So in talking with Vicky (of menubyvicky), we realized that often some of the little things in our routines, things we do to improve the impact of our health regimen or things we’ve learned through experience or research, are often things others may not have come across that could be beneficial to them. This could be anything like knowing about foam rollers for runners or the benefits of some fats over others. There is always going to be something new to learn and share.
With that in mind, and inspired by Vicky’s wonderful suggestion, I’ve decided to share my experiences (and recipes, as simple as they are) with protein shakes. These recipes are very simple and straight forward, but for many who have never made a protein shake before, it may be daunting to figure out solid recipes that you like. It often takes a little trial and error to figure out what your body likes, as well.
When I talk about protein shakes, by the way, I don’t mean the sugar-filled meal replacement drinks you see on the shelves. Even the ‘high protein’ options there have so much sugar (and very little protein) that you might as well blend a chocolate bar and a multi-vitamin together.
I also want to encourage readers and fellow bloggers to send in their own shake recipes or substitutions. I’m always on the look-out for new recipes, especially for ways to incorporate more protein into my routine, and I’ll be looking to post some of your ideas (linking back or crediting to you, whichever you prefer) to share with others. Please send any submissions to me at rapunzels.adventures@gmail.com.
So, for my first Saturday Shake Up post, I’m sharing a recipe I had to improvise in order to use up left-over strawberry protein powder (which I’ve realized I can’t stand on its own).
Chocolate-Covered Strawberries Shakes
Yields: about 2 large glasses
Ingredients
- 1-2 cups of cold water
- 1 scoop of chocolate whey protein
- 1/2 scoop of strawberry whey protein
- 2-4 frozen strawberries
- almond milk as preferred
There isn’t a specific order that you must follow in terms of blending the ingredients, but my preferred order goes like this:
- Add water (adjust the water to your preference of thinner or thicker shakes)
- Add chocolate and strawberry protein powders (ideally, each should be around 25 – 30 grams of protein per full scoop)
- Add frozen strawberries
- Add almond milk (optional)
If you can’t or don’t want to use the strawberries, use a few ice cubes instead and increase the strawberry protein portion to a full scoop. If your scoops come out to more than 30 grams of protein each, only use half scoops so you’re not wasting protein (as was mentioned in Protein Part 1, we can only absorb around 30 grams at a time) unless you’re splitting the shake with someone or saving half for later. Both are really good options!
You can also sub in more strawberries in lieu of the strawberry protein powder or a couple of small pieces of dark chocolate in lieu of the chocolate protein powder. Please don’t substitute both though since the goal is to get some protein in this shake. If you can’t do almond milk, use 2% instead of skim as skim often has more sugar (aka carbs) than 2%. Start off with a little almond milk, if you’ve never had it, so it doesn’t overwhelm your shake. It can take a couple of uses to grow accustomed to almond milk, but it’s much better in shakes than on its own.
Well there you go! Our first Saturday Shake Up! Feel free to let me know in the comments what you thought of it and if you have a recipe you’d like to share, shoot me an e-mail.
Rapunzel's Adventures 