Secret Ingredient for Making the Best Protein Acai Bowl

This post is sponsored by Premier Protein. The opinions and text are all mine.

Acai bowls are still trendy, right?

Whatever, they’re one of my absolute favorite post-workout meals, and I’ll probably never stop eating them. If you’ve been keeping up with me on IG or my lifestyle/pregnancy blogs, you know that smoothie bowls were one of the very few cravings I had in the first trimester. I’m talking like, one every single day for lunch.

However, they can be a bit detrimental to the ol’ wallet, at $8-$15 a pop.

Ouch. But tasty.

While I do like someone else making my food every now and then, at 2-3 a week (if you’ve been following my IG stories, you know this to be true,) that’d make quite the expensive habit.

So instead, I make ’em at home. This way, there’s also far less sugar involved, since I don’t use fruit juices as the base, like so many smoothie bars do.

Sometimes I’ll use milk or almond milk, and while tasty, it doesn’t provide the same taste and texture of that from a smoothie shop. It’s a little too, well, milky.

Plus, I like to eat protein with every meal and/or snack. The reason being, spreading protein out throughout the day helps to facilitate muscle protein synthesis, as well as helps to keep your satiety levels up, and hunger levels down throughout the day.

So while making a bowl, I usually add my own (flavored) protein powder, usually in vanilla or chocolate, which again, just throws the flavor off a bit.

Enter: Premier Protein Clear – which is the secret ingredient for the best protein acai bowl!

Lately, I’ve been using this protein as my base, which tastes like tropical fruit (perfect!) and doesn’t make my smoothie bowls have that milky taste.

Not to mention, an entire bottle is only 90 calories, and clocks in 20 grams of protein, 0 grams of sugar, and no artificial sweeteners.

Anyway, it also makes a great acai (or in my case more often, pitaya) bowl base liquid. Then just add all the fruit and toppings you want!

My favorite combo is:

Base:

3/4 c. Premier Protein Clear

1/2 c. frozen strawberries

1 pitaya pack (optional)

1/2 frozen banana

1/2 c. frozen pineapple (great post-workout carb, btw)

ice

Toppings:

Granola (I like KIND)

sliced bananas

drizzled honey (also great for post-workout recovery!)

Now, clearly this is a very high carb, moderate protein, low fat meal, which makes it perfect to enjoy after a tough strength workout.

I also like to throw a bottle in my back pack when I’m at my gym. Often, I’ll train a couple clients, do my own workout, and then train another client or two, and having some ready to drink protein on hand makes it super convenient when I need some fuel, but don’t have time to warm anything up, let alone eat a meal.

I’ve only tried the tropical punch flavor, but it’s super tasty. Best of all, you can find a 12 pack at your local Sam’s club (or if it’s not local, order with free shipping through 5/17!)

I’d love to hear from you! —

How do you ensure you get your protein throughout the day?

Do you currently supplement with any powders or drinks?