Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Shake, Shake, Shake it!

Since I've sworn off sugar for a little while, my new favorite indulgence are my protein shakes. Now, for those of you who don't know what protein shakes are...let me share a little of what I know, which of course I'm no expert! You can usually buy protein powders in most health food stores or in the health food section of most grocery stores. I buy mine at my gym GOLDS. There are several different kinds of protein; soy, egg, whey. What I use for my shakes come in powder form and in different flavors. Why take protein like this? Well, it's quick, easy, healthy and a great supplement before or after you work out and since I hit the weights hard core 6 months ago, I have to have it right after my workout or I'm dead tired and super sore! My favorite form of protein is the Building Blocks Whey Protein Isolate/Egg White Complex Protein. Most whey protein would give me indigestion for some weird reason, so I tried soy protein but it was just not cutting it. My trainer recommended this protein and I've had no problems with it at all and love creating new shakes for variety. Just to give you an idea of this supplements nutritional value; for one scoop (pretty large in my opinion), you have 128 calories, 2 grams fat, 3 grams carbs, 1 g sugar, 25 g protein, 140 g potassium. It is loaded with vitamins and Amino Acids.



Here are a few ideas for shakes:





Rocky Road


1 cup ice
1 scoop chocolate protein powder
8 ounces water or lowfat milk ( I use water only or soy milk, my hubby likes lowfat milk )
1 tablespoon Adam's Peanut Butter or one small handful toasted almonds
1-2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut
1/3 of a banana
1 teaspoon Cocoa (optional)


Blend well. YUM!

Lemon Mango (this is my fav!!!)

1 cup frozen mango (if using fresh, add ice)
Cover mango with water
1-2 tablespoons Barleans Lemon Zest Omega Swirl (this stuff is so yummy, it's drinkable and hard to believe it's fish oil!)
1 scoop vanilla protein powder

Let the frozen mango's sit in water for 5 to 10 minutes, then blend all ingredient together.

Strawberry Banana

1 cup strawberries
Cover strawberries with water
1 scoop vanilla or tropical berry protein powder
1-2 tablespoons Barleans Strawberry Banana Omega Swirl (optional)

Blend well.

1 comment:

The Jessee Journal said...

Hey JennY! This evening I taught a class on cooking with whole grains and I mentioned your tip about using Quinoa in your meat (and brought samples) and everyone LOVED it! I would never have thought of that so thanks!