Easy, high protein breakfast

2 minutes, 2 ingredients, 40g protein, 1 bowl

My dad is still in the hospital. In fact, he moved back to the stroke ward after being sent out to a different hospital for rehab.

After his hemorrhagic stroke on October 12, my dad was walking and talking. He had word finding difficulties, but given the situation he appeared to be doing great in hospital. So on October 19 he moved to a new hospital for inpatient rehab to improve his speech. On October 22 he suddenly became paralyzed on his left side, and moved back to his original hospital.

At first we thought it was a second stroke, but he’s had two more head CTs since then and there’s no evidence of a second stroke. We’re waiting for an MRI now.

A lot more than that has happened, but for the purpose of this article, it has been a very long 17 days for him and for our family. Yesterday was the first day I didn’t go to the hospital, where I’ve been 4–8 hours every day.

I took a day off to take care of myself. We went shopping, I had to buy new pants that fit.

Taking care of someone, advocating for someone who can’t speak or move, is very difficult. It comes at a great personal cost – time, capacity, and emotional availability.

The first thing I lost was a regular meal schedule.

The second thing I lost was 9 pounds. In a week.

As many of you know, I’ve been on a weight lost journey since March – I’ve lost 50lbs, in a healthy way, focusing on a high protein diet and walking every day. So this sudden weight loss wasn’t part of my plan, or even desired.

I have not been a breakfast person for basically my whole life. I am not hungry in the morning, so I usually don’t eat until lunch. But these days I’m not home from the hospital until 3 or 4pm, basically dinner time. I don’t feel comfortable putting my hands in my mouth to take out/put back in my Invisalign in a hospital setting, so I’ve been skipping meals.

Seeing me wither away, with #PizzaDiet2023 on the horizon, my boyfriend suggested I start eating breakfast. He even had a recipe for me.

Add protein powder to yogurt.

When Brent first suggested this I thought it was the craziest thing I ever heard – like some weird food the Chicken Breast Gays invented to keep slim waists and stop themselves from experiencing joy.

Surely it would taste awful.

Surely it would be gritty.

Sure it’s not something that an Internet Food Person would eat.

But I tried it, And I regret to inform you it is delicious. Brent’s suggestion has saved me.

It’s so good I wake up looking forward to experimenting with new flavours. It feels like you’re eating Cool Whip for breakfast.

I suspect what’s happening is that the fat in yogurt acts like an emulsifier, helping the protein blend in super smoothly. Whey protein, collagen protein, pea protein – they are all hydrophobic, meaning they repel water. This is why your protein shakes can be very gritty when made in water, and why my first reaction was that this protein yogurt combo would be gritty, too.

But these proteins – whey, collagen, and pea – are lipophilic. Meaning, they are attracted to fat. So instead of gritty, the yogurt becomes the light and creamy texture of Cool Whip.

(You can also add MCT oil to protein shakes to help them emulsify for this reason. This is also why many protein powders have xanthan gum, which I avoid.)

I have made this with powders from Beck’s Broth, vegan protein, and various whey proteins. I have made this with Siggi’s Yogurt and Simpla vegan yogurt. It all works.

I shared this with my friend Marci, who is spiritually a Chicken Breast Gay. She said the following in real time as she tasted it.

I can’t imagine it works, wouldn’t the protein powder just be gritty and awful?

Huh.

Wow.

I’m wrong, Brent is right.

Wow.

This just opens up a whole world of possibilities.

Hmmm…

It does make it like cool whip!

Whatever. I already had breakfast and my cereal had lots of fibre.

Several minutes later:

It’s fine I will have protein yogurt for lunch!

Several minutes later:

This is outrageous!

Several days later:

I just made yogurt with vanilla protein and carrot cake granola. It’s like a bowl of cream cheese icing.

We’ve now discussed so many ideas for this. Beck’s Broth coffee bone broth with Siggi’s plain yogurt and a crunch element to make a high protein, low sugar tiramisu. Lemon yogurt with vanilla protein powder for a high protein, low effort cake frosting. Or my current daily driver, Beck’s broth hot chocolate protein powder, Siggi’s plain yogurt, and peanut butter – 40g of protein, <10g sugar, and it tastes like a peanut butter pie.

I know it sounds crazy, but you have to try it.

Brent’s Protein Yogurt Bowls

This is a 2-minute, high protein breakfast that is very low effort, very high reward.

When made with Siggi’s yogurt (18g protein per serving), Beck’s Broth (15g protein), and topped with granola (mine has 8g protein) this has 41g of protein per serving.

You could also do Simpla vegan yogurt (2g protein), Sun Warrior Warrior Blend (25g protein – use a flavoured option, natural will taste very bad), and granola (8g protein) for a 35g vegan protein option.

This is the best photo I can do given my life circumstances. You can see the light, airy, whipped texture. The little crystals here are maple sugar. It’s just so good.

Ingredients

• 125–175g | 1/2 cup yogurt – any kind works

• 30g | 1 scoop protein powder – any kind works

Method

• Add both ingredients to a bowl and stir until creamy and light, about 30 seconds. Make sure there’s enough room in the bowl as the initial stirring can get dusty.

• Top with whatever you want – fruit, nut butter, granola

• You can add any other lipophilic flavours – like cocoa powder or vanilla extract – during the mix