Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Protein Smoothie

Good afternoon. This 80 degree weather makes me think about two things: being at the pool and ice, cold SMOOTHIES! Today I have a great, healthy way to enjoy a sweet treat for hot days or when your craving something cool and refreshing.  It's really great for peanut butter lovers and those trying to keep their calories in check.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Protein Smoothie

1 banana-frozen (optional)
2 tbsp chocolate PB2
3/4-1 Cup of Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk (depending on desired consistency)
1 scoop of Vanilla Protein powder*
4-5 handful of ice cubes

Combine everything in a blender and mix well. You can change out the almond milk for regular milk or soy. YUM!

*Before I was vegan, I used any brand of whey vanilla protein powder. Now that I am vegan, I can no longer have whey, so I use the brand Vega One in French Vanilla. It's not amazing by itself but really good mixed with other ingredients.

If you're wondering what PB2 is, boy do I have something in store for you! 

If you haven't had a chance to try this out yet, it is a MUST for all Peanut Butter lovers. This powdered peanut butter can be a blended ingredient in drinks, used to substitute peanut butter in recipes and can also be mixed with water to create a peanut butter like substitute. As you can see from the photo above, it contains 85% less calories than regular peanut butter. 2 tbsp has just 45 calories! Compared to the 180-200 calories in 2 tbsp of regular peanut butter, it is a great substitute and actually has a really great taste. It is pretty new, but currently comes in regular peanut butter flavor and chocolate peanut butter. I have seen it at Whole Foods and also sold at Gold's Gym. If you don't have either of these near you, I'm sure it can be purchased online. 

Have you tried PB2? What did you think?