Adding Flavor and Excitement to a Decent Weight Loss Program

I'm working on losing some weight through the HMR program. I like the clear way this is set up, and the limitations and ease of use on this diet, but sometimes I DO want to spend a little more time on my food prep, so I can try some new flavors. I'm keeping track of these recipes that I use on the 2 + 3 + 5 diet plan. I'm allowed up to 15 calories of additional ingredient per serving. I've been experimenting over the summer, and I'm starting to post these, so I don't forget some of the successes and failures. Mostly, these will be shake recipes, but I have a few vegetable and fruit serving ideas as well. I decided to post them as a blog, so others can share these ideas, and maybe post a few new ideas as well.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Vanilla Chai Shake

I really like Chai. I have made my own spice mix for chai, and even have made it by using the time consuming method of heating whole milk and steeping the black tea and spices in a muslin bag in the milk, and adding copious amounts of sugar to the mix. Yum! This recipe admittedly doesn't have quite the heady aroma and fabulous flavor of authentic chai, but it's a good substitute when whole milk and cane sugar are not on the dietary list. This is a 'make ahead' recipe. If you can make the chai a couple of hours or even the night before, and then put it in the fridge to chill, your shake will be thicker, since cold ingredients whip up fluffier than hot ones. I make chai for this purpose in a couple of ways. Either using my Keurig brewer with a spiced chai pod, or a teabag of Bigelow Vanilla Chai in a cup of hot water work just fine. I don't add sugar, since the vanilla shake powder is sweet enough for me, but if you want, Truvia is a good sweetener with no calories. Here's the recipe:

1 cup prepared chai, preferably chilled

Vanilla HMR powder

8 - 10 ice cubes

Add the chai to the blender and begin blending on low speed. Add the vanilla powder, then increase the power to medium. Add the ice cubes one at a time, until your shake is the desired consistency.

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