Hemp Shake

Nothing says “good morning” like a banana, chocolate vanilla almond milk and hemp protein shake! Mmm, tasty protein goodness!
In all seriousness I have been looking for a protein drink to add to my day since I am trying to stay away from soy and whey proteins so hemp seems to be a great option. As luck would have it, Cicely came across Nutiva Hemp Protein while at Whole Paycheck Foods earlier this week. It's surprisingly friggin' good! Most powders you have to really doctor up with fruits and juices to make them taste like something you would drink everyday and enjoy rather than choke down because you feel that its the right thing to do. The Nutiva is super easy to make into a breakfast shake with minimal additions required, if at all. Heck it could be enjoyed for any meal or snack.

What we do is take 1 banana, some almond milk and 3 scoops of the Nutiva hemp powder, throw it all into our Vitamix blender (whatever you've got will work, prolly even a stick blender will do the job). We then vary the blenders speed between “kick ass” and "mellow", not too much on the "kick ass" setting or you will get too thick and frothy of a end result - unless of course that is your thing. Once its good-n'-mixed pour it into your favorite drinking vessel, consume and enjoy.

There is another hemp protein by a company Joe Rogan recommends. Though I am confident you are familiar with Joe Rogan some of the things you may recognize him from are for example: The host of Fear Factor, he's a stand-up comedian, has his own pod/vidcast called The Joe Rogan Experience, he is a martial arts expert in many disciplines, etc.

So he endorses a product by Omnit Labs called "Hemp Force". I've been wanting to try it, but I am waiting to talk to my doctor first. Mainly because Omnit Labs makes a multivitamin I would like to try also. I have taken the GNC MegaMen multivitamins for many years but the past year or so they have started to bother me so its time to start looking for an alternative.

Ok, back to the protein. At the time I am writing this, the Omnit Labs Hemp Force is $49.95 for 17.5 ounces which is nearly double the price of the Nutiva and you only get a tad more powder, about 1.5 ounces more. One good thing is that the Omnit Labs Hemp Force has maca root in it which we were considering adding to our shakes. If we did it would mean an increased cost and one additional "thing" we would have to purchase separately, hmm? Honestly, we will probably try the Hemp Force anyway, if for nothing but to compare the taste between the two. Actually, come to think of it, I need to check the ingredients 1:1. Up to this point I have been assuming they are similar as far as daily values and fillers are concerned and that is a bad assumption on my part.

Enough about shakes, I'm getting hungry! Switching gears to day-to-day now. When I left for work this morning I was wondering why so many of my neighbors cars were still in their driveway, strange, they are usually long gone by the time I head out for work. Ahh hold on, nevermind, today is Nevada Day. Most of my neighbors work for the state in some fashion, are teachers and so on so it makes perfect sense. Whew I can relax knowing that its not because I had mistakenly woken up, got ready and headed out only to find out it was Saturday morning and my days were screwed up.

Ok so Nevada Day. If anyone outside of Nevada is interested or for those in the state that don't know why we have a Nevada Day holiday, here is a little history for you. Nevada Day is celebrated on the last Friday of October every year to commemorate Nevada’s entry into the Union as the 36th state. We entered the Union on the 31st of October 1864.

Unfortunately as a Nevadan, I have to work on Nevada Day even though my company headquarters is based in Nevada, Las Vegas to be exact. It use to be here in Reno but they changed it a few years ago, not sure why exactly. Even so, we do not recognize the holiday since we are an international corporation. Its ok, for me it would not mean attending parades or celebratory events anyhow. I was born in Missouri, just outside of St. Louis so in my head that's my hometown even though I have lived in Nevada for all of my adult life and much of my childhood, go figure.

Staying home would just put me behind, I have a ton of work to do before we head off to the Caribbean in just under a weeks time. Shxt! Under a week already? Now it's making me anxious just thinking about it, so much to take care of between now and then, ahhhhh! Seems like it was just being planned yesterday. I cant wait, we need a nice break before the holidays are upon us. Not to mention I need to be well rested to properly pilot my new AR Drone (sorry if that does not make sense to you, shame on you for not reading earlier posts).

This evening after the work day is behind us, it will be Shark Tank and FRINGE, with some zombies from The Walking Dead roaming around early Sunday. Then the usual weekend finale on Sunday watching Dexter. Cant wait for all of that, as well as enjoying everything in between. NASCAR is on Sunday also, but I have not been into it as much this season. Not sure why, maybe its because I am not racing for the first time in over 10 years? Maybe not, but its a 4 hour commitment so at times that in itself makes it hard no matter how good of a race it happens to be. Alright, I think that is about it for this entry!

Enjoy the day! Not because its Friday or Nevada Day, but because you have another day!

Photo: Nutiva Hemp Protein