Sunday, July 3, 2011

Hot Chocolate Pro-Co-Coa

Hot Chocolate Pro-Co-Coa

I went through a few days where I could not tolerate anything cold at all - it just made me completely nauseous. As a result I started experimenting with hot drinks and soft foods into which I could incorporate protein powder. I came up with a bunch of delicious hot chocolate recipes, but this one is my favorite - and I usually make it every day and drink it first thing in the morning to start out my day with a good boost of protein. One of the best things about it is that it allowed me to use up a lot of protein powder I was not thrilled with, as the flavor of the cocoa and sweeteners covered up the taste of the protein powder. You can use any unsweetened cocoa you like, the Ghiradelli is my personal favorite. You can also use all chocolate or all vanilla sugar free syrup, or can omit it and add some granulated sweetener and a dash of vanilla extract. Since I do use Unjury, which can only be heated to 130 degrees, my cocoa is just barely hot. If you prefer a really hot cocoa, use a heat stable protein powder. I am willing to trade the taste I prefer for a slightly cooler cocoa, which I keep in an insulated mug which keeps the temperature constant for at least 30 minutes.

2 cups hot water
1 1/2 scoops chocolate protein powder (for testing we used Unjury Chocolate Splendor Whey Protein Powder (150 calories, 30 grams protein)
1 tablespoon Ghirardelli unsweetened cocoa (15 calories, 1 gram protein)
1 tablespoon chocolate sugar free syrup (Torani or DaVinci)
1 tablespoon vanilla sugar free syrup (Torani or DaVinci)

Mix everything together in a 20-ounce or larger mug or cup. Enjoy hot.

Makes one serving.

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

165 calories, 31 grams protein

No comments:

Post a Comment