Five days of protein shakes.

The other day my mom had to go to Costco and pick up another tub of protein powder.  This is the first time since I've been using protein powder that I've actually finished a tub practically by myself (my mom has made protein shakes here and there after her work outs, not being as vigilant as me after a work out) so a good 5/6 of the tub was consumed by me.  That to me is nuts.  Whenever I used to walk to school and it was garbage/recycling day I always had a tendency to walk a little slower than normal and stare into people's bins.  It's not that I would stop and rummage through them gross, but I would make mental notes, healthy, unhealthy, unhealthy, unhealthy, super healthy, etc... It was kind of a bad habit to have because well it's rude, and I shouldn't judge other peoples lifestyles as I don't know what kind of lives they lead.  Regardless, whenever I would see tubs of protein in recycling bins I always thought to myself "hooooooly, who finishes those tubs?!?!?!" - now, I am, and it feels incredible.

I've gone over this tenfold of times now, but I love my shakes, and I especially love them after a well deserved hard work out.  Lately, I've been consuming them like crazy, and coming up with some really incredible combinations.  My favourite, which has been my go-to for a few weeks now when I don't feel like brainstorming interesting combinations I throw in 1/2 cup frozen mango, 1/2 cup frozen strawberries, 1/2 cup soy milk, 1/2 cup water, huuuuuge handful of spinach, 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder - it is wonderful.  For those days when I'm not lazy and feel like using my brain to come up with something I try things like this -

Here's my last week in protein shakes!

Day 1 - 

Tropical Green Smoothie

By now you all know I'm a fan of the tropics.  Doesn't matter the shape, size  (however, preferably as huge as I can get so I can get a huge dose of these flavours!), texture, or consistency.  I love all tropical fruits, and will always have a special place in my heart.  One of my recent favourites is a tropical green shake, think Pina Colada's only without the added sugar and alcohol.  You have yourself an incredibly healthy protein packed, iron rich shake that is sure to fill you for hours and bound to heal your muscles after a tough work out!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 frozen banana
• 1 cup pineapple (frozen if you have)
• 1 freshly cut mango
• 1 orange juiced - my favourite is Tangelo Minneola 
• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/3 cup 0% vanilla Greek yoghurt
• 2 cups of spinach
• 1 scoop of protein powder

Day 2 - 

Peanut Butter and Jam Banana Shake

I'm not the biggest fan of jam other than my beloved raspberry or jam, or this lemon mango jam that I stumbled across last summer as I was working in Montreal and decided to go to a Farmer's Market.  I'm not sure what it is about jam, it's not that the consistency freaks me out or anything, it's just I think when it comes down to it I rather eat the fruit in it's natural form, instead of a mashed up pureed form.  As I said though, raspberry jam, I loooooove, especially when it's melded together with its soulmate peanut butter.  If I've already had a huge bowl of oats for breakfast, I sometimes don't like to come home from a work out and have my shake along with more carbs, so instead I'll substitute what I'm craving carbs wise (in this case a peanut butter and jam banana sandwich), and I'll transform it into a protein shake.  This was amazing.  It was oh so creamy, it was rich, but not too rich, each flavour definitely shared the spotlight and none were left out.  It was incredibly satiating and it gave me a ton of energy for the rest of the afternoon, would surely make this again!

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup frozen raspberries
• 1/2 frozen banana
• 1 heaping tbsp peanut butter
• 1/3 cup 0% fat vanilla Greek yoghurt
• 1/4 cup soy milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 scoop peanut butter protein powder (or substitute for what you have chocolate/vanilla)

Day 3 - 

Blueberry Avocado Shake

Recipe inspired from here

Now, this was a really interesting combination of flavours for me.  I really, really, really am not the biggest fan blueberries.  I mean, unless they are topped in whipped cream, or are melded with our berries and topped with some fresh lime juice I don't go bizerk for blueberries, nor will you ever really catch me eating just a bowl of blueberries unless we are really out of fruit.  When I stumbled across a recipe for a blueberry and avocado combination this actually sounded really good to me.  When I took the first sip, I was actually a little repulsed, I'm not sure what it was exactly, or if it was because the first sip was the last of what was in the blender and it just wasn't mixed properly - I don't know, but it was gross.  At first I was debating not even taking a picture, but then I took another sip and it was heaven.  The whole time I was gobbling this down like a monkey I couldn't help think that I was eating a blueberry pie (I don't even like pie let alone blueberry pie for that matter), but for some reason this was good.  Oh, oh, now that I think about it, maybe it's not blueberry pie that it was reminiscent of, but blueberry cheesecake!  Ah yes, now that makes more sense because of the creamy hues from the blueberries!  After the second sip, it had truly been transformed, and it was incredible.   When it was done, I seriously contemplated making another mini version because it truly was satisfying.  Thank heaven I had frozen some avocado in the freezer because without the banana I'm always skeptical of the consistency that the shake is going to result in, but frozen avocado to me is the same as a frozen banana and gives you different nutrients to feed your body!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
• 1/2 frozen avocado
• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbsp chopped walnuts
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
• 2 cups fresh spinach

Day 4 - 

Orange Date and Coconut Shake

Now, when it comes to adding oranges into my shakes I'm a little skeptical, as even when segment the orange I find that sometimes the texture doesn't blend well.  When it came to this shake however, I didn't notice the orange texture at all, it had blended amazingly, and the orange flavour was thoroughly noticed.    This is one of those shakes that you can chew, which... isn't any different for me, since I even chew my water (it's incredibly weird I know, and I don't tell people this because well, it's really strange.  I had told my boyfriend this, and thought I was telling him something new, and he was like yeah I noticed that... well that's embarrassing hahaha).  Nonetheless, if you're not like me, and you actually drink your drinks as they are intended, this will definitely be a shake/smoothie that you will chew.  This is certainly great if you're feeling a little under the weather and want a pick me up.  The zesty orange, tropical coconut, and sweet dates are melded so wonderfully together and create such a punch of flavours, highly recommended.  

Ingredients:

• 1 orange
• 5 dates
• 1/4 cup boiling water
• 1/2 frozen banana
• 1/3 cup 0% fat free vanilla Greek yoghurt
• 2 tbsp coconut milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 tsp unsweetened shredded coconut, to garnish

Directions:

Soak the dates in the boiling water for 5-10 minutes to soften them up.

Peel the orange with a knife and cut it into 8-10 pieces.

Add all ingredients, except shredded coconut, to your food processor and process until smooth, about one minute.

Transfer to drinking glass, garnish with shredded coconut.

Blueberry Peanut Butter Shake

I've noted previously, and above as well, that I am not a huge fan of blueberries.  However, when your mom leaves for six weeks and buys you twelve bags of frozen fruits, two of them being blueberry you eat through them.  When I first made this shake, I wasn't feeling motivated because well it was blueberry so I figured this was just a shake that I would drink and bare.  However, as I thought of the flavours that go well with blueberries, peanut butter was something I thought went well (blueberry jam and peanut butter?) - maybe, I'm not quite sure, but this shake was fantastic.  It wasn't just something I had to chalk up and drink through unbearably, it was incredible.  It was creamy, rich, the perfect amount of sweetness, and just all around yummy.  Would definitely make again, surprisingly.


Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup frozen blueberries
• 2 cups spinach
• 1/3 cup 0% fat Vanilla Greek yoghurt
• 1 tbsp peanut butter
• 1 scoop of peanut butter protein powder (or vanilla if you don't have peanut butter)

What's your favourite way to get your protein in you via shakes?