Admit it. You get tired of the same old protein shakes. Well we hear you. So we’ve compiled some recipes, ingredients and enhancements you can use to perk up the taste and nutritional profile of your shakes.

In Part One of Shake-ology, we covered the basics of making good nutritional shakes. Here in Part Two we’ll go over over some basic recipe ideas and discuss some other ingredients you can use to make those good shakes great shakes.

With these kinds of recipes, it wouldn’t be too prudent for us to list specific amounts, since this is something that can and should be adjusted by each user according to their tastes and preferences. Experiment and have fun!

Ice:

Ice always makes a shake taste better. And blending ice seems to improve the mixing of shake ingredients. But it’s not essential. Try making “ice” cubes of fruit juice (orange, grape, etc) and throw a few of those in a shake. Storing your blender’s “pitcher” in the freezer also helps make a shake ice-cold for those who prefer it.

Liquids:

You always need to use some kind of liquid to mix up your shake. Give some thought to the following pros and cons of the most common shake mixing liquids and remember you can combine them (1/2 water and 1/2 milk always works well).

Water: Cold water always works, and adds nothing else to the shake nutritionally, no calories, nothing. But it doesn’t necessarily make the best-tasting shake.

Dairy Milk: adds protein, and some other nutrients.  Organic lowfat and skim milk are best. Dairy milk’s taste compliments the taste of dairy proteins (whey, casein) very well.  You can also buy dry milk powder to mix into your shake with plain water, that works pretty well too.

Soy, rice, almond milk: Work well but usually have added sugar which many people want to avoid. Other than that they work fine.

Fruit juice: Because of the high sugar content, we don’t recommend using fruit juice unless it’s diluted with water to a 50/50 mixture.

Iced green tea: As long as you sweeten it with something besides sugar (xylitol, erythritol) you can make a great green tea shake with protein powder and some iced green tea. Some flavors work better than others for a green tea shake: Tart, sweet and fruit flavors work very well.  Vanilla, less so, chocolate even less so.

Flavors and recipes:

Creamsicle: Vanilla protein powder, diluted orange juice, ice and/or frozen OJ cubes.

Horchata: Vanilla protein, powder, milk, ice, dash or two of cinnamon.

Key Lime Pie: Vanilla protein powder, milk, ice, dash of lime juice.

Berry Delicious: Any berry-flavored protein powder (strawberry, mixed berry), milk, ice, splash of grape juice, about a half cup of frozen berries (any kind). Optional: pack of Acai flavored Emegen-C

Proto Mocha: Chcocolate or cappucino flavored protein powder, equal parts chilled coffee and chilled milk, ice, sweetener if desired.

Reese’s Peanut Butter Shake: Chocolate flavored protein, milk, ice, teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa powder, tablespoon of peanut butter.

Almond Joy: Chocolate flavored protein powder, milk, ice, dash of coconut milk, teaspoon of almond butter or 1/4 cup sliced almonds.

Pumpkin Pie: Vanilla flavored protein powder, milk, ice, dash of cinnamon, 1-2 tablespoons of cooked or canned pumpkin.

Cherry Garcia: Vanilla flavored protein powder, milk, ice, frozen bing cherries, sugar free chocolate or carob chips.

Mounds: Chocolate protein powder, milk, ice, splash of coconut milk, tablespoon unsweetened shredded coconut.

Strawberry shortcake: Strawberry protein powder, milk, ice, dash of vanilla extract, 1/2 cup frozen sliced strawberries (no added sugar).

Banana Split: Chocolate flavored protein powder, 1/2 peeled frozen ripe banana, unsweetened chocolate chips, a few frozen bing cherries, milk, ice.

Apple Pie A la Mode: Vanilla protein powder, diluted apple juice, splash of milk, ice, dash of cinnamon.

Got any recipes or tips you’d like to share? We’d love to publish them, so send them in today!

This entry was posted on Friday, November 7th, 2008 at 9:00 am and is filed under Miscellaneous, Women's Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.