Nutrition-dense chocolate banana protein shake recipe Protein Shake Recipe:
(morning and/or post-workout)
The entire process takes about 5 minutes. I recommend going a step further and buying a few extra cups and lids for your blender (I use a NutriBullet) to pre-load with the non-perishable ingredients.
Tip:
Put all the powders in first, then add 1/4 cup of your liquid (water, kefir, coconut milk, etc.) and stir it so you're not left with powder clumps that stick to the bottom.
-1.0 scoop of chocolate protein powder (I like Optimum Nutrition Natural Whey)
-1 to 2 TBSP of hemp protein
-1 frozen banana (pre-peel, halve the bananas and put them in a container to freeze)
-small handful of frozen blueberries or strawberries (I always freeze my strawberries whole. Eat the tops!)
-frozen fresh ginger slices (pre wash, cut and then freeze)
-0.5 TBSP of premium unfiltered raw honey
-small handful of spinach leaves or any other dark green leafy vegetable
-0.5 TBSP of ground cinnamon (I recommend using premium Cylon cinnamon!)
-TBSP of natural peanut butter (stay away from processed peanut butter like Jiffy)
-1 TBSP of a healthy fat like olive, coconut or MCT oil
-1/4 TSP ground turmeric
-1 TBSP of gelatinized maca powder
-1 TBSP of unsalted grass-fed butter
-1/4 TSP sea salt
-1 TSP raw cacao nibs
-1 TBSP collagen powder (grass-fed!)
-0.25 to -0.5 TSP vitamin C crystals
-a couple pieces of a 90%+ chocolate bar
-top it all off with water, kefir, coconut water or whole milk (Stay away from skim milk. The protein-to-sugar ratio in skim milk is horrible)
Blend and enjoy!
Do not be put-off or intimidated by the long list of ingredients. The combined taste is remarkably fantastic and very tasty! If you were to buy all of the ingredients above on Amazon right now you would spend less than $135 and could make 50+ shakes before you need to restock any single item. Most of the ingredients will last longer than that.
Tip:
The peanut butter and honey should be the last ingredients you toss in before topping off the blender cup.
Fish / Krill oil:
I used to add 1 TSP of Carlson Labs lemon-flavored fish oil in my shakes but it threw off the taste of the shake. Now, instead of fish oil now I simply take 1 Krill oil capsule per day (Jarrow brand).
Tip:
Start adding more high-quality, healthy fats to your diet such as grass-fed butter, high quality olive oil, etc.
Closing thoughts:
This shake is designed to be nutritionally dense and taste great. Use it as a meal replacement as it has a decent amount of healthy fats which will keep you satiated (feeling full) for a good amount of time. I designed it with nutritional variety in mind. I recommend using kefir water or kefir milk as your base liquid so as to further benefit your gut bacteria.