Peach-Mango (protein) Frozen Pops

First, a bit of business. Yesterday in the haze of excitement, I forgot to mention to you what I plan to do should I win the Magic Bullet Kitchen Magician contest. I think it’s important to know what you’re supporting (and I hope you DO support me on this!).

I’ve been this close to finishing my protein shake recipe book for a long time. Up to now it’s been a collection of recipes. I changed it so that it is a tool that WLS patients can use to really guide their protein drink experiences. It pulls together all the methods for making a protein treat (whether hot, cold or frozen), how to “troubleshoot your shake”…and oh yeah, it’s got even MORE recipes than you can shake a stick at!

Either way, this book will come out this summer. If I win this contest, obviously it’d be a lot easier. I still need to get a cover designed and pay for printing. I’m getting there but I’d love to be finished so that folks can start using it. After all, there’s no excuse for drinking nasty protein shakes!

S’anyway, that’s my song and dance. Here’s the video I made to submit for the contest (and the most candid you will EVER see me. No cutesy poses. No diva-prancing. Just me...and the blender peeps!)

If you like the video and want to support me, click here to vote for it. I think you can vote more than once. I’m not sure.

Last time I looked, the top vote getter has over 1,000 votes, so I have a long way to go. As usual, I am the underdog. But that’s ok by me. It makes victory all the more sweet.

Thanks in advance for your help. Now here's the "amped up" recipe:

Nik's Peach Mango Protein Frozen Pops

Ingredients

6 oz. unflavored Greek yogurt (I used non-fat)
1 c. really ripe mango, diced
1 c. really ripe peach, diced (I used fresh for both)
2 scoops vanilla or unflavored protein powder
1/2 stick sugar-free orange drink mix
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 oz. water
no-calorie sweetener, to taste

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a blender and mix well.

Pour into popsicle molds and freeze until solid.

WARNING: If you can't handle high volumes of fruit, this is not the pop for you. But fear not! I am building a repertoire of alternatives and there's more to come!

Three foods with big protein bang for your calorie buck

That was quite a title!

First an admission. I cannot lie to you guys. This was NOT supposed to be today's post. But unfortunately I left my camera at a friend's house and rather than give you a recipe with no pictures, I'd rather wait until tomorrow, when we can all revel in some good ol' fashioned food porn!

In the meantime, let's discuss bargain eating. ("Wuzzat?")

Bargain eating is trying to eat foods that give you the most benefit for the amount of calories you are eating.

For us, that would be mainly protein and especially for newbies, getting the most out of things is essential.

So first, let's talk about protein a bit. My next info series "Protein Power" is in the writing phases, but there is some basic stuff I can say about protein.

For instance, one gram of protein has four calories. And what makes a good protein source? Well we each have our own rules, but to me something is a GOOD protein source if it has one gram of protein for every ten calories (at least...remember...since 1g protein =4 calories, technically there CAN be up to 2g of protein in 10 calories. Just sayin...) and if the carbs are lower than the protein.

Keeping that in mind, here are three things that, in my estimation, give you good protein bang for your calorie buck.

String Cheese

Especially if you get it from Aldi. My Fit & Active string cheese has 60 calories, 8g protein. That's as much as a glass of milk with 20 less calories. And I could finish a string cheese very early on. Be sure you are cleared for cheese (especially mozzarella) before trying, but this makes a great midday protein snack.

Here's a yummy snack I make using string cheese.

Tuna

Four ounces of tuna roughly equals 10g protein. Granted, many newbies can't eat four ounces of tuna, but if you're looking for something that can go down easy and give you good protein. Tuna is a good "go-to" food.

Here's three things I like to do with tuna:

• Thai Tuna sliders
• No-noodle tuna casserole
• Mediterranean tuna

There's lots more. Do a search for "tuna" in the search box in the right menu panel and see what you discover!

Cottage Cheese

You all thought I was gonna say Greek yogurt, didn't you??? I like Greek yogurt fine although I don't tend to eat it much anymore outside of being a sub for sour cream. Cottage cheese, however? I can't get enough of the stuff! And if you get the low-fat kind (NOT fat free...although in a moment I'll tell you how to deal if you accidentally buy fat free...), it's only 10 calories more than milk...with 4 more grams of protein!!! Half a cup of cottage cheese generally has about 14g of protein and 90 calories, making it an excellent choice...and it's easy on the pouch.

What do I like to do with cottage cheese?

• You like cannoli? Click here.
• You like Cadbury Cream Eggs? Click here.
• In my latest coup, I started replacing half the cream cheese in my protein cheesecake with cottage cheese  (that I've run through the processor to smoooth out) Nobody knows the difference and it bumps up the protein a LOT.

Now...if you happen to get some fat free cottage cheese (you poor thing) and don't like it, here's what you can do. Measure out your portion of it. For every ounce of cottage cheese, add 1 heaping tablespoon of Greek yogurt (or plain yogurt). Then add your flavorings. It helps. Trust me. (No offense to all the fat free cottage cheese lovers out there...I hope I didn't offend both of you ;)

So there you have it. Three solid choices that give you excellent bang for your protein buck. Newbies, find a way to incorporate one of these into your plan and you will be A-OK!