Name: Chai-Cider Protein Shake
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Yield: 1
Ingredients: 3/4 cup of chai tea, cold (I just make a cup the night before and stick it in the fridge); 1/4 cup apple cider or Simply Apple juice; 1 scoop vanilla protein powder or shakeology (I did not test this with Shake-o, may need an adjustment to the amount of liquids) - I used ON Gold Standard 100% Whey in Vanilla Ice Cream; 1 cup ice; A little apple pie spice or cinnamon, for topping

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Need an extra boost of protein in your day? This simple shake delivers great fall flavor and is perfect to give you the added protein you need to build and protect those muscles!

Remember when I mentioned having a crap ton (that's a standard metric measurement) of apple cider from the farm? Well, we're completely out now and I'm really wishing we lived closer so we could pick up some more. However, when we did have it, this is one of the gajillion (also metric) things that I made and I loved it so much that I had to share.

This was one of those great impromptu recipes that ends up being one of my favorites. Basically, I LOVE mixing protein powder with some chilled coffee and thought, "chai tea would be ah-mazing in a vanilla protein shake!" Then I remembered having the cider in the fridge and thought that it might taste apple pie-ish and it totally does!

Personally, protein shakes are often too sweet for me, so adding something like coffee or tea really tones down the sweetness level. I'm pretty funny about what's used to sweeten my protein shakes, too. How about you guys? I know a lot of Fixers are big into stevia but I'm decidedly anti.

It's not some political stance or anything, I've just never liked the taste of it. To me it tastes like an artificial sweetener which makes me unhappy (Ok, I'll be honest and say that this is a complete understatement. I once threw out an entire bag of Thomas Limited Edition Pumpkin Spice bagels because they had a nasty surprise of a sweetener that I didn't like and could taste right away. I'm a big baby.)

For this reason (and because my weight-lifting dad told me that it's the best), my go-to protein powder is Optimum Nutrition's Gold Standard 100% Whey in either Vanilla Ice Cream or Double Rich Chocolate. Some of their other flavors include sucralose (Banana Cream, you're dead to me) so I avoid those like the plague.

A tip from me to you, if the guy from GNC swears to you that no ON powders use sucralose, DO NOT BELIEVE HIM - unless you're really into returning stuff, which btw, they will happily do if you don't like a flavor. Thank goodness.

Obviously use absolutely whatever protein powder you like for this recipe. There are a lot of great brands out there, especially if you're cool with stevia. I'm sure it would also be great with shakeology, but I haven't tested it with this recipe so it's possible that adjustments to the amount of liquid might need to be made.

By the way, wondering when is the best time to drink a protein shake? Right after your workout! A shake delivers protein to your body faster than eating food and that's when your body needs it the most, when your muscles are growing and healing post-workout. Here's a great article from bodybuilding.com to give you a little extra info about protein powder if you're interested.

Save this Chai-Cider Protein Shake recipe to Pinterest! ⇓

In other news... my husband and I are starting Body Beast today! I still love me some 21DF, but I think it's good to switch it up now and then. Truth be told, I'm a little nervous, you either need to have a bench or use an exercise ball and since we have no room for a bench right now, the ball it is and it looks really hard! Oh well, I like a good challenge.

Also, I've watched a little of the first workout and Sagi says hilarious (because they're completely in earnest) things like, "I'm so excited 'cause my shirt's getting so tight right now." and "The Beast is talking!" and I'm not sure how I'm not going to bust up laughing the whole time. Love him! Wish me luck!

If you make this recipe be sure to snap a pic and tag me @thefoodieandthefix on Instagram so I can check it out! It makes me ridiculously happy to see what you guys are making 🙂

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