A couple of days ago I made a very nice recipe for what can either be a hot chocolate or a chocolate milkshake.   It uses my low protein milk substitute (loprofin PKU drink), as well as my high calorie, low protein chocolate energy bars (vitabite).

It’s very good for me because I’m not always that compliant with my supplements, and also I have a sensory issue with thirst which means I really don’t drink enough.  I don’t feel thirst in the same way as other people.  On more than one occasion I have gone and dehydrated myself to the point where my skin feels really tight over my forehead and nose, I feel depressed and I experience nausea.  But even at that level I don’t feel a great deal of thirst, and the sensation of thirst alone is easy to ignore.  The other point is that in that state, as soon as I drink, the thirst sensation often disappears instantly, even if I’ve only had a couple of sips.  So drinking the hot chocolate instead of eating the vitabite bar guards against this to some degree as well.  Furthermore I have been going to bed extremely late recently, which means my calorie reserves are depleted more.  If this happens I sometimes wake up with the shakes and a very cloudy brain, and not a lot of appetite.  So if I can have a hot chocolate before bed, this will help guard against that by providing calories to run on through the night.

I use chocolate sauce, instant drinking chocolate and one vitabite bar (which contains roughly 200 calories - 400 is more than I need unless I'm particularly active).  First I break the vitabite into pieces and place them in a cup.  I microwave these for thirty seconds and then stir the half-melted chunks.  Then I microwave them for another ten seconds or so, and then check the vitabite is all melted.  Then I add a spoonful of drinking chocolate powder and  a squirt of chocolate sauce before stirring into a paste, and once I have done this I add one carton (250ml) of the low protein milk, before stirring and microwaving the whole thing for one minute.  Then I just stir until all the chocolate mixture has dissolved in, and drink!  In the morning I like that I can have this after my cooler to take the taste of the cooler away.  Although it can either be a milkshake or a hot chocolate, I’m starting to realise it’s better as a hot chocolate as the vitabite, even once melted, will precipitate out and form a semi-hard layer on the top if left to cool, and even as hot chocolate it needs to be stirred.  But it tastes really nice!