blendtec Archives - My Inner Shakti

The Coffee Protein Shake We’ve Been Drinking for Years [Recipe]

If there’s one constant in mine and Vishnu’s ever changing lives, it’s breakfast. And not just any breakfast. Almost every morning for the past few years, we wake up, brush our teeth, and make THE shake.

Now that I think about it, I’m not sure why I haven’t shared the recipe on MIS until now. Sorry about that!

As strange as it probably sounds, this shake is everything to us. It’s delicious, satisfying, healthy, and the only way we know how to start our day.

I’ve actually been making some variation of this shake for the past 4-5 years…before Vishnu and I got married. And with his help, I think we’ve perfected the recipe.

In fact, I know we have because everyone who tries our version asks for the recipe and/or asks me to make it when they visit (both mine and Vishnu’s families love this stuff!). During Aekta and Adarsh’s engagement weekend, his parents tried my concoction and made me promise to email the recipe with links to all the necessary ingredients. Ha!

You’ll just have to take the fam’s word for it and make it yourself! Trust me, you’ll wake up thinking about breakfast and this delicious shake!

Oh and don’t be scared by the spinach. Not only does it add extra nutrients, but it also makes the shake a beautiful green color…don’t skip the spinach!

Coffee Protein Shake
Serves 2

16 oz. plain unsweetened almond milk
1 tablespoon instant coffee
2 tablespoons PB2 OR 1.5 tablespoons peanut butter
2 tablespoons chia OR ground flax seeds
2 tablespoons protein powder of choice*
3 handfuls of spinach leaves
2 frozen bananas**

Add ingredients (in the order listed above) to a high powered blender and blend until completely combined.

*We like the taste and texture of Sunwarrior Vanilla protein powder, but feel free to use your favorite kind.
**If you don’t have frozen bananas on hand, feel free to throw in 1/2 cup of ice cubes.

Side note: A lot of people ask what kind of blender we have. We were gifted a Blendtec a few Christmases ago, and it is by far our favorite and most used appliance. Simply put, it’s amazing. I know it’s expensive and quite the investment, but it does so much more than make shakes (soups, sauces, ice cream, brownie batter, etc.). I can’t even begin to explain how well it blends everything. I use mine at least twice a day.

My next Blendtec investment will likely be the Twister Jar. I haven’t quite been able to sell Vishnu on this, but I’m working on it!

Have a wonderful Friday and weekend!

No portion of this post is sponsored. However, there are a few Amazon affiliate links included. There is no extra cost to you, but I do receive a small commission on anything you buy through my link. Thank you for reading and supporting My Inner Shakti!

The Non-Juicer Whole Juice

written by Parita 21 Comments

Juicing is the new “it” thing to do. I’m convinced because the word juice is everywhere I look – articles, blog posts, grocery stores, Starbucks, etc.

To be honest, I am not 100% sold on the idea. IF it’s the only way you can manage to get your daily dose of fruits and veggies, then fine. Do what you have to do. However, when you eat the whole fruit (skin, fiber, etc.), there are so many added benefits, with satiety and additional nutrients being two big ones.

I won’t deny that juice tastes good…really good! If I could afford to visit Whole Foods a few times a week for their delicious juices, I would do it. And if we lived in a larger apartment with more storage, I would’ve happily taken my in-laws’ juicer off their hands when my MIL offered to give it to me.

With that being said, I have found a (new to me) way to enjoy fresh juice at home. Juice that tastes delicious, is filling, and incorporates the whole fruit. I call it the “non-juicer whole juice.”

Since this was my first time making juice, I decided to go with the fruit only variety. I pretty much grabbed all the fruit we had on hand. Next time, I’m going to be a little more adventurous and incorporate carrots, ginger, and maybe some celery. The options are endless!

I’ll be the first to admit that I went a little bit overboard with my fruit selection. What can I say?! I was excited!

Note: While I didn’t use a juicer to make this, I did use my Blendtec, a high-power blender. The Blendtec has a digital interface with one of the options being “whole juice.” I’m honestly not sure how this would fare with more traditional blenders. However, it seems that many major brands are coming out with affordable high-performance blenders, so it may be worth a try if you own one of those.

Non-Juicer Whole Juice
Yields approximately 48 ounces of juice

1/3 cup blueberries
5-6 large strawberries
1 Granny Smith apple, cored and coarsely chopped with skin on
1 peach, coarsely chopped with skin on
1 orange, peeled
3-4 cups of ice cubes

Add all ingredients to the blender, with the ice cubes being last. Blend using the “whole juice” option. Pour and enjoy!

This juice was fairly thick, not too sweet/a little tart, and super filling. Vishnu suggested that next time I stick to 2-3 fruits versus 5. Honestly, I’m not sure what I would change – use half of the apple, add a banana and/or pineapple for added sweetness, add veggies…we’ll see! I can see myself having a lot of fun with this! The blender is like an open canvas – create what you will!

Are you a juice lover? What’s your favorite combo?

Simple Butternut Squash Soup

written by Parita 18 Comments

I’m not sure what I was more excited about after receiving my Blendtec over Christmas…the blender or the recipe book that came with it. Honestly, it’s still a toss up! While the blender is pretty amazing, the recipe book includes tons of delicious, easy to make meals. I mean, what’s a blender without recipes, right?

Anyway, the other day I used my blender as a meal planning tool. Before going grocery shopping, I bookmarked a few recipes to try out this week and stocked up on all the necessary ingredients. And while I want to make everything in this new Blendtec recipe book, I decided to try out the Butternut Squash Soup first. Lucky for us, there were plenty of butternut squashes to choose from at the farmer’s market.

Now, many of you may be thinking, “the first thing she decides to make is soup?” Well, yes…for many reasons. First, the recipe doesn’t call for weird ingredients that will only be used once (I hate that). Second, aside from roasting the squash, prep work was minimal. And finally, it sounded like it would pair really well with our favorite rosemary bread. Win – win – win!

So y’all, make this soup. Please. You don’t need a powerful blender. I could’ve easily made this using the Ninja or even an immersion blender (I think).

Bottom line – this soup is delicious and makes for the perfect rainy night meal. It’s everything you could ever want – smooth, creamy, and fresh. Even Vishnu, who isn’t really a soup kind of guy, said it was delicious (more than once). Win! And for those of you who don’t live in Florida, this is the perfect winter soup…it will warm your soul!

Let me know if you try it out.

Simple Butternut Squash Soup
Adapted from the Blendtec Fresh Blends recipe book

1 large butternut squash
1.5 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped carrots
2 medium sweet onions
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 pinches of the following: dried parsley, dried oregano, and dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cups water
4 (14 oz) cans vegetable broth
feta cheese crumbles for garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut butternut squash in half lengthwise, piece skin with fork, and remove seeds. Place cut side down in a pan. Fill pan with 1/4 cup water. Bake for 45 minutes.

While squash is baking, heat olive oil in a large pot. Sauté carrots, onions and garlic for a few minutes and then add dried herbs, salt, and pepper. Continue to cook until the onion is translucent. Allow to cool for a a few minutes. Blend together water and cooked vegetable mixture (if using Blendtec select “Batters”). Add pureed mixture back to pot and add two cans of stock. Bring heat to low and allow to simmer. Once cooked and slightly cooled, scoop out flesh of squash. Blend flesh and the other two cans of stock (if using Blendtec select “Soup” and blend for 40 seconds). Pour into large pot, stir, and simmer for a few minutes. Garnish individual bowls with a sprinkle of feta cheese prior to serving.

Make this. You know you want to. And no worries, you can thank me later.

What’s your favorite kind of soup? I’m pretty much always game for a bowl of Minestrone.

Sick All Weekend

written by Parita 9 Comments

.I think the title of this post says it all. Both Vishnu and I were sick…all weekend long! No worries though, we’re feeling much better today. I honestly think we just needed a few days to recover from the craziness of the past couple of weeks. Our bodies had enough and needed us to just rest for a little bit.

Needless to say, we didn’t do too much this weekend. Friday night ended up being a movie night. We watched Live Free or Die Hard. I’m usually not a huge fan of predictable action movies, but this one was pretty good. The effects were a tad over the top, but according to Vishnu, that’s what makes for a good action movie. Whatever…yippee-ki-yay.

On Saturday, we both woke up at 8 am only to go back to sleep and really wake up at 11 am. I’m not going to lie. It was nice. However, I do think all that sleep set a rather pathetic stage for the rest of the day. We literally did nothing. Well, maybe not nothing. I did manage to get a workout in. And I made us a little pre-dinner treat with my new blender (recipe coming soon). Other than that we did nothing but sit on our butts and watch four episodes of The West Wing.

Jillian Michaels and her No More Trouble Zones DVD kicked my butt

What looks like nasty brown goop is actually a delicious dark chocolate frosty treat

After an unproductive two days, I was determined to make the most of Sunday. We got up (throats still a little sore), cleaned, and went grocery shopping. At the farmer’s market we found the world’s biggest apple (or what we thought was the world’s biggest apple)…

It was honestly HUGE.

We also found a new to us fruit…star fruit. It tastes like a cross between a really crisp apple and grapes. Vishnu was a huge fan and suggested making it into a drink of some kind next time.