Recipe: Vanilla Chai Protein Smoothie

If you’re like me, you probably made a list of 2017 resolutions a few weeks ago, and many of them included working on your health and fitness goals. We all feel motivated to kick up our health game during the start of the New Year…but did you know that just eight percent of Americans are successful in achieving their resolution each year? The reason why New Year resolutions often fail is because the goals aren’t measurable. This was my problem in the past, and I’ve come to realize that instead of setting out to “eat healthy, ” I’ll have much greater success in setting a goal like, “heading to the gym 4 times a week” or “creating a proper 7-day meal plan.”

I started a healthy meal plan a few months back and the whole process has been great. Having a system in place truly helps me stay on track with my weight loss goal.

Included in my daily meal plan, that’s an absolute must, is having a protein shake or smoothie post-workout. Before I start my day, I always get a workout in and after I’m done, I’ll make myself a nutrient-packed protein shake or smoothie so I feel full and energized to start the day.

To get that mega-boost of protein, I started making Burt’s Bees™ Plant-Based Protein Shakes. It offers 15g of plant-based protein powder per serving and vitamin extracts with no GMOs, gluten, soy, dairy, artificial sweeteners or flavors.

It’s super easy to make too! All I do is blend the powder with my favorite unsweetened almond milk and I’m good to go. You can actually use any liquid of choice for consumption but I prefer unsweetened almond milk because it’s much lower in calories than milk making it a good choice for people (like me) trying to lose weight.

Burt’s Bees™ Plant-Based Protein Shakes are a great way to shake up your resolutions and a satisfying way to help you stay on track with your health and nutrition goals in the New Year. Plant-based nutrition is recommended by many health professionals for weight management so adding Burt’s Bees Plant-Based Protein Shakes to your daily diet gets you one step closer to achieving your health and fitness goal.

When I get bored with just a protein shake, I’ll mix it up by adding the protein powder to my smoothies. One of my favorite winter smoothies is made with chai tea. It’s absolutely delicious especially when paired with this easy protein-packed smoothie base. Check it out below!

Vanilla Chai Protein Smoothie

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1 large frozen banana
• 1 scoop of Burt’s Bees™ Plant-Based Protein Shake – Vanilla
• 1 chai tea bag
• 1/4 tsp of vanilla extract
• ground cinnamon powder (for garnish)
• chopped bananas (for garnish)

Instructions

Pre-step: Do this step before your workout (preferably the night before)

1. Heat your almond milk on the stove or in the microwave for one minute or two until it’s hot and you see steam.
2. Put the chai tea bag in the almond milk and let steep for at least 5 minutes
3. Place into the refrigerator until chilled.

Blend

1. Remove tea bag and combine the chai tea milk, banana, protein powder and vanilla extract into a high quality blender.
2. Blend until smooth and pour drink into a tall cup.

If you want, top the smoothie with sliced bananas and ground cinnamon powder like I did below:

I love this smoothie because it’s naturally sweet and rich. I get a boost of protein thanks to Burt’s Bees™ Plant-Based Protein Shakes and the chai gives it a warm hint of spices. The perfect winter smoothie that will help you kick off your weight loss goals in the new year.

You can find Burt’s Bees™ Plant-Based Protein Shakes at Amazon.com.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Burt’s Bees. All thought and opinions are 100% mine.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Burt’s Bees . The opinions and text are all mine.