Breakfast Smoothie Number 2

Let's get 2014 off to an easy, healthy start shall we? I go through phases of making smoothies and shakes. I get bored of washing the blender! But this adaptation of a Nigella Express recipe is one of my favourites. It feels like a treat but isn't that bad for you at all and you can adapt it in several ways.

My basic version consists of:
1 peeled banana quartered and frozen
150ml skimmed milk
1 tbsp honey
1 sachet Apres Chocmalt
1 tbsp peanut butter

Gather your ingredients

Pop all of these in a jug or shaker and use a hand blender to blitz until smooth. I get a much smoother result this way, rather than using a blender. I often transfer this into a flask to have on the move or just to keep it cool until I get to work. There's quite a stock of bananas that were about to expire in my freezer which are perfect for making smoothies with. I used to resort to banana bread as a way to use over-ripe bananas but there's only so much cake a girl can eat. Here are some variation suggestions, most of which I've employed at some point.

• Use almond, hazelnut or soy milk instead of cows milk
• Substitute any other nut butter for the peanut butter
• Use 1tsp of instant espresso powder (or Kenco Millicano) instead of the peanut butter for a caffeine hit
• Add a tablespoon or two of oats to turn this into a more filling "thickie"
• Swap the Apres Chocmalt for chocolate powder or protein shake mix. There are loads of flavours on the market so a chocolate, banana, banoffee, vanilla, toffee, mocha or latte version would work really well. If you go for an unflavoured version I'd suggest adding 1tsp of cocoa powder too. You may need to add a little more liquid to this mix

There you have it, a delicious breakfast drink that you can adapt to suit your diet. I found that making this with a sachet of Apres gives you a really rich chocolatey drink that is very satisfying. If you try this, especially with any of the adaptations, I'd love to know what you think.

Setting myself up for an hours work out at the gym

Après Chocmalt Drink

There were a few brands at The Running Show that particularly impressed me. These tended to be the ones that had chatty, friendly representatives and a really great product. In most cases the people at the front of the stall were the people behind the product. Après is one of these. 

The product is a hot chocmalt recovery drink, in essence a hot chocolate powder that you mix up but one that is made with sustainably farmed, non-GM milk, sugar and cocoa has the magic 3:1 carb to protein ratio, and electrolytes. The company was founded by brothers Luke and Mat Farren, who I met. They’re passionate about their product. They cycle competitively, amongst other things and wanted something to warm them up and recover after hard, cold sessions.

As someone who really feels the cold I can get on board with this. I cool down remarkably quickly after long cold training sessions. During marathon training I would change into layers of warm, dry clothes as quickly as possible, have a hot bath and drink tea after my (cold) chocolate recovery shake and still feel cold for a while. Anything that warms me up more quickly is good as far as I’m concerned.

The powder mixes really easily and the resulting drink tastes lovely. Products that do not taste great or are a faff do not make it into my routines. I’d not save it to drink as a “sports drink”. Although it’s marketed primarily as a recovery drink I had some before a race and got a new PB and it didn’t upset my stomach at all, as some sports drinks are want to do. I was reliably informed that it tastes great cold too so I gave that a go and can confirm that it does indeed taste great. I used a protein shaker to mix one sachet with 200ml skimmed milk. It dissolved really easily and tasted just like a chocolate milkshake.

I’m keen to try using it in a breakfast smoothie recipe I often make. If it works you’ll be seeing a post about that in the not too distant future.

Delicious mid-morning snack for me!

Après are also involved in a series of events called Longman on the South Downs Way. In February and September you can run or cycle a number of distances and refuel with Après… après! The brothers talked about wanting to grow the series so keep a look out. You can follow the brand on twitter and find out more about the current events here and follow them on twitter here.

Competition time!

Today I have something super special for you all, something I've wanted to do for a while… my very first ever give away! 

First prize

• Brush off your running mojo with entry to either the Dorney Lake 5k or 10k on February 22nd 2014 courtesy of F3 events and Write This Run
• Kick your training into touch with 6 months membership to the Run Lounge
• Prep your body with a High 5 nutrition pack
• Relax post-training and get inspired with a copy of Running Like A Girl
• Pair of Sweat Pink shoe laces
• Recover well after the event with a sachet of Après Hot Chocmalt drink

I'm already entered into the 10k and really looking forward to it. Your Run Lounge membership will get you access to training plans, strengthening and stretching videos as well as discussion forums and a great community. I'm a big fan of Après so I can't resist including a sachet of this as well.

As well as the main prize I'm offering three runner's up prizes of Sweat Pink shoe laces. I may throw in a little something else as well as a surprise

Pink laces make you run faster, don't you know

For your chance to win all you have to do is enter via the Rafflecopter widget below and cross your fingers! The competition is open until the 20th December, the winners will be announced before Christmas day and the prizes will be sent out in time for you to make your New Year's resolutions. This does mean that you won't be able to give any of these as Christmas presents, but this is meant to be a treat for you.

Good luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please note that no monetary alternative will be given for prizes and postage is within the UK only.