Re: protein powder, bars, and recipe for bran muffins

[Guest guest]

Rich,

I often have problems getting protein, also. I had tried tons of different

protein powders and couldn't stomach any of them. My daughter and her husband

have been following the Body for Life plan for some time now. It is essentially

just a healthy way of eating and exercise. The diet is basically just a good

mix of complex carbs, protein, and low fat. Anyway, my daughter is an

incredibly picky eater. In fact, her nickname was Picky Nikki! She told me

that she likes smoothies made using the EAS brand of protein powder, which can

be found at Wal-mart. She told me her favorite was a chocolate, peanut butter,

banana smoothie. I bought both the chocolate and vanilla protein powders and

have made all kinds of different smoothies with them. I buy bags of frozen

strawberries, blueberries, etc. - whatever I find in the freezer section. I cut

bananas into 2 inch chunks and throw them in a ziplock bag in the freezer. I

never make the smoothies the same. I just throw stuff together as the mood hits

me. I normally use about 4 oz of yogurt (fat free, no sugar added), some frozen

fruit, a little milk, and 1/2 scoop of protein powder to make about a 10-12 oz

smoothie. I bought the 'Magic Bullet' blender set that you may have seen

advertised on the Home Shopping Network. It was not cheap but was well worth

the price. I make the smoothie right in the mug that I drink it from. The

magic bullet set comes with 4 mugs as well as a few other blender containers.

It is SOOOO much easier than fooling with my big blender.

When I am able to tolerate anything at all, I have no trouble tolerating the

smoothies. If you don't want to use yogurt and/or milk, you can throw in a few

ice cubes or some fruit juice. Use your imagination and try different

combinations to see what you like.

I also like the Zone nutrition bars, which can also be found at Wal-mart. I

don't tolerate them quite as well as the smoothies, but if I can tolerate any

solid food, the Zone bars do fine for me. I have tried several and all I have

tried are good but my fav is the chocolate caramel. They have about 16 grams of

protein and are the size of a candy bar. I really haven't looked at the fat

content.

By the way, I've tried tons of other protein bars and didn't like the taste of

any others.

Oh, I also make raisin bran muffins with flax seed instead of oil. They are

yummy and have lots of fiber to keep things moving. I'm including the recipe.

I made them once with vanilla protein powder added to them to get extra protein

but it kind of made them dry and I didn't like them as much.

Raisin Bran Muffins

5 cups all purpose flour

1 ½ cups splenda (use sugar instead of splenda if you'd like)

5 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

8 cups raisin bran cereal

1 qt. buttermilk

¾ cup milk

1 cup peanut butter (optional - if you omit subtract 10 calories, 1 gram

protein, and ¾ gram carbs from counts for each muffin)

1 ½ cups flax seed

1 cup applesauce (unsweetened)

5 eggs

2 t. cinnamon

1 t. ground cloves

1 t. nutmeg

2 t. vanilla

Blend flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and spices in a large mixing bowl. Blend

buttermilk and milk with cereal in a second bowl. Add peanut butter to

cereal/milk mixture. Add flax seed and remaining liquid ingredients and

applesauce to beaten eggs. Blend dry ingredients with liquid ingredients until

moistened. Do not over mix batter. Mixture may be stored in refrigerator for 4

weeks. Pour 2/3 cup of batter into muffin tin that has been sprayed with Pam. (I

use cupcake liners instead - saves you from having to wash the muffin tins most

of the time.) Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes. Makes about 4-5 dozen

muffins. Great for breakfast or a snack.

NOTES

The recipe actually calls for ½ cup Canola oil and I substitute ground/milled

Flax seed for the oil. You can use ground/milled Flax seed in the place of oil

in any recipe. You just use 3 times as much Flax seed as the amount of oil

called for in the recipe. I added the milk and one extra egg to the original

recipe because the muffins were a little dry, perhaps because I used Flax seed

and no oil. The muffins freeze well. I just throw them in ziplock bags (once

they have cooled) and toss them in the freezer. They will stay fresh in ziplock

bags out of the freezer for about 5-7 days. The muffins are a great source of

fiber. If your body is not used to a lot of fiber, start out eating just one

muffin a day. I eat two muffins every day to get my daily fiber. You can add

nuts, dried cranberries, or whatever you'd like to have a different flavor. I

haven't tried it, but I imagine adding grated carrots to the batter would also

be good. I wanted to know how many calories, carbs, and amount of protein in

each muffin so I added the total amount for all ingredients and divided it by 48

muffins. I ended up with 50 muffins in this batch, but I usually end up with a

little more than that, I think. Anyway, if the batch makes 48 muffins, each

muffin has

100 calories

5 grams protein

18 grams carbohydrates

W

[Guest guest]

Thank you for the information I'll trying some of your ideas today. Peace and

god bless. Rich

Re: protein powder, bars, and recipe for bran muffins

Rich,

I often have problems getting protein, also. I had tried tons of different

protein powders and couldn't stomach any of them. My daughter and her husband

have been following the Body for Life plan for some time now. It is essentially

just a healthy way of eating and exercise. The diet is basically just a good

mix of complex carbs, protein, and low fat. Anyway, my daughter is an

incredibly picky eater. In fact, her nickname was Picky Nikki! She told me

that she likes smoothies made using the EAS brand of protein powder, which can

be found at Wal-mart. She told me her favorite was a chocolate, peanut butter,

banana smoothie. I bought both the chocolate and vanilla protein powders and

have made all kinds of different smoothies with them. I buy bags of frozen

strawberries, blueberries, etc. - whatever I find in the freezer section. I cut

bananas into 2 inch chunks and throw them in a ziplock bag in the freezer. I

never make the smoothies the same. I just throw stuff together as the mood hits

me. I normally use about 4 oz of yogurt (fat free, no sugar added), some frozen

fruit, a little milk, and 1/2 scoop of protein powder to make about a 10-12 oz

smoothie. I bought the 'Magic Bullet' blender set that you may have seen

advertised on the Home Shopping Network. It was not cheap but was well worth

the price. I make the smoothie right in the mug that I drink it from. The

magic bullet set comes with 4 mugs as well as a few other blender containers.

It is SOOOO much easier than fooling with my big blender.

When I am able to tolerate anything at all, I have no trouble tolerating the

smoothies. If you don't want to use yogurt and/or milk, you can throw in a few

ice cubes or some fruit juice. Use your imagination and try different

combinations to see what you like.

I also like the Zone nutrition bars, which can also be found at Wal-mart. I

don't tolerate them quite as well as the smoothies, but if I can tolerate any

solid food, the Zone bars do fine for me. I have tried several and all I have

tried are good but my fav is the chocolate caramel. They have about 16 grams of

protein and are the size of a candy bar. I really haven't looked at the fat

content.

By the way, I've tried tons of other protein bars and didn't like the taste of

any others.

Oh, I also make raisin bran muffins with flax seed instead of oil. They are

yummy and have lots of fiber to keep things moving. I'm including the recipe.

I made them once with vanilla protein powder added to them to get extra protein

but it kind of made them dry and I didn't like them as much.

Raisin Bran Muffins

5 cups all purpose flour

1 ½ cups splenda (use sugar instead of splenda if you'd like)

5 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

8 cups raisin bran cereal

1 qt. buttermilk

¾ cup milk

1 cup peanut butter (optional - if you omit subtract 10 calories, 1 gram

protein, and ¾ gram carbs from counts for each muffin)

1 ½ cups flax seed

1 cup applesauce (unsweetened)

5 eggs

2 t. cinnamon

1 t. ground cloves

1 t. nutmeg

2 t. vanilla

Blend flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and spices in a large mixing bowl.

Blend buttermilk and milk with cereal in a second bowl. Add peanut butter to

cereal/milk mixture. Add flax seed and remaining liquid ingredients and

applesauce to beaten eggs. Blend dry ingredients with liquid ingredients until

moistened. Do not over mix batter. Mixture may be stored in refrigerator for 4

weeks. Pour 2/3 cup of batter into muffin tin that has been sprayed with Pam. (I

use cupcake liners instead - saves you from having to wash the muffin tins most

of the time.) Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes. Makes about 4-5 dozen

muffins. Great for breakfast or a snack.

NOTES

The recipe actually calls for ½ cup Canola oil and I substitute ground/milled

Flax seed for the oil. You can use ground/milled Flax seed in the place of oil

in any recipe. You just use 3 times as much Flax seed as the amount of oil

called for in the recipe. I added the milk and one extra egg to the original

recipe because the muffins were a little dry, perhaps because I used Flax seed

and no oil. The muffins freeze well. I just throw them in ziplock bags (once

they have cooled) and toss them in the freezer. They will stay fresh in ziplock

bags out of the freezer for about 5-7 days. The muffins are a great source of

fiber. If your body is not used to a lot of fiber, start out eating just one

muffin a day. I eat two muffins every day to get my daily fiber. You can add

nuts, dried cranberries, or whatever you'd like to have a different flavor. I

haven't tried it, but I imagine adding grated carrots to the batter would also

be good. I wanted to know how many calories, carbs, and amount of protein in

each muffin so I added the total amount for all ingredients and divided it by 48

muffins. I ended up with 50 muffins in this batch, but I usually end up with a

little more than that, I think. Anyway, if the batch makes 48 muffins, each

muffin has

100 calories

5 grams protein

18 grams carbohydrates

W