juice bar because they are usually loaded with sugar (and made with non-vegan things like whey and milk). Eating tons of sugar after a workout will erase all of the hard work you just did. If you workout in the afternoon, I would suggest have this smoothie for breakfast in the morning anyway and then just eating a high-protein meal after your workout.