Powders and produce for smoothies

Since smoothies have been dominating my morning routine I have gone through a lot of different ingredients – from protein and green powders to frozen fruit and veggies.

Here are my thoughts on what I’ve tried so far…maybe you will find something you are interested in trying out too?

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Amazing Grass is one of my favorite companies and they have tons of products.  I’ve never found one I don’t like.  I prefer the chocolate amazing meal above all the others (as a main ingredient in a smoothie), but they make green superfood powders too that can add a nutrient rich oomph to a drink (alkalizing greens, antioxidant-rich fruits and support herbs, etc.) without acting as a caloric drink in and of itself.

This one was new to me.

Amazing Grass Raw Reserve Greens & Protein Vanilla Spice falls somewhere in between the aforementioned lines of products – it isn’t a traditional protein powder, but rather a green powder supplement with some added plant based protein.

14 grams of protein.  And you can see all the other good stuff in there too.

The flavor wasn’t as strong as I thought it might be (which was sad since I got it because vanilla spice sounds right up my ally).  It had some “spice” flavor but not much vanilla.  I liked it, but I don’t think I’d get it again because there are others I prefer more.  Like the amazing meal chocolate.

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Speaking of Amazing Meal…

I also tried their Cafe Mocha flavor which has 100 mg of plant based caffeine in it.  What non plant based caffeine is I do not know, but that’s what the label says.  In any event, here are the other nutritional stats for you to examine.

At 10 grams of protein, it’s not as powerful as some other powder options, but definitely still a boost for a smoothie.

Flavor wise though, I wasn’t terribly impressed.  It tastes more green than mocha (which I like but for someone not used to green drinks it might be a disappointment).

I do like that grassy kind of flavor but not as much when paired with coffee flavoring.  It was sending mixed messages on what it was trying to be.  Are you a frappuccino or are you a green monster?

One thing is for sure, you definitely don’t need to add spinach to your smoothies if using Amazing Grass products – they already have plenty of that stuff in them.

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This one is definitely in my favorites column.  Vegan, gluten free, and soy free with a variety of plant based protein sources including peas, brown rice, chia and hemp seeds, and potato.  Potato?!?  I know, right?

Bodylogix does make a non-vegan powder (whey protein) too, which contains soy.  Just FYI.

It makes a creamy chocolate-y smoothie that is the perfect amount of sweet (with a combo of cane sugar, stevia and xylitol) and boasts really awesome protein stats (25 grams).

I could honestly eat this for every meal of the day.  The flavor is just plain delicious.  Not gritty or powdery tasting.  Basically like a chocolate milkshake.

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I got this powder from the company.  MyProtein’s impact whey protein is one of several protein powder products they offer and let me tell you they have SO MANY flavors that all sound amazing (English toffee, Chocolate cookies & cream, Maple & Pecan…).  It’s honestly the most diverse range of flavors from any product line I’ve ever seen.

Whey protein is dairy derived, but I’m sensitive to the carbohydrate from dairy (lactose) so it didn’t affect my gut at all.

Like many of the other powders I have been sampling, this powder is very low sugar/carb (1 gram).  It is sweetened with sucralose and has 100 calories per (giant) scoop serving and 20 grams of protein.  And although the package says contains soy, it is only from soy lecithin (which from my research is safe for those who have soy allergies).

It has such a delicious malt flavor to it.  I wish it were a little cleaner and more transparent in it’s labeling (why does it have to have caramel coloring?  and what are the artificial flavors exactly?) but it’s still a great option because it excels in both taste and nutrient profile.  Rich and chocolate-y and protein packed.  If you aren’t vegan and looking for a whey based protein powder, this is a yummy one.  My only other issue with it is it makes a thin smoothie, but I figured out a way to fix that (just add flax meal/chia seeds).

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Getting back to the vegan ones…

I already shared my thoughts on Sunwarrior’s warrior blends, but here’s a shot of the vanilla flavor.  It’s gluten free, soy free, dairy free, and has 19 grams of protein per serving.

I don’t think the vanilla flavor is as strong as some of the other vanilla powders I’ve tried, but maybe that has more to do with the add-ins (i.e. fruit) than the powder itself.  Sometimes certain ingredients (strawberries) can overpower the rest of a smoothie’s flavors thereby masking the vanilla essence (I don’t think blueberries and bananas do that as much).

That said, maybe that neutral quality of the vanilla warrior blend would make it the perfect powder for all purpose use because of it’s ability to blend into the background and not steal the show.  Whether you want something to add to a smoothie or use in a baked good (pancakes, waffles, etc.) to amp up the protein content without making the food taste powdery or gritty or protein-y, I think this could be the best option.

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I was sent Skoop to review a long long time ago (when I was first pregnant).  At that time, I was avoiding stevia (due to it’s potential effects on hormones).  It hasn’t been completely proven that it impacts anything directly, but stevia does have a chemical structure similar to hormones and can possibly interact with them thereby messing with an important function of your body during pregnancy.  So I waited until now to try it.

They have a few different lines, and I was sent “A Game” to sample.  Side note: they have such cute marketing and packaging, it made me fall in love with the product as soon as I opened it.  Check out their website – it’s awesome.

Anyway, the point of Healthy Skoop is not macronutrient supplementation, but rather micronutrients (as in phytonutrients for cellular repair).  There are plenty of protein powders for muscle recovery which is why Skoop’s mission as a product is so unique.

With one serving of A-Game you get 10 servings of fruit and veggies, probiotics, antioxidants, etc etc.

So now that I’ve sold you on the reasons the ingredients rock, how about the flavor?

I tried the Chocofresh, which means I have no idea what (the other flavor option is Sweetgreen).  I was expecting chocolate, but it wasn’t really chocolate-y so I added cocoa powder because I’d gotten myself all psyched up for a chocolate drink.  Problem solved.

All in all, a good powder for getting your micronutrients in, but there isn’t much of a distinguishable flavor.  Again, this could work to the powder’s advantage, in that it could be snuck in various recipes to bulk up the nutritional stats without anyone being the wiser.  I’m thinking kids’ smoothies here?  I’m not sure how it stacks up against something like Amazing Grass’ greens powder, but I think I prefer Amazing Grass because (a) it’s a lower calorie count and (b) has yummy flavor options (in addition to an unflavored variety if you’re looking for that).

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I don’t have a photo of the next powder’s nutritional stats, but it was Garden of Life’s raw vanilla protein and I thought I’d previously reviewed it but I can’t find a blog post to prove it, so here are my thoughts anyway.

Here’s an image I swiped from the internet.  34 grams protein is pretty stellar, and like the rest of the Garden of Life products, you know you are getting super premium quality stuff.  [I took their prenatals throughout pregnancy]

It looks like sludge, but don’t the unappetizing ones make the best smoothies?

I think this protein powder has the best flavor in terms of vanilla that doesn’t taste fake or weird, but is still very present.

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Full disclosure, Vega makes my very very favorite protein powder ever.   I love them.  I love Vega One and Vega Protein and Greens especially.  And both the chocolate and vanilla flavors are perfection.  Seriously delicious.

That said, I’ve had the above Vega samples for a while now and haven’t really been interested in trying them because I don’t usually feel like fruity flavored powders.  I mean, I add fruit to my smoothie already so it seems excessive.  I don’t know why I think this, but there you go.  Anyway, I finally got around to trying them both (the Tropical Tango is from the energizing smoothie line, while the Berry is a Vega one all-in-one shake).

For the berry flavor, I simply added my usual mix of coconut cubes, almond milk, spinach, and frozen banana.

Topped with granola.

And you know what?  There really wasn’t a strong berry flavor at all!  Like, if you’d handed it to me and said try this, I would never have identified it as being a berry powder containing smoothie.  For some this could be a minus, but for me it was great!  I loved it.  And it kept me full and I felt great after drinking it.  Perfectly done Vega.

For the energizing smoothie powder, I added a whole avocado to bulk it up.  It doesn’t have as many calories as the all-in-one powder so I wanted to be sure it held my appetite through to lunch.

The flavor here wasn’t very strong either and I mostly noted the creamy avocado more than anything else.

Now that we’ve tackled powders, let’s move on to the toppings.

First off, I make my own granola more often than I buy it because (a) it’s really easy and (b) it’s cheaper.  But I’ve been trying new store bought cereals over the past few months and figured I may as well share.

Nature’s Path is such a bomb company.  This is the Sunrise Crunchy Vanilla cereal which happens to be gluten free and contains none of Mr. P’s allergens (although it is produced in a facility that uses peanuts, tree nuts and soy).

We originally bought it for Kyle (lately he has been eating cereal for breakfast about 50% of the time because I don’t have the time or energy to prepare it the night before) but he didn’t like it so I took on the role of finishing it off.  Tough job, but everyone has to make sacrifices in life.  😉  It’s really noticeably vanilla-y.  I like that, but I suppose it’s not for everybody.  The only negative thing I could say is that a cereal not a granola, and I personally tend to prefer more nuts and seeds and oomph on my breakfast smoothies.

Another good topping that I tried is Udi’s vanilla granola.  I have purchased this granola previously because I like the fact that is has so few ingredients.  There are only a handful of real food ingredients in it, so that’s awesome.  And it’s crispy and crunchy and sweet in the very best way.  The only downside is the lack of clusters.  Not a big deal.

On the raw foods front, I scored this on mega sale at WF and it was divine.  I don’t have a dehydrator so it’s not something I can make on my own.

The thing about raw (and/or sprouted) food is it has a distinct nutty, seedy, hard crunch that is often too reminiscent of a stale texture.  This was not like that.  It wasn’t very sweet, but the crunch was a good crunch.  It has a bitable yummy texture.

Close up of the ingredients if you’re interested.

I rationed this like crazy because it ordinarily sells for $8 a bag which is kinda insane.

Despite the misleading photo above, there were actually lots of large chunks and clusters amongst the little crumb bits and pieces.  I liked this one a lot and if it goes on sale again, I will for sure get it again.

This is my favorite.  Well done Trader Joe’s.

It is gluten free and packed with nuts and seeds and sweetened delightfully well.  I love the random hunks of brazil nuts, hazelnuts, and walnuts.  And the ratio of cereal to other stuff is perfect.

I have been buying this exclusively since finding it.

And now that I’ve written 4,729,665 more words on this topic than I ever thought I would or could, how about I just tell you what I’ve come to consider my standard every day smoothie…

I have not deviated from this for the past month.  For real.

• 4 coconut cubes
• 2 ice cubes
• 1/2-3/4 of a banana, frozen in chunks
• 1/2 cup liquid (water, almond or coconut milk)
• 1 scoop (~2 tbsp) Myprotein chocolate caramel impact whey protein powder
• 2 tsp flax seeds

Every.  Single.  Day.

Will it ever get old?

Not any time soon…

Although I’m almost out of myprotein powder, so we will see.

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More protein powder reviews here.