pumpkin protein shake

Isn’t this just the cutest lil thing??

I put on a few pounds celebrating my birthday for a week even though I’ve been hitting the gym consistently. I don’t want to be one of those people that blames it on their age but it’s a cold hard fact. Soooo, in trying not to indulge in any Halloween candy, I made us a pumpkin protein shake to stay on the healthy route.

It’s not a pumpkin spice protein shake. It’s not a pumpkin pie protein shake(even though I initially made one but couldn’t get the flavoring quite right). This is just a very simple pumpkin shake.

I decorated the inside of the glass with sugar free chocolate syrup for the eyes and mouth. I initially was going to use Nutella but then remembered that Mikey banished all nutella from the house. Apparently he has late night control issues and after I go to bed, he stays up for a bit longer and eats WHOLE jars of nutella. And then proceeds to blame me because I do the grocery shopping. Excuse me?? Let’s not even talk about the 2 bags of mini Hershey bars with almonds and 1 bag of peppermint patties. No wait, let’s talk about it. I received those from a friend as part of a larger gift and there’s an inside joke with the Hershey bars. After 2 nights of Mikey breaking into the bags and eating half, he informed me that I had to get rid of them immediately or he was throwing them away. So I took the bags of candy to the bar when I was working and set them out with the Taco bar we have on Tuesdays. They were gone in a flash. Apparently Mikey isn’t the only one with self control issues.

Pumpkin protein shake
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 TBL maple syrup
1/2 frozen banana
1 cup almond milk
1/2 scoop (or 1 whole scoop) natural unflavored protein powder
(you can also substitute plain greek yogurt)
Place all ingredients in a blender with 3/4 cup of ice. Blend until smooth. Optional pumpkin face on inside of glass made with chocolate syrup or nutella(if you’re allowed to have any in your house).

Can you tell I was having way too much fun with mini pumpkins and chalk board tags??