I Want Ice Cream!!

Now that it's warming up, I'm always in the mood for ice cream!!  Here area  couple of my favorite mock-banana split recipes:

Protein Banana Sundae
This is my favorite!
1/4c skim milk
1/2-1 scoop favorite vanilla protein powder (I use Iso 100 or BSN Lean Dessert)
1 frozen banana*
2 tsp Sugar-Free Chocolate Syrup
1tbsp Fat-Free Whipped Topping
1tbsp Chopped nuts of choice
Cherry (optional)

*I keep a bag of frozen bananas in my freezer for smooties and snacks like this.  When your bananas are almost too ripe to eat (not too brown though), peel them, and cut in half, put into a freezer bag and store in the freezer.  I do this with all my bananas that are getting too ripe - saves me from wasting them too!

Put milk, protein, and banana in blender and blend well - it will be very thick, so you may have to get a spoon and scrape the edges every few seconds - but you want it to be thick - like soft-serve ice cream.
Scoop mixture into a bowl and top with sugar-free syrup, whipped topping, nuts and a cherry.  So yummy!! 

Morning Banana Split
I got this from Clean Eating Magazine this month and made a couple changes to make it competition-prep friendly for myself.  It's very good though!

1 banana cut length-wise
1/2c 1% cottage cheese
1/2 scoop favorite vanilla protein powder
1tbsp sugar-free strawberry preserves (you can use the regular strawberry preserves, but I have to keep my carbs low, so opted for sugar-free)
1tbsp chopped nuts of your choice - I used almonds today
Optional off season extras:
2tsp sugar-free chocolate syrup
1tbsp fat-free whipped topping


Banana Split Shake
1/2c skim milk for fat free almond milk or even water
1/2-1 frozen banana
1 scoop chocolate protein of choice
1tbsp natural peanut butter - optional

Throw it all in a blender and blend until smooth.  Enjoy! 
This is one of my post-workout staples.  LOVE the chocolate and banana together.

Chocolate Milkshake
1 scoop chocolate casein protein
1/2c skim milk, almond milk or water
1/2c ice

Blend together and enjoy!
This is just a regular protein shake, but casein protein is slower digesting and blends much thicker than whey does.  I like to put in a lot of ice and make it extra thick and scoop it into a bowl and eat it just like ice cream!  Definitely something to try if you're getting tired of the same old whey. I would recommend having casein as a snack/meal or as a pre-bedtime shake, but not post-workout.  You want to keep your whey protein for your post workout shake since it digests much quicker.

Enjoy all of these frozen treats and let me know if you like them or not! :)