A smoothie that's actually a meal

I have a beef with smoothies.

I suppose that's ironic since my smoothies have never included any meat.

But yes, the beef.  Smoothies always leave me hungry and wanting real food.  They are tasty, but they gurgle around and disappear as if they were never there long before my next meal time, yet they pack a significant punch of calories and carbs.  How rude of them.

However, smoothies have been hiding something from me.  Whereas I previously believed creamy protein-y smoothies to be either chalky or too heavy, I have found the perfect creamy healthy smoothie, in part courtesy of a protein powder that I actually love.  Isopure low carb dutch chocolate has some impressive stats by itself--230 calories, 50 g protein, 1 g fat, 3 g carbs.  I can blend it in a shaker bottle with a cup of almond milk and almost think of it as a dessert.  Almost.  When I blend it into this smoothie, it's a true treat.

Hint for new smoothie makers: slice banana, lay in single layer on sheet, and freeze.  This makes it easier on your blender.

1 banana, chopped and frozen
1 T almond butter
1 c almond milk
1 scoop protein.

Blend.  This fit perfectly into a magic bullet cup.

For sake of comparison, Jamba does have a peanut butter smoothie, but at 480 calories for an original with 83g carbs, 10g fat and only 13 g protein total, it is not as powerful as my new morning buddy.  My smoothie has 350 calories, 32 g carbs, 13g fat and 30 g protein.  For those of us who prefer more fat and protein and less carbs, that's a pretty sweet amount.  If you want to lower the carb content (this is pretty sweet; it would be tasty with less sweet stuff), only use half a banana and you'll cut 13.5 g of carbs.  Use other fruits for other stats at the risk of less creaminess.  For sake of comparison, my meal costs .15 for banana, 1.5 for protein, .40 for almond milk, .2 almond butter for a total of $2.25.  More expensive than my breakfast of 2 eggs, for sure, but a nice change and MUCH cheaper than Jamba.