Rudolph’s Spritzer (loaded with fruit juice!)

Looking for a delicious drink this Christmas that is also good for you?  Try this recipe for Rudolph’s spritzer.  Loaded with fruit juices and great taste!

5 Cups of Orange Juice
2 Cups of chilled Lemon-Lime soft drink (Sprite, Sierra Mist)
1/2 Cup Maraschino Cherry Juice
1/4 Cup fresh Lemon Juice
Feel free to garnish with Lemon Slices and Maraschino Cherries

If you like this drink, make sure to check out my recipe for Vitamin C Packed Brunch Punch

Vitamin C Packed Brunch Punch

Looking for a healthy drink loaded with fruit and antioxidants?  Try this delicious brunch punch recipe.  Great for Christmas parties and your health!

1/4 Cup of Lime Juice
2 Cups Cranberry Juice
3 Cups Orange Juice
1 Large Can of Pineapple Juice
Feel free to garnish with citrus wedges and slices, maraschino cherries

Dr. Oz Metabolism Boosting Smoothie Recipe

According to Dr. Oz, this smoothie will help you relax, sleep better and speed up your metabolism.  So if you are stressed or can’t sleep well at night, give it a try and let me know if it helps you or not.

5 Ice Cubes
1/4 teaspoon of Pure Vanilla Extract
1/2 Cup of Soy Milk
1/2 of a Banana
1 Cup of Tart Cherry Juice

Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie Recipe

This recipe is going to mix things up a little bit.  You may not think all of these ingredients go together but it actually works well when blended up.

1/2 cup of milk
1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 scoop of protein powder
1 free range egg
1 packet of unflavored oatmeal
3 packets of truvia/stevia
1 tablespoon of peanut butter
1 cup of ice

Just blend it all up and enjoy.  If it isn’t sweet enough for you, you may add more packets of stevia if you desire.  Because of the protein powder, the peanut butter, egg and oatmeal, this smoothie is packed with protein.  Depending on the protein powder you are using, you are looking at around 45 grams of protein in this one.

Blackberry Protein & Antioxidant Smoothie

Smoothie week continues with the Blackberry Protein Smoothie.  I grow my own blackberries in the backyard so I have to come up with different ways to use them.  Blackberries are loaded with fiber and antioxidants so it’s hard to go wrong with them.

2 handfuls of blackberries
1 scoop of protein powder (use any flavor you like, I used vanilla)
1/2 cup of Greek Yogurt
2 packets of stevia/truvia (if your blackberries are sour and you like a sweeter drink)
1/2 to 2/3 cup of milk (depending on how thick you want it)
1 cup of ice

Just blend all of that up and enjoy your cold, creamy smoothie after a nice hard workout!  This one is easy to make and you don’t need that many ingredients.  Depending on the protein powder and type of yogurt you use, you are looking at a little over 30 grams of protein with this one.

Healthy (and Tasty) Chocolate Banana Smoothie Recipe

If you are looking to add more protein to your diet but hate the taste of most protein shakes, this recipe is for you.  It tastes great, is loaded with protein and other healthy ingredients, is quick to make and will give you energy after a hard workout.

All you need is:
1/2 cup of milk (I used organic whole milk)
1 scoop of protein powder (I used Optimum Nutrition’s Vanilla)
2 tablespoons of Honey (you will need to microwave it for 15 seconds so it will mix well)
1 tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder (not needed if you used chocolate protein powder)
1 banana
1 free range egg (optional)
1 cup of ice

Just blend all of that up and in a few seconds you will have a cold creamy shake filled with protein and healthy ingredients that tastes great and will give you energy!  Depending on your protein powder and if you used the egg or not, you are looking at nearly 40 grams of protein in this.

Muscle Milk Light Chocolate Peanut Caramel Bar

Today I am going to be reviewing Muscle Milk's chocolate peanut caramel protein bar (light version)

Taste:

This protein bar tastes okay, but it's certainly not the best on out there.  It uses the standard flavors for a protein bar, chocolate, peanuts, caramel.  This isn't a bad thing, it just isn't unique.  Taste = 7.8 out of 10.

Protein & Nutrition:

This protein bar is 45 grams, only 15 of which is protein.  It does have 4 grams of fiber but next to 0% of your daily vitamins and minerals.  Protein & Nutrition =  7.5 out of 10

Servings:

These come in a box or individually wrapped.  The price can vary but you are probably looking at a little over $1 per bar.  This is a pretty good price but I like to keep my meal replacements below $1 per meal since I eat a lot.  Servings = 8.2

Artificial ingredients:

It doesn't look to terrible, but it does have sucralose in it (which is in a lot of protein supplements).  Artificial ingredients = 9 out of 10

 At only 170 calories, it is a good bar for those trying to lose weight, using this as a meal replacement.  It's not terrible but there are other bars out there that are just as good or better.  Personally I will be sticking with those other protein bars for the most part but I might cycle these in from time to time just to break up eating the same things all the time.  Overall score=  8.1 out of 10.

Zone Perfect Chocolate Mint Bars

 Today we are going to be looking at Zone Perfect's Chocolate Mint bars.

Taste:

If you like mint, you will probably like these bars.  I think these bars taste great and actually so does the company who makes them.  There is even a refund policy on the bottom of the box if you don't like the bars. Taste = 9.5 out of 10.

Protein & Nutrition:

These bars have 14 grams of protein but each bar is 50 grams.  While this isn't a great ratio, used as a meal replacement it's not a huge issue.  Some of the extra grams come from fat, fiber and a little bit comes from sugar (13 grams).  These bars are loaded with vitamins, containing 20% - 50% of 19 different Vitamins & minerals.  Protein & Nutrition = 8.5 out of 10

Servings:

These come 5 per box.  The price can vary but you are probably looking at a little over $1 per bar.  This is a pretty good price but I like to keep my meal replacements below $1 per meal since I eat a lot.  Servings = 8

Artificial ingredients:

This product is supposed to be all natural so I do not have any complaints here.  This is one of the better protein products for the category.   Artificial ingredients = 10 out of 10

Overall, this is a good tasting protein bar that can be used as a meal replacement or a snack.  Zone Perfect Chocolate Mint Bars receive a score of 9 out of 10. 

Chocolate Muscle Milk Product Review

Welcome to my first product review!  I will be reviewing exercise equipment, protein powders and other supplements in future reviews.

For my first review I will be reviewing the protein powder Muscle Milk by CytoSport.  I just tried this a few days ago for the first time after hearing positive statements from people I know.

Taste:
This product (I have only tried the chocolate) tastes great.  This is 1 of the top 2 protein shakes I have ever had as far as taste goes.  This is pretty important to me because if something tastes so bad you can't drink it, your not going to stick with it no matter how healthy it is.  It does have a very slight artificial sweetener taste, it's almost unnoticeable most of the time.  This product gets a 9.5 out of 10 on taste.

Protein (and vitamins & minerals):
This is why most people are drinking these shakes in the first place so it's an important category.  Muscle Milk has 16 grams of protein per serving and is also loaded with about 15-20% of around 20 vitamins & minerals.  This isn't the most protein I have ever seen in a shake (most have about 24 grams) but it does have the vitamins and minerals many other shakes do not have.  I drink mine mixed with 1 cup of milk so I take in 24 grams of protein.  You could also mix this with other ingredients if you wish, like a banana or peanut butter, whatever you like.  It isn't necessary though, because as I said before, it tastes great.  The serving size is 35 grams, only 16 grams of that is protein, meaning the rest is made up of other ingredients (carbs and fat but this has the good kind mostly-2 grams of fiber which is a carb, etc).  This product gets a 8 out of 10 on protein.

Servings:
1 container has 25 servings.   This breaks down less than $1 per serving.  I eat 5 times a day so having 1 of my meals cost less than $1 (plus the cost of 1 cup of milk) is pretty nice.  Usually with protein shakes, buying in bulk lowers the cost per serving but I bought a smaller container (1.93lbs) just to try it out and see if I liked it.  It's also nice when a container has about a months supply, so even if you buy the smaller container you only have to buy it once a month.  8.5 out of 10

Artificial ingredients:
In our culture, unless you grow all of your own food, it's impossible to avoid artificial sweeteners and the like 100%.  That said, I try to avoid them as much as possible.  This product does have a few of them in it, namely acesulfame potassium and sucralose (splenda) but they are among the last ingredients listed, meaning they are the least out of everything in it.  Unfortunately, 95% of protein shakes have at least some of these ingredients in them.  7 out of 10 

So overall I like this product and I can actually drink it because it tastes wonderful.  Mixing it with milk I get 24 grams of protein (you don't want to take in to much at a time anyway since you can only digest so much at once).  For the price it's good.  I would buy this product again but because I want to avoid artificial sweeteners I will rotate this in with other drinks from time to time instead of just always drinking it. 

Overall Score: 8.4 out of 10