All natural shake powder

Ok don’t get me wrong, I like the taste of slimfast after I add fruits, and sometimes veggies to it, but I don’t absolutely love the ingredients list on the back of the can.

I like knowing what is going into my meals and where that food came from. Sadly slimfast had been the only meal replacement drink that had agreed with me of all the ones I had tried. I tried quite a few natural ones. I think they had too many added vitamins or something because I would always feel really horrible after drinking them.

So I went on a quest to make my own. I did a bunch of research and found I had everything but the chia seeds.

My slimfast shakes were normally around 150 calories because I would use less fruit and lower calorie nut milk like unsweetened vanilla almond or almond coconut milk.

I did not want to up the calorie intake from shakes due to the fact that I usually eat something small every 2 hours in addition to a shake/smoothie in the morning and one at night before bed.

Slimfast, the powder alone, is 110 calories. I decided I would throw everything together and then hope it came out to that or less, so I might add more fresh fruits to the mix.

Now I did not want to add powdered fruit, as I already put fruit in my shakes, I felt it would take away from the texture if everything was powder. I did however, really like the idea of getting more veggies into my shakes. Lately it has just been a handful or two of spinach when it fits the flavor.

So here is what I came up with:


The mix I concocted includes oats, chia seeds, beets, yams, pumpkin, carrot, a green goodness powder mixture (there are like 9+ ingredients in it and I can’t find the list. You can get it at the Herb Pantry though)
I made 13 servings worth of this mix. Each scoop is 2tbsp and is approx. 21 calories (yes, you heard me)

Now this does mean each serving is also only .75g of protein, but I am ok with that, since once I add a banana to the mix, that bumps up the protein to about 2g, which is what slimfast has.

I really like this mix because it is really versatile.
I could add carob or chocolate powder.
I could add nut butters for added protein. (I don’t want the extra protein unless I need it at the time)
I could add spices like cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, nutmeg, etc..
I could add powdered honey
I could add green tea powder, other tea powders, flax seeds, etc.. The possibilities are really endless.

Now they have this pbx powder stuff that looks interesting, but since peanuts are the worst nuts for you comparably, I decided not to get any of it.

Almond flour would be good to add if you do not already use almond milk in your shake.

I made my shake today with a whole banana instead of half, blueberries, yogurt, and almond coconut milk. It ended up being about the same amount of calories as my slimfast shakes would have been, but with more goodness.

Now the texture is going to be different of course, but I honestly did not mind it at all. Anyone who has put powdered oats in their shake will know what I am talking about. The flavor is great and did not taste like leafy greens at all really. You don’t taste the beets, only the light sweetness.

I am honestly quite happy with how this little experiment turned out. Now I just need to come up with a neat name for it instead of just calling it my shake mix.

I would like to note that I did opt out of adding a soy, whey, or hemp protein powder intentionally. While I could easily get my hands on any one of those, after reading up on the pros and cons of them, I felt it best to leave them out. Now pea protein is one that was interesting to me after reading about it, and I might try that one in the future (probably from sprouting, dehydrating, and powdering my own peas) I will update you on that if I do decide to try it.

For those who wish to try making this mix, here is the recipe I used:


Oats I used 1/2c of the normal quick one min oats. Powdered it came out to 14Tbsp.
Chai seeds I used 1/8c which came out to 6Tbsp + 1tsp.
Green powder mix I used 1Tbsp + 1tsp
Pumpkin powder 1Tbsp
Yam (about 1/8 of a yam) powder 1Tbsp
Carrot powder 1Tbsp (I cannot recall how many carrots this was dehydrated, but not many, like 1-3)
Beet powder 2Tbsp (about 1 beet)

I did dehydrate all the veggies myself except for the green powder. Eventually once my garden is growing again, I will be dehydrating more greens to make my own green powder mix.

I also want to mention how inexpensive this is to make 13 servings compared to spending $7 per 14 servings for slimfast. If you use the $15+ mixes, this will be an even greater savings. I have not yet done the price breakdown, but you can see from the above, it does not take much.
The bag of chia seeds I got for like $6 I could make like 18 batches of the above with, and it is the smaller bag… Oats are cheap to buy, as is everything else on the list. Just something you might want to know is all.

Let me know if you try it and your thoughts on it. I want to know what awesome things you add to your shakes!

Plans for a healthier lifestyle

In the beginning of this project I had so much energy and drive. Now I just feel tired all the time and lack motivation to get some projects finished.
I honestly think part of it is my eating habits. With the renovation it is so much harder to eat healthier when you aren’t really shopping much for the month before the move. We eat out probably more than we should. I am honestly excited to get my healthy lifestyle back on track. All this high calorie not so good for you food is making me feel sluggish. Not to mention we probably shouldn’t be spending the money on it.

On the bright side, while I have been drinking more pop, I have also been drinking more water. I am sure I will be phasing off the pop here soon. I am mostly drinking it for the caffeine. Yes, I do know I should be drinking tea instead. I did have some sweet tea today ^_^

It will be so much easier to stick to healthier eating once my garden is all planted and mature. I loved when we had a fresh fruit stand right at the corner of the house we will be leaving. The fruit stand did not come back this year though. They seriously had the best peaches ever. I can only hope my peach tree I will eventually put in will be as flavorful.

I am hunting around trying to learn about the nurseries close to our new place. I have been told I may want to go out to Fruitland to find my dwarf fruit trees. The problem with that is they do not deliver, and I do not own a truck… Nor can I think of anyone off hand who has one, and would go with me when the time comes. I will have to figure something out for that if I do end up needing to go out there.

For the time being at least, I think I need to get a few more healthy snacks, and more of my protein shake mix, so I am not tempted to run out for things that are not healthy for me. Some of it is healthy, just to high of calories for my bodies needs.
Not to mention I think I need to cut milk out again. I have been drinking more of it and noticing the difference in the way I feel. Luckily I actually like the taste of soy, and almond milks, as well as other alternative milks.

I cannot wait to be moved in and have the larger kitchen that I can cook again in. Not to mention have the availability to make my own healthy snacks. The kitchen in the place we are renting is not super tiny, but it is not large either. The kitchen here also does not have pantry space, whereas the new house does, so I can actually have a place to put things now, and not just pile up dried goods under the breakfast bar as we have been.

Our urban homestead will most certainly promote healthy living. Plus I get a good workout in the garden, as well as a new neighborhood to walk around and explore.