Açaí Heal the World Summer Protein Shake

Summer is here!  Well, almost. And we wanted to create a morning protein shake that would capture the essence of summer in Brazil, but with a purpose. As individuals, and as a company, we are committed to voting with our wallet, doing business with B Corps and other companies that demonstrate their care for sustainability, the environment, and our neighborhoods, community and people.  We shopped at our local New Seasons for most ingredients, the first ever B Corp grocery store. 

This is a fairly well-balanced shake, with tons of antioxidants, vitamins and omegas! Also a great weight loss shake. I have been on this for breakfast and lunch for 1 month, with a chicken breast, tofu or tuna salad at night, and have lost 10% of my body weight. BOOM! 

Açaí Heal the World Summer Protein Shake

Ingredients:

• 1 small organic banana
• 1 cup Oatly oat milk
• 1 & ½ scoops of Garden of Life Raw Organic Vanilla protein powder.
• 1 tbsp Manitoba Harvest Hemp Hearts.
• 1 pack Sambazon Açaí
• 1 cup Willamette Valley Pie Co frozen Blueberries
• ½ cup Organic Girl spinach leaves
• 1 tbsp Wild Friends Almond Cashew Super Butter
• ½ cup water
• 1 cup ice
• 3-4 mint leaves

To Prepare:

1 hour before making your shake, remove the Sambazon Açaí from the freezer. This will help it soften a bit before you use it. As long as you have a good blender, it won’t make that much of a difference, so don’t stress if you forget.

Add the water and oat milk to your blender.  I like Oatly for their incredible focus on sustainability – check out their sustainability scorecard – well done! 

Add in the Vanilla protein powder. I do it in this order so it hits the liquid, otherwise it is harder to get well-blended. Note that since I am adding in so many other things, I use 1 & ½ scoops vs the recommended 2. 

Add your hemp hearts.  Pro tip: Hemp Hearts need to be refrigerated after you open them.  It was easy for me to miss this the first time.  They are a fabulous source of additional Omegas 3 and 6!

Add in Açaí, berries, and spinach leaves.  I use an Organic Girl mix which has sweet Kale in it also, and a good flavor profile.

Add the Almond Cashew Super Butter.  Pro tip: By putting in the spinach before the Super Butter, you can use a spinach leaf to remove the butter from the spoon, then toss it on top of your spinach in the blender.  You avoid then the butter sticking to the side of the blender.

Add ice, and a couple mint leaves, but save out 2 of the mint leaves.

Blend for 1 minute. If you can pulse your blender, do, which helps lighter ingredients slide back down for better mixing.

Pour into two 16oz cups, and dress with one of the mint leaves.  Try to use a stalk of mint with 2 leaves, which is easy to remove, vs just laying out a mint leaf on top which can be hard to drink around...and yes, I figured that tip out after taking the photo.

Enjoy!

A few additional suggestions:

If it is too thick, add an additional ½ cup water

I like to add in a teaspoon of raw cocoa powder, which gives it an interesting hint of flavor.

You can also use a nice oat milk yogurt for a really creamy texture and nice probiotics possibilities.

To spice it up, you can add in a small amount of pepper, such as a Cayenne, or Jalapeno. This goes a bit better if you are using chocolate vs vanilla, in my opinion.

Try a half an avocado instead of the banana.  But since avocado has enough good fats, also remove any nut butter if you do this and are concerned with the fat intake.

Finally, if you are missing your coffee, add in a little positive energy with a 12 oz Super Coffee Vanilla instead of the oat milk and water.  We love mixing one of these in for the morning shake.

Visit the Brands in this blog:

• Sambazon
• Wild Friends
• Manitoba Harvest
• Oatly
• Garden of Life
• New Seasons
• Willamette Valley Pie Co
• Super Coffee
• Organic Girl
• B Corporation

Business can, and should, be a force for good. We vote with our wallet and shop personally through BCorps and other companies that make a visible long term commitment to the environment, the people of this planet, and their communities. We love local, and not just for the sustainability aspects such as reduced transport impact.

Nutritional breakdown:

Per serving, you’ll get:

• 265 cal
• 10g fat
• 15g protein
• 22g carbs