Shake 21

For more than two decades we've produced a breakfast recipe, originally built around a smoothie, then converted into a protein shake about 5 years ago.

Smoothies bought at retail or in a bottle at the market tend to be packed with lots of sugar and provide little in the way of protein, and clean protein is the way you really want to start your day. So, we go with 100% grass-fed whey protein. A typical serving of that will get you 20 grams of protein, about a third of what you need each day.

The choice of yogurt is important. Stay away from yogurt that is low fat or sweetened, since sugar kills off the probiotics that are there to work magic in your digestive track. If the yogurt is USDA certified organic the fat content is the best you can do for your body and won't be stored like non-organic dairy.

The order of ingredients here means you'll put the least amount of stress on your blender. Since we like to make these several times a week using frozen fruit, that's important. I've noted the brands I use most commonly in our shakes.

Ingredients

• 8 oz plain organic yogurt (Nancy's)
• 8 oz unsweetened/unflavored organic almond milk (Pacific Foods)
• 1 handful frozen kale (Organic Girl)
• 1 cup organic frozen fruit (PCC)
• 1 TBS Organic almond butter (PCC bulk)
• 1/3 cup organic oats (PCC bulk)
• 1 serving organic whey protein powder (Central Market)

Method

1. Toss it in the blender in the order above.

2. If your blender does not have a smoothie setting, blend on low for 30 seconds and then switch up to high for the last 30 seconds

Flavor options

This is where the fun begins. Mixing and matching your fruit and protein powder flavors keep the shake from being boring.

For fruit, blueberries are my go-to since they are high in anti-oxidants and so good for you. But sometimes the store is out of frozen blueberries, so look for cherries, raspberries, peaches, and otherwise.

There are two common flavors in protein powders - vanilla and chocolate, and you can get the organic types in flavors. If you can't locate them in a store locally, they can be purchased online.

A few of our favorite protein/fruit combinations are:

• Vanilla/Blueberry
• Chocolate/Cherry
• Vanilla/Chocolate/Raspberry (50/50 mix on the two protein powders)

You can also try out:

• Vanilla/Peach
• Chocolate/Strawberry
• Vanilla/Blackberry

If you like to make your own spice blends for coffee, they make a nice go-along in shakes too. In the fall I make my own pumpkin spice and use it in our shakes until it's gone.

Tom Mehren/May 2021