protein shake in a bowl

I know we talk a lot about protein shakes around here, but I'll be honest—if it's not wine, I don't love drinking my calories.  Drinking just doesn't say, "Wow, that was a great meal." like something that requires cutlery might.

Lucky for me, I found out that the addition of some gums transforms an ordinary protein shake into one that rivals one of my favorite foods of all time...frozen yogurt.  Frozen yogurt and I go way back; in fact, I'm pretty sure I lived on the stuff my final year of college.  A bowl full of the chunkiest frozen yogurt I could find, topped with Golden Grahams cereal, got me through many exams and morning shifts as a Starbucks barista.

Fast forward a couple years and I'm still a frozen dessert diehard, but I've cleaned up my act.  Dairy has been swapped for almond milk, Golden Grahams for organic, unsweetened shredded coconut and chocolate for unsweetened cocoa and mocha cappucino protein powder.  *Almost* the same?  As someone who had thought it'd be forever before I'd have anything close to fro-yo, the answer's a resounding "YES."

The gums and ice beef up a single-serving shake into a generous and filling bowl of creamy, almost-frozen yogurt. I happily have this for lunch, dinner or both.  Flavor combos are seemingly limitless, and it's a good excuse to buy all other kinds of mix-ins (can you say cacao nibs?!!?!).

Protein Shake in a Bowl
adapted from HEAB

1 cup Almond Breeze, unsweetened vanilla
1 heaping scoop protein (I used mocha cappucino flavor)
1.5 T unsweetened cocoa
10 drops vanilla stevia
1/2 tsp guar gum
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
ice

Blend everything but the ice.  Once mixture is smooth, blend ice in batches until it's thick like ice cream.  Stir or top with mix-ins.  Note: More ice is not necessarily better. If you add too much, you lose the flavor of the protein, so just add enough to get the consistency you want.

chocolate fixes

photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kirisryche/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

It's one of those days where one serving of chocolate is not enough--I need a boatload.  I'm becoming pretty skilled at listening to what my body needs, and the story's no different when it's asking for chocolate and lots of it!  Here's how I matched the chocolate monster today:

3 squares of Simply Lite Dark Chocolate from Trader Joe's.  When I bought it in a chocolate-crazed frenzy today, I didn't realize it had sugar alcohols.  I normally buy Endangered Species Extreme Dark 88% bars at Whole Foods, so I was a bit at a loss confronted with all the Trader Joe-branded bars. That said, this chocolate is pretty good.  I enjoy dark chocolate the most and this bar is only 50%, but it was a nice change of pace to have something sweet and creamy. I'd buy it again.

0% Plain Fage Greek Yogurt with Vanilla Stevia and Cocoa Powder.  This is one of my classics.  The tang of the yogurt with the bitterness of the unsweetened cocoa is just divine to me.  I barely sweeten it with stevia and use a heaping tablespoon of cocoa.  A full bowl of chocolate, cheesecake-tasting goodness for 100 calories and maybe 1g of fat...plus lots of protein. Can't beat it.  This is equally good with ricotta.

Chocolate Yerba Mate Tea. This can be a little hard to find, but my favorite is Guayaki Mate Chocolatte.  I've only been able to find it in the natural foods section at Fred Meyer in Seattle, but I think Kelly found it at several stores in Houston.  I've also tried the more expensive (as in, $15 for a tin of tea!) Republic of Tea Double Dark Chocolate Mate, and it's just not my favorite. It's not naturally sweet and lacks a robust flavor.  Add a teaspoon of cocoa to an ordinary tea, and that's about what this tastes like. I can't bear to throw it out, so I've been drinking it sweetened with xylitol and So Delicious Coconut Creamer, and it's not so bad. Don't waste your money; however, Republic of Tea's Yerba Mate Latte is incredibly delicious, just not chocolate. :)

And yes, I indulged in all three of these things today!  Bye, bye craving.  Any chocolate fixes out there I can put in my arsenal for next time?