chocolate hazelnut protein shake

Time for a shake!  I have to have a protein shake everyday, but believe it or not I actually look forward to my shakes.  Especially when I make them at home.  Tastes like a nice thick milkshake from a restaurant and I can make it into whatever I want.

I've recently started using Fairlife milk because it has half the sugar and almost twice the protein of regular milk.  Add that to your protein shake instead of water or regular milk, and that's a BIG protein payoff for the day! Just make sure to check the total amount of sugar you're consuming; some post-ops have issues with sugar intake.

Using the protein powders I've listed below, plus the Fairlife milk, this shake gives me 39g of protein in one shot.

Chocolate Hazelnut Protein Shake

8 oz. Fairlife Fat-free Milk (or any milk, or half milk and half water)
2 scoops chocolate protein powder, or whatever your protein container calls for (I use Bariatric Advantage or EAS)
1 tsp cocoa powder
1 TB Sugar-Free Torani Hazelnut Syrup
3 ice cubes

If you're using a Bullet Blender, Ninja, etc., put the ingredients into the cup in the order listed above.  Blend until smooth.  If you're using a standard blender, reverse the order and blend until smooth.

Note:  This makes a thick milkshake.  If you're a recent post-op, you most likely won't be able to stomach this; it's very filling and the thickness might be too much for you.

gnc lean muscle meal

While I was put this weekend I decided to stop in at GNC. I don't usually go there, but I had to return something to another store in the plaza and that store wasn't open yet.

Much to my delight they had a cold case with individual protein shakes. I figured since it was the weekend and would probably forget to drink my protein shake (what the heck is it about the weekends??) I'd buy one while I was there. It's convenient and I can try something new without buying a whole package. I ended up with the store brand Lean Muscle Meal, which we $2.99. If I were a GNC member it would have cost something like $2.79 I think. 

I didn't really like this shake all that much. I've gotten used to drinking shakes that are very low in sugar and don't contain any artificial sweetener, so this tasted very artificially sweet to me. It tasted a lot like Pure Protein, which I don't buy anymore because it's too sweet. The consistency was fine, though.

Bottom line is I wouldn't buy this again unless there was nothing else available.

I was happy to see Quest protein bars so I grabbed some. Expensive though... $2.99 a piece!

loving my fairlife milk!

I'm very excited:  Walmart carries the big bottles of Fairlife milk!  And it was only $3.98.  Yes, that's a lot for a half gallon, but it's not as bad as some other brands.

Coca Cola recently launched Fairlife milk. It's an ultra filtered milk.  They filter regular milk into it's different components and then recombine the components in different quantities.  The result is a milk with half the sugar of standard milk and lots more protein, which is great for a post-op who really misses milk.  People are saying it's fake milk, Frankenstein milk, science milk, etc. Whatever.  It's regular milk.  And it tastes exactly like it's supposed to taste.

I commented on one of Fairlife's posts on Facebook and some guy went through each and every comment and posted about how people shouldn't be eating or drinking dairy at all, but if they do they need to be drinking raw milk, stop buying science milk, etc.  He even went so far as to tell me, personally, that if I had eliminated dairy that I wouldn't have needed weight loss surgery.  Yeah, OK buddy. Because I take advice from random Internet whack jobs.

Anyway, I bought the fat-free variety.  I used to hate skim milk, but this actually tastes good. It doesn't taste watery to me.  I made a protein shake with Click Mocha Espresso Protein Drink, about 6 ounces of fat-free Fairlife milk, and about 6 ounces of water.  Yummy!!  Click has 15g of protein on it's own, but I bumped it up to 25g of protein by using Fairlife.

click espresso protein drink

I'm always looking to try a new protein powder. Not only because of price (they can be expensive!), but because I get bored with chocolate and vanilla.  I add flavorings, but I want something I don't need to dress up.  And I'm not super excited about strawberry.  I'll drink a vanilla shake with strawberries or strawberry sugar-free syrup added, but I just don't care for strawberry protein powder.

I've been wanting to try Click Espresso Protein Drink. I've seen it on other blogs and decided to ask for it for Christmas.  Yes, that's my life now.  Protein powder for Christmas.  Sad, I know.  Anyway, Bob bought me a container of it and I was thrilled.

It took me a couples weeks to actually try it.  I never get up early enough to make a shake before work, and I tend to forget at night.  I tried making it by just mixing it in a glass with water, but it didn't really blend well; you really need a blender bottle or a bullet blender for this one.  When I moved I tossed my blender bottles, mainly because most protein powders don't mix well in them.  And I can't use a bullet blender at work.  Way too loud.  So, I waited until last week to finally try it.

I put it in my bullet blender with about 4 oz. lowfat milk and 10 oz. water.  I also added three ice cubes.  The consistency was pretty thin even though I added ice.  It was so delicious, though!  It reminded me of the Starbucks frappuccinos in the cold case.  Very strong coffee flavor with a hint of chocolate.

Each serving, which is about 10-14 oz, depending how much water and/or milk you add.  It has 120 calories, 15g protein, 6g sugar, 11g carbs, and 1.5g fat.  Not bad.

I would definitely buy this again.

skinny syrups: mocha flavor

I went out last weekend and stopped at Home Goods.  I had a gift card I needed to spend and after getting the few things I needed, I still had funds left over.  I visited the food section (I seem to have an obsession with looking at and shopping for gourmet and specialty foods) and found that they carry Torani Sugar Free Syrups.  But I also noticed another sugar-free brand for about $3.00 less per bottle:  Skinny Syrups.  They had Mocha and Peppermint Mocha flavors so I grabbed one of each.

I decided to make a Mocha protein shake.  I made my shake as usual:  4 oz. milk (2% this time), 4 oz. water, 2 scoops of chocolate Bariatric Advantage protein powder, and three ice cubes.  I also added about 1 tablespoon of the mocha Skinny Syrup.  I put it in my bullet blender.

I was expecting more mocha flavor and this just didn't deliver for me.  Really, all it did was make the shake sweet.  I tasted very little mocha.  I'm wondering if it would have worked better using the vanilla protein powder.  But mocha is chocolate and coffee flavors mixed, so I would expect it to taste like mocha when mixed into chocolate protein powder.  I'll try it again and see what happens.  If there's no improvement I'll have to toss this bottle of syrup.

mexican chocolate shake

As I mentioned last week, I'm trying to get back in the habit of having a protein shake everyday.  It should be easier now that I'm starting a new job and won't have to leave the house so early.  Instead of getting up at 6 am and leaving at 7 to be in by 8, I can now get up at 7, leave by 8 and be in by 8:30 am.  I know, some people are telling me to suck it up, that 6 isn't early, but it is when you've spent the last 17 years getting up around 7:30 and leaving at 8:20 to get in by 8:30.  It's a big adjustment to make.  But it won't be an issue anymore.  The new job starts on December 1 and I'm getting my protein shake mixes ready to go.

This is one of my favorite so far.  I love the taste of Mexican chocolate.  If you haven't had it, it's chocolate flavored with cinnamon at it's most basic.  It can also be flavored with spices or nuts.  I may experiment with that later.  I'm a fan of chocolate that has a hint of chili or other spices.  Not sure how that would taste in a shake, though.

I made this one yesterday and it was delicious.  It has a really rich cinnamon flavor.  You can use less cinnamon if it's not your thing, though.

  

Mexican Chocolate Protein Shake

4 oz. cold water

4 oz. fat-free milk (I use Simply Smart by Hood)

2 scoops chocolate protein powder, or whatever your protein container calls for (I use Bariatric Advantage)

1 TB almond butter

1 tsp cinnamon

1 TB Sugar-Free Torani Chocolate Syrup

3 ice cubes

If you're using a Bullet Blender, Ninja, etc., put the ingredients into the cup in the order listed above.  Blend until smooth.  If you're using a standard blender, reverse the order and blend until smooth.

cinnamon vanilla protein shake

I've been really bad lately in terms of drinking my protein shakes.  I stopped buying the ready-to-drink shakes because I have a ton of protein powder in my cabinets.  For a few weeks I did good with getting up on time for work and had a few minutes to make a shake; however, I've been pushing it until the last minute in the morning and just don't have time to make a shake.  I'm starting a new job in a couple weeks, though, and since I'll be a lot closer to work and don't have to be in as early, I have absolutely no excuse not to have a shake.  

I've been trying to think of different flavors to put in my shakes, but I'm not that creative when it comes to concocting recipes.  What I usually do is scour the internet and then adapt recipes to my dietary needs or taste preferences or the ingredients I have on hand. (Sometimes I even combine recipes.)  This is what I did here with this shake.  I didn't have all the ingredients of the original recipe, so I changed it up a little.  I think this would work just as well with chocolate protein powder.  If you use chocolate powder, just substitute Sugar-Free Torani Chocolate Syrup, or stick with vanilla.  Your choice.

I think I need a smaller glass so my shakes look a little more substantial.

Cinnamon Vanilla Protein Shake

4 oz. cold water

4 oz. fat-free milk (I use Simply Smart by Hood)

2 scoops vanilla protein powder, or whatever your protein container calls for (I use Bariatric Advantage)

1 TB almond butter

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp Sugar-Free Torani Vanilla Syrup

3 ice cubes

If you're using a Bullet Blender, Ninja, etc., put the ingredients into the cup in the order listed above.  Blend until smooth.  If you're using a standard blender, reverse the order and blend until smooth.

raspberry protein shake

A couple weeks ago I ran out of my favorite ready-to-drink protein shakes, Premier Protein.  I drink one on the way to work everyday since my commute is now 45 minutes.  By the time I finish it and get myself to my desk at work, about 30 minutes has passed, which means I can sit down and eat my breakfast right away. (I'm not supposed to drink within 30 minutes of eating, before or after).  I was going to run right to BJ's to get more, but then realized I have three bags of protein powder mix in the cabinet.  I haven't used the powder much at all since surgery.  Mainly because they mix up very thick and I just haven't been in the mood for a milkshake-consistency protein shake.  Plus, I've just been lazy.  But I decided to change that.  I bought myself a nice BPA-free plastic cup with a straw, I portioned out some ingredients to keep in the freezer, and I unpacked my little mini blender.

Last week I made the standard chocolate shake and added some PB2.  Tasted like peanut butter cups. Yummy!  I lived on these during my two-week pre-op diet in December.  Then I made a strawberry shake, nothing added but skim milk and water.  Then I tried a chocolate shake with frozen cherries and Sugar-Free Torani Black Cherry Syrup.  It was good, but I couldn't really taste a lot of chocolate, nor could I taste the cherries too much.  I'll have to tweak it.  Maybe add some cocoa powder and more cherry syrup.

This morning I had no motivation whatsoever.  I was going to get up, get stuff done, rule the world, etc.  But it just didn't happen.  So, after a few hours of surfing the 'net, I decided I could at least get up out of the chair and make breakfast.  That's not hard and doesn't require much motivation.  Then I got into the kitchen and didn't feel like cooking, so I decided to make a shake.  My first thought was the old standby:  chocolate with PB2.  But then I saw the bags of strawberry and vanilla and realized they've been neglected.  I decided to use the vanilla, although I don't really care for plain vanilla.  I started looking through my syrups and saw the raspberry.  Then I remembered I had frozen raspberries.  So, a raspberry shake it was.

This came out really good.  Delicious, actually.  Strong raspberry flavor, nice and thick, and I can taste the creamy vanilla underneath.  Recipe below the picture.

Raspberry Protein Shake

6 oz. cold water

2 oz. fat-free milk (I use Simply Smart by Hood)

2 scoops vanilla protein powder, or whatever your protein container calls for (I use Bariatric Advantage)

2 ice cubes

1 tsp Sugar-Free Torani Black Raspberry Syrup

1/2 cup frozen raspberries

If you're using a Bullet Blender, Ninja, etc., put the ingredients into the cup in the order listed above.  Blend until smooth.  If you're using a standard blender, reverse the order and blend until smooth.