Thursday, June 20, 2013

Recipe: Coffee protein shake

I start every morning with the same breakfast.  A coffee protein drink.  It is a little like a Starbucks Frappucchino, plus the protein, minus the coffeehouse price.  I started making them about 2 years ago and have since perfected the recipe according to my tastes and dietary needs. 



I use my Ninja Blender, which works wonders.  It chops the ice, blends everything smoothly, and is easy to clean up. 

Usually I brew a cup in my Keurig.  I normally use a plain Starbucks or Dunk's K cup, a french vanilla or a coconut, but my absolute favorite is Cherry Chip Swirl by Van Houtte. I cool the coffee off in the fridge or put it in my favorite bacon shaped ice cube trays to make coffee ice cubes.  

I fill the Ninja to 8-16oz (depending on if this is my whole breakfast or just half of it.) with half brewed black coffee and half International delight LIGHT iced coffee.  The flavor doesnt matter, they are all delicious. 


 
Then I add a splash of coffee creamer.  My favorites to use are Bailey's or International delight.  Again, the flavor doesnt matter.  I am a bit addicted to coffee creamers, so somedays I will use one that I am in the mood for, or if I can't decide, I have one of the kids choose a flavor for me.  There is usually a decent size variety in my fridge. 
 
 
I add my two scoops of mocha CLICK protein
 
 
And I add usually 1/2 to 1 full Oikos caffe latte flavored greek yogurt. 
 
Then add the coffee ice cubes, 3-4 of them, and 4-5 plain ice (or all plain ice if you'd like) and blend using the "blend" button on the Ninja.  It takes a good 30-45 seconds to make sure all the ice is chopped well enough.  Then I pour it into a homemade mason jar mug that my husband made me, and I enjoy. 
 
 
Less calories, higher protein, less fat than a "large" coffee house drink, and it tastes just as good, plus the cost is about 1/4th what you'd pay at a coffee house. 
 

4 comments:

stevencooks said...

Pianca, I'd love to know the nutritional info for this. Have you ever looked into it? Might be a good thing for me to have around the office...

Unknown said...

As someone who needs to watch calories and fat, I do know the nutrition info (approximately, anyways.) The coffee (16oz of international delight light iced coffee.) is around 200 calories,5 grams of fat and 8 grams of protein, the creamer (1tbsp) is 35 calories 1.5 grams of fat and no protein, the yogurt is 160 calories (in a full serving), 4.5 grams of fat, and 11 grams of protein. the protein powder is 120 calories, 1.5 grams of fat and 15 grams of protein. So in all, 24 oz of a blended homemade 'coffee house drink' is 515 calories at most, 12.5 grams of fat, 34 grams of protein. By using 1/2 brewed coffee, you'll drop the calories and fat a lot. I usually use 1/2 international delight, 1/2 brewed coffee which will drop the calories to about 425, the fat will be at 10 grams and protein will be 30 grams. Its a yummy way to have an on the go breakfast that will fill you up. (I try to stick to 1600 calories daily, so this works perfectly for me for breakfast when I can't sit down to a morning meal.)

stevencooks said...

Maybe over July 4th, you can make one for me one morning? I'd love to try one!

Unknown said...

Yes yes, yes!!! I will absolutely do that. I couldnt find my cafe latte yogurt ysterday at Target, so I got plain greek and made my drink with it this morning. Much more protein, less fat, slightly less calories. And it didnt affect the taste too much.