Yogurt Strawberry Hemp Protein Smoothie. Vegan Glutenfree Recipe

Phew. The last 2 weeks has been a bit crazy. We are trying to move the blog to wordpress from blogger and the issues just keep piling up. Thankfully I am not doing the transfer, or I would have had a head of gray hair already 🙂 with all the issues of maintaining the urls, images, posts, feed. It is difficult to let someone else do it. For me, its either I do the entire thing, or not do any little bit, else I get sucked into fixing things on my own. Which is not an option right now.

So I am trying to get back to the regular blog posting schedule (I have too many drafts!)and also focusing on the cookbook and most likely bugging hubbs to figure out some of the issues with the transfer this weekend.

Here is a quick and simple Strawberry Hemp Protein Smoothie. This is a basic smoothie which you can change up to taste and add other things. Change this to a smoothie bowl topped with granola, strawberries, nuts or seeds and a dollop of peanut butter.

Hubbs dislikes most protein powders, or rather has not yet developed a liking to the chalky taste and texture. So I have to get creative with the protein smoothies and add a lot of strong flavors. After this Blueberry Hemp Chocolate Smoothie, this simple one is a favorite. this smoothie works because I add the protein powder to half the serving and swirl it in but not mix it completely.  So after a protein-y mouthful, the next one is just fresh berry smoothie. 🙂 The gorgeous pink mixed with the pink + green (protein powder). Also makes for a prettier color than an all brown smoothie 🙂

I used So Delicious plain Almond Milk Yogurt. So Delicious now has plain (not greek) cultured Almond Milk yogurts too and they are all carrageenan free.  There are a lot of other flavors as well and they all taste fabulous! The biggest problem I had with plain unflavored non dairy coconut milk yogurt was the taste. It tasted coconutty, was a bit too thick and had some after taste from the additives. The soy milk versions from other brands I tried also had a lot of soy after taste.

Now the almond milk version is much fresher, not thickened too much and tastes great when eaten as is. Yes, even the plain ones. I used to love eating fresh plain yogurt between meals and these new yogurts by So Delicious solve that problem!

Strawberry Yogurt Hemp Protein Smoothie

Allergen information: Free of dairy, egg, corn, soy, gluten, grain
Serves 1

Ingredients:
1 to 1.5 cups Strawberries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup plain or vanilla Non dairy Yogurt (I used So Delicious plain Almond Milk Yogurt) , or use non dairy milk
1/2 cup non dairy milk or water
1 Tbsp hemp seeds (optional)
1/2 cup ice cbubes (optional)
1 to 2 Tbsp maple syrup or to taste
pinch of sea salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract or 1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
1 to 2 Tbsp Organic Hemp Protein 

Method:
In a blender, add all the ingredients except protein powder. Blend until smooth.
Pour half the smoothie into a glass.
Add the protein powder and blend well.
Pour the protein smoothie slowly into the glass. Swirl with a spoon if you like or serve as is.

for variations: 
use blueberries, mango, banana or other fruits.
Omit the non dairy milk and serve the thicker smoothie as a bowl, topped with fresh strawberries, a scoop of nut or seed butter and granola of choice.