I definitely didn’t mean to go dark on the blog yesterday. In fact, I wrote a way-too-wordy blog post that I ended up scrapping at the last minute because it was a big-time Debbie Downer to read. I wasn’t sharing anything major and the blog post was simply a recap of my Wednesday but Wednesday, honestly, was just an all-around annoying day.
It was filled with phone issues that had me running to four different stores (and the issues still remain unresolved), pregnancy nausea that resurfaced with a bang, losing my car keys and more and it just felt like a big whine fest when I wrote about it on the blog even though it was simply a real recap of my day. I didn’t enjoy writing about it so I figured you guys wouldn’t enjoy reading about it, so I hit delete and now here we are today. A new day! A better day. FRIDAY!
So let’s dive into your usual Things I’m Loving Friday post, shall we? Below you will find a short roundup of some things that are making me smile this week, including a must-try festive St. Patrick’s Day recipe, a sneaky giveaway and more. I hope you guys have a fantastic weekend and enjoy the luck of the Irish on Saturday!
Things I’m Loving Friday
- 26-Week Ultrasound
(26-week ultrasound photos of our baby’s head and feet! <3 )
Hooray for a wonderful ultrasound and answered prayers! I had an appointment with a specialist yesterday morning to monitor our baby and look at my placenta and it went so well. We got to see our little one in enough detail to see fuzzy hair on our baby’s head and it was incredible. My doctor told me our little one is about 2.2 pounds already (I’m measuring slightly ahead – a big change from my pregnancy with Chase when I was behind the whole time) and looking great. Seeing our baby move and hearing our little one’s heartbeat is simply the best even though I think I’ve held my breath for the duration of every single ultrasound we’ve had so far.
Chase is still 100 percent convinced our baby is a boy and tells EVERYONE we’re having a boy with such certainty that even his preschool teacher said, “Congrats! You’re having a boy!” to me on Monday. I had to laugh and tell her that we don’t know and we won’t know until our little one arrives, despite Chase’s very vocal claims otherwise. He kind of has me drinking the Kool-Aid at the moment and part of me is leaning toward thinking we’re having another boy even though all of my physical symptoms seem to align more with the old wives’ tales for a girl this time around. We will see!
- High Protein Frozen Mint Hot Chocolate with Collagen
Thank you to Great Lakes Gelatin for sponsoring this shout out!
St. Patrick’s Day is tomorrow and if you’re looking for a way to celebrate with a little treat that’s actually pretty darn healthy, I have the perfect festive drink for you! It combines two of my favorite flavors – chocolate and mint – for a frozen mint hot chocolate that packs a serious protein punch thanks to the addition of Great Lakes Collagen Hydrolysate. The recipe is creamy, frothy and chocolaty but doesn’t taste like a total sugar bomb. It’s a high protein frozen hot chocolate you can feel good about drinking, whether you choose to enjoy it on St. Patrick’s Day, as a post-workout snack or a healthy sweet treat at the end of the day.
Print
High Protein Frozen Mint Hot Chocolate
- Prep Time: 2 mins
- Cook Time: 1 min
- Total Time: 3 mins
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
- Category: dessert, sweet treat
Description
A high-protein, creamy treat to enjoy when you’re craving a combination of rich chocolate and refreshing mint.
Ingredients
- 2 cups milk (a higher fat milk will yield a creamier drink)
- 3 tablespoons Great Lakes Collagen Hydrolysate
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint leaves
- pinch of salt
- 1 heaping cup ice
Instructions
- Combine milk through salt in a high-speed blender until mint leaves are fully blended into the chocolate liquid.
- Add ice and blend until desired consistency is achieved. Top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cocoa powder if desired.
I’ve been buying Great Lakes Collagen Hydrolysate for about two years now and love it because it dissolves so easily in my morning coffee or tea and makes a great addition to smoothies without altering the flavor of my favorite beverages. You can read more about why I first fell in love with collagen and continue to use it regularly in this post: Benefits of Collagen. The short version: I love it for improved digestion and hair, skin and nail health as well as bone and joint health. And yes, I do use collagen pregnant! I feel like it was my primary source of protein for a while there when I was on an all-carb diet for nearly two months. Ha! My doctor gave me the a-okay to continue using it, but definitely check with your doctor, too!
***GIVEAWAY!***
If you’d like to give this recipe a try or simply wish to try incorporating collagen into your diet, I think you’ll like today’s sneaky giveaway! One PBF reader will win two containers of Great Lakes Collagen Hydrolysate and one of the 20-count single-serving packs of the travel-size collagen packets you can throw in your bag to enjoy collagen on the go. (These are great for adding collagen to coffee or tea when you’re out and about.) To enter this giveaway, simply leave a comment on this post telling me how you currently like to enjoy collagen or one way you think you’d like to try using collagen if it’s something new to you! I will randomly select a winner next Friday morning.
Good luck!
I never think of my car as “old” but it’s 13 years old so I guess it’s technically getting up there, huh? The only time I really feel like my car is getting older is when I want to use some kind of new(ish) technology like Bluetooth and it’s not compatible or when I check the maps function of my car’s GPS and half the highways around me don’t even exist. I wanted the ability to easily stream music in my car before my long road trip with Chase a couple of weeks ago and ordered this Bluetooth adapter from Amazon.
The adapter worked like a charm and the set up was a breeze. The sound quality is great and I highly recommend it to anyone driving an older vehicle without the ability to stream music from their phones. The adapter also has the ability to charge your phone at the same time, so that’s a huge plus! It let me jam out to the Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and listen to my favorite NPR podcast (Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me) among streaming breaks of Pandora’s Baby Einstein station so I was a happy camper!
- Chilly Cow Chocolate Brownie Batter Ice Cream Bars
Purchasing these Chilly Cow ice cream bars was a valiant attempt at portion control on my part after downing my bodyweight in Moose Tracks ice cream a few weeks in a row. Though a big bowl of ice cream will always have my heart, I must give these bars rave reviews. They are incredibly creamy and chocolaty and seem to do a decent job of satisfying my sweet tooth at the end of the day. And yes, I’ve definitely downed two in a row a couple times now because I loved them so much but that’s better than half of a half gallon of ice cream, right!?
- Friday Flashbacks
Corned Beef and Cabbage Creamy Leek Soup (A comforting recipe to keep on hand if you have any corned beef leftover after St. Patrick’s Day!)
Upper Body Superset Workout (A strength workout that combines weights and resistance bands for an upper body burn!)
Question of the Day
Today’s Questions of the Day correspond to the sneaky giveaway above:
- For my fellow collagen fans: How do you currently like to incorporate collagen into your diet?
- For the collagen newbies: What is one way you’d like to try collagen for the first time? In your coffee? In a smoothie? Let me know!
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I’ve never tried collagen! Your frozen hot chocolate looks and sounds divine and I can also see myself using it on a daily basis in my coffee 🙂
I mix collagen into my smoothies or oatmeal! I can’t mix it straight into coffee or tea, I always taste it that way… and let me tell you, “jello” flavored coffee is a big old NOPE. jealous of those who can’t taste it!
I’ve never tried collagen before! I’d love to mix it in with smoothies or coffee.
I would love to try using collagen in my coffee in the morning!
I would love to use collagen in my morning coffee!
I have yet to try collagen but really want to! I’ve heard great things about adding to coffee so I think that would be first up on list.
I’d love to try collagen in my morning coffee–I love that it supports bone & joint health!
I’ve never tried collagen but would love to with my coffee.
I’ve never tried adding collagen to my diet but have heard all about the positive health benefits. I am ten weeks pregnant so now would be a perfect time to try it out! I think adding it to my morning decaf coffee would be the easiest start. Thanks for the chance at winning!
I just recently starting using collagen in my morning tea. I like that it dissolves and doesn’t change the flavor at all.
I’ve been reading about the benefits of collagen, but haven’t tried it yet. I would love to!
I’ve been hearing more and more about collagen! I’d like to hop on the bandwagon and try adding it to my morning coffee. Could always use a little added protein in the morning.
I add collagen to my morning coffee! I had never thought about individual packets – how great for travel!
Collagen is good for your nails, right? Because my nails are WEAK and I could definitely use the help!
You pulled me in with that amazing picture of the frozen hot chocolate!!!
I put collagen hydrolysate into my green smoothie every morning, but have been thinking about finding other ways to incorporate more into my diet – and frozen hot chocolate fits the bill 🙂
I hope I win the free stuff, but even if I don’t, I’m glad I found you!
I’ve never tried collagen so this would be the perfect excuse to finally give it a shot!
I’ve never tried collagen before but have heard so many amazing reviews that I feel like I definitely need to get in on this. I would definitely try it in my morning shakes or that yummy hot chocolate recipe! Sounds like the perfect thing to enjoy during this nor’eastern snowstorm!
I keep telling myself I need to try collagen, but just haven’t done it. Coffee is a daily must have for this toddler mama, so that’s probably where I would use it.
I put collagen into my smoothies, oatmeal and even baked goods. I love that you can’t taste it!
I have never tried collagen, but would love to try it in smoothies!
I just signed up for Daily Harvest – the program that sends you smoothies, acai bowls, oatmeal bowls, and more all frozen and ready to go – just add milk and blend! I think collagen will be a great addition to these smoothies… such a simple way to add protein, among other benefits!
I love it in my iced coffee! 🙂
I’ve never tried collagen! I would love to try it with the recipe you posted! It sounds delicious!!
I love to put collagen in my morning coffee!
I’ve never tried collagen but I’d love to! And that chocolate mint concoction you’ve created looks amazing. Love your blog!
I’ve been trying to convince my friend (and workout buddy) to start using collagen, as I think it would be a great help to her. She’s been concerned about using it while nursing though, but I’ll show her this post as you are a testament to using it while pregnant (and doctor-approved)! Thanks. 🙂
I’ve heard a ton about collagen, just haven’t had the chance to try it. I would love to try it in my matcha green tea smoothie bowl!
I use collagen in my coffee- no flavor and dissolves comoletely!
I love putting collagen in my tea and when I’m baking for a little protein boost!!
I put collagen in my morning protein smoothie!
LOVE this stuff! I use in morning coffee every morning and use the beef gelatin to make healthier home-made marshmallows. I put one in my coffee each morning for a little sweetener & added flavor. I’ve completely stopped using protein powder and use collagen instead.
I love the idea of putting it in your coffee! Why not make my favorite part of the morning even better??
I’ve never tried collagen either but I’m sure it would end up wonderful with my oatmeal or coffee for that little glimpse of healthy feeling in the morning ?
I love love love mixing it into my morning coffee ☕️ before my workout. Along with some full fat milk, I consider it just as invigorating as those scary pre workout powders.
I LOVE collagen in my coffee! Never leave home without it <3
I ran across your website while checking my emails, I’ve never tried Collagen before but am now going to give it a try, I’ve been diagnosed with severe arthritis and degenerative disc disease, going to therapy at the moment. I saved several of your recipes to my Pinterest, can’t wait to try them