A naughty but nice treat for day two which is not quite as unhealthy as it sounds…

I decided to use oats as a basis to my smoothie so it would be a sort of porridge alternative for days when I was in too much of a rush – I usually make porridge and have it with a sliced banana and a lot of cinnamon. For this smoothie, I simply blended the oats with soya milk and a little soya yogurt, and a frozen banana instead – I added in a teaspoonful of peanut butter and some chocolate because, well, I’m never not in the mood for those things.

The “Recipe” (for what it’s worth!)

1 banana chopped into slices and frozen overnight.

1/2 cup porridge oats

cup of soya milk (obviously you could use any plant based milk that takes your fancy)

generous splash of soya pouring yogurt

teaspoon peanut butter

Cocoa powder/chocolate powder – I used Green & Blacks because it is simply amazing, and I find cocoa a little too bitter at times.

Method – put the oats and the soya milk and yogurt into the blender. I like to let them soak for about ten minutes while I get dressed, just so it softens a little – it might be psychological but I feel it blends a bit better if I do that. After faffing about in my bedroom for ten minutes getting dressed I come down, dollop in the peanut butter and chocolate powder, and finally the frozen banana. Pulse a little with the blender to break up the banana pieces, then blend until smooth. Pour into an appropriate receptacle and guzzle.

This was really really tasty, and did keep me going until lunchtime – a bowl of porridge usually does, and really this is porridge made in a different way. The addition of the peanut butter and chocolate powder took this to a whole new level of delicious, but I actually think this would also be lovely made without the chocolate for a less sinful version. To boost my fruit intake I also took an orange with me to eat on the go.

A definite remake.

Frozen banana’s for the win – they can be blended down on their own to make a vegan ice cream substitute, and turn any smoothie into a creamy milkshake like drink. What’s not to love. And if you happen to lurk in the fruit and veg aisle at the right time (like I did the other day) you can often pick up big bags of slightly over-ripe bananas (horrible raw, fine for frozen purposes) for a song…

Disclaimer – This post is part of a series using Alpro products, which were provided for the purposes of completing the deskfest challenge.