Some years ago I devised a smoothie recipe that, despite being a drink, contained all the carbs and protein I needed in a single meal along with all sorts of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Whereas many smoothies are entirely fruit, mine included oats and protein powder in order to make it nutritionally complete.
A few years later I noted, with considerable bitterness, that Huel had become a thing, and a very successful thing at that, and pondered whether I could ever have made my fortune with my recipe. I even thought about renaming it ‘Puel’, short for ‘Paul’s Fuel’, but decided against it, strongly suspecting this would elicit major litigation from the makers of Huel.
Anyway, I’m over my bitterness now so can now present to you my nutritionally complete smoothie recipe, which can be had for breakfast, but is also very good as post-workout fuel and, for absolute avoidance of legal doubt, is most definitely not called ‘Puel’, okay?
Ingredients
(This is for one portion, but I generally make three in one go because if you do any more than that it means it may be four days before you consume the last one so it won’t be as fresh.)
1 large banana
8-10 blueberries
6-8 raspberries (or whatever berries are seasonal; strawberries are a good option in the summer)
80g oats
25g protein powder (for most brands this will be one scoop)
1 teaspoon chia seeds
1 tablespoon flaxseeds
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
Milk, non-dairy alternative or water. (The exact amount you need will depend upon your preference, as you’ll see when we get to the method.)
You’ll also need a hand blender and some containers; I use protein shakers, which you can get in most health and fitness shops.
Method
Put all the ingredients EXCEPT the oats and pumpkin seeds in the shaker then add some of the liquid and start to blend. If it’s too thick for your liking then put more liquid in.
Once you’ve blended it to your preferred consistency, add the oats and pumpkin seeds, but do not blend them in. You’ll probably want to add some more liquid here as the oats will start to soak it up, and stir with a spoon. (And bear in mind that, like with overnight oats, any portions you’re leaving in the fridge will have the oats soak up even more of the liquid, so you might want to add more to take that into account.)
And why are you only adding these now, you ask, after everything else has been blended? Well, it’s simply to ensure you get maximum benefit from the oats. If they’re left whole then your digestive tract has to work harder to digest them, not only helping improve your gut health but meaning the carbs in the oats will be released more gradually than they would if you’d blended them, providing you with a slower and sustained supply of energy. It also means you’ll have to slightly chew as you consume it so you won’t just down it in one.
And there we have it! This provides around 500-600 calories and 25-30g of protein, making it nutritionally complete and ideal as pre-workout fuel (if you have it an hour or so before your workout), post-workout fuel or just something that’s easy to take with you and consume on the go.
Much like Huel, this also provides many of your micronutrient needs in a single serving but, other than the protein powder, is made up of unprocessed ingredients, including fresh ones. (It’s also a lot cheaper than Huel, but please don’t tell the manufacturers of Huel that I said that as I’m already in enough trouble with them over the abandoned name.)
Functional Fitness PTS 