three chocolate protein shake recipes

ith the heat these days I've been trying to eat as many cold things as possible without resorting to popsicles and ice cream all the time.  Finding something that fills me up but also cools me down has been a challenge, so I started making some protein shakes to both help with the midday heat and hunger.

I like to keep some frozen fruit in the freezer to have on hand for smoothies and such.  If you're freezing fresh fruit, instead of buying bags of pre-frozen fruit, spread it out on a cookie sheet and pop it in the freezer.  This will make sure your berries freeze individually instead of clumped together and they'll freeze faster spread out on a cookie sheet than thrown together in a ziplock.  After they're frozen you can toss them in a ziplock to store.

Chocolate Strawberry Banana is probably my favorite version of these three.  It's just fruity enough, and reminds me a little bit of a banana split.  Yum!

CHOCOLATE STRAWBERRY BANANA
1.5 bananas frozen
2-3 strawberries frozen
1 c milk
1 scoop (~1/4 - 1/3 c) chocolate protein powder
1 tsp chocolate powder (optional)


 

Keep some cold brew on hand or chill your leftover morning drip coffee in the fridge to make this smoothie!  Not only will it cool you off, but it'll give you a little kick of caffeine too!

MOCHA
1/2 c cold brew coffee
1/2 c milk
1 scoop (~1/4 - 1/3 c) chocolate protein powder
10 ice cubes

 
Truth be told, I'm not a big peanut butter fan, but I know tons of people out there are, including Dan!  I used to work at a smoothie shop in a gym a long time ago and this smoothie was their most popular smoothie, so I know I'm probably in the minority with my PB aversion.  Reese's Pieces has proven that chocolate and PB is a tried and true combo and this smoothie is awesome for those of you out there who love peanut butter and chocolate!

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER BANANA
1.5 bananas, frozen
1 spoonful peanut butter
1 c milk
1 scoop (~1/4 - 1/3 c) chocolate protein powder
1 tsp chocolate powder (optional)