The No-Protein Powder Protein Shake

Have you ever had to skip your usual muscle-building protein shake after a hard workout because you ran out of protein powder? I have, and unfortunately for me, at that time I only knew of one solution - to eat a high protein meal in place of my shake.

My solution worked fine, until I had to go without protein powders altogether because I could no longer fit them into my budget. I was left with one choice, which was to try and meet my daily protein needs with food. It didn't take long before I saw how fast those extra calories could add up. Boy, did my weight climb.

I tried all kinds of foods to get extra protein to my muscles without protein powder, but nothing took the place of protein shakes. What I needed was a budget-friendly way to get the extra protein that I wanted without overeating, and I needed it fast. Since I'm lactose intolerant, large amounts of milk wasn't an option, but I tried (phew).

It was because of my intolerance for lactose that I began searching for high-protein foods that I could blend into a protein shake. I found a lot of great information (mostly on health food websites) but their most economical suggestions were always milk products. With nowhere else to turn at the time, I decided to try them, individually at first.

To make a long story short, I can handle eight ounces of milk a day with minor problems, but for some reason, I can tolerate cottage cheese in small amounts without any problems. Now all I had to do was replaced one of the suggested milk products with my own favorite high protein ingredient. I did, and it worked!

The two best things about no-protein powder protein shakes, is they are budget friendly, and you probably already have or buy most, if not all of the ingredients needed to make them. Now for the list of ingredients to make your own no protein powder protein shakes.

• 2 ounces of part-skim ricotta cheese: 6 grams of protein - 70 calories - 45 calories from fat.
• 8 ounces of skim milk: 8 grams of protein - 80 calories.
• 4 ounces of fat free cottage cheese: 13 grams of protein - 80 calories.
• And my personal favorite - 1 tablespoon of natural peanut butter: 5 grams of protein - 100 calories - 72  calories from "good" fat.

That's it, all you have to do is blend these ingredients in a blender and enjoy. This particular no-protein powder protein shake is packed with 31 grams of protein, 320 calories - 117 from  fat "mostly good fat," and about 15 grams of carbs. Check this article out for an additional list of ingredients that you can use to add protein to your no protein powder protein shakes.