For this recipe category, I was less critical than I was with the other categories. Typically beverage recipes are simpler in both the ingredients and preparation. Some food entrees can have well over a dozen ingredients along with complex preparation. Mixing a cool drink requires little preparation and contains as low as only two ingredients. So I focused more on the taste and less on the complexity regarding the ratings for the beverage recipes.
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Caramel Protein Latte
Davita Cookbook: Cooking For One or Two
For a regular flavored coffee and cream, this is certainly good, but it doesn't even come close to a real latte. I probably would have given this at least four stars if they hadn't tried to pass this off as latte. I have an espresso machine, so next time I will replace "hot coffee" with 6 ounces of espresso.
Ingredients - whey protein powder, water, 6 ounces hot coffee, DaVinci Gourmet Caramel Sugar Free Syrup. A note about the DaVinci syrup - it really has a bold caramel flavor, much more so than any of the other coffee caramel flavorings I've tried. The recipe calls for two tablespoons of the syrup, but just one tablespoon would suit me fine.
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Chocolate Smoothie
Davita Cookbook: Juices, Smoothies, & Drinks
This is really not a smoothie, which they normally have a bit of slushiness to them. This is straight up liquid drink. No matter, for a chocolate drink, it is a top notch treat. Ingredients include baker's unsweetened cocoa, cold water, sugar or sweetener of choice, pasteurized liquid egg white, whipped topping, and chocolate bar shavings.
It calls for topping it with chocolate bar shavings, but I didn't have that available, so I altered the recipe slightly. I topped it with Upouria Chocolate Sprinkle instead. Another great discovery, the second batch I made, I put it in the freezer just long enough to form a thickness similar to soft serve ice cream. Not quite as good as a bowl of traditional chocolate ice cream, but it certainly qualifies as a tasty dessert.
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Coco-Loco Coffee for a Crowd
Davita Cookbook: Brunch Lovers Recipes
Coco-Loco Coffee for a Crowd has the potential for a great tasting coffee but not without some alterations. For one, the amount of stevia it calls for was just too strong. Also, it calls for topping it with cinnamon. I replaced that with Upouria's cinnamon sprinkle, which is more of an edible topping. Pure cinnamon is kind of bitter and it's often used as a cooking spice or blended with other ingredients. It's really not tasty as a topping by itself.
The recipe states this serves seven, so I reduced all ingredients appropriately to just two servings because seven is just too much coffee for me. Ingredients - strong brewed coffee, coconut milk, vanilla extract, stevia in the raw, and cinnamon for dusting.
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High-Protein Root Beer Float
Davita Cookbook: Juices, Smoothies, & Drinks
I really miss classic rootbeer floats using real vanilla ice cream. Overall, this recipe fails in duplicating the original treat. The texture is noticeably off. It doesn't have that creamy texture of real ice cream, more a granular texture. Ingredients include dessert whipped topping, whey protein powder, vanilla extract, and root beer.
I altered the recipe slighty, I didn't have plain whey protein powder, so I used vanilla flavored whey protein powder instead, which has a really bold vanilla flavor. So I omitted the vanilla extract to not have an overpowering vanilla flavor. You'll love the nutrient levels - Sodium: 46 mg, Potassium: 133 mg, and Phosphorus: 70 mg. Even with the low nutrient values, I can't get past the "grainy" texture of it's respective vanilla ice cream replacement.
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Spiced Eggnog
Davita Cookbook: Home Cooked Holidays
Review will be added later.
Ingredients include .
Nutrient values - Calories: 162, Protein: 5 g, Carbohydrates: 13 g, Fat: 10 g, Cholesterol: 32 mg, Sodium: 78 mg, Potassium: 149 mg, Phosphorus: 83 mg, Calcium: 99 mg, Fiber: 0 g
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