PB2, Protein Coffee/Ice Cream/Hot Choc, SF Syrups

So...I have questions about this stuff.

PB2: What is it? What does it taste like? How would you use it in food? Why would you choose it over peanuts or peanut butter?

Protein Coffee/Hot Cho**** Cream/etc.: Why? How do you make? Does it really taste good?

SF Syrups: What brands and flavors do people like?

PB2 is powdered peanuts.  I don't care for peanut butter so I haven't tried it but many people like it.  You can use it in protein shakes, yogurt, etc to add a peanut butter flavor.  It's lower in calories and fat that real peanut butter.

Protein coffee and hot chocolate and ice cream are just other ways to get your protein in instead of protein shakes.  To make protein coffee or hot chocolate, I mix a scoop of protein powder with a little water to make a paste.  Then I stir that paste into my hot drink.  To make protein ice cream, I put the ingredients, along with protein powder, in my ice cream maker.  It's basically a frozen protein shake.  I think it tastes wonderful.

I like da Vinci sugar free syrups.  I have caramel, English toffee, amarretto, praline, raspberry, and peach.  Um, I might be forgetting something.

Where do you find the SF syrups?

I order them online, usually from netrition.com.  You can find some flavors in the the grocery store in the coffee aisle, but not that many.

I see you are MA and so am I.  I get my SF syrups at Walmart in the coffee aisle or Wegmans also in the coffee aisle.  I also just found some at the Christmas Tree Shop.   I have found 3 different brands and for me  there is very little differrence.  The syrups I found at the Christmas Tree Shop are 1/2 the price and just as good.  I use Vanilla, Caramel, Rasberry, Hazelnut, Irish Cream and Pumkin Spice.  I do not use protein Coffee or Hot Chocolate they do not settle well for me.  I make a daily protein shake and add 2 tsb of acid reduced coffee and some SF syrup for my coffee fix. 

I LOVE real peanut butter but don't care for plain peanuts and don't like PB2 at all.  I tried adding it in chocolate protein shakes (and adding some sweetener) to get a peanut butter cup kind of flavor, but it was just never to my liking.  Some people add water to it to make it spreadable again, but what you get is peanut powder with water which is - IMO - nothing at all like peanut butter since it has no sugar or fat, and is inedible.  I would MUCH prefer to hAve real peanut butter in small amounts.  If you are eating a limited amount of fat in the rest of your diet and only eat a small amount of PB, it is not difficult to still eat the real stuff and stay on track. Lots of people like the PB2, though.

I have a SF hot chocolate almost every morning (and have for a number of years).  I use SF Swiss Miss hot chocolate powder and add Unjury Chocolate Splendor protein powder (not all chocolate protein powders taste the same and some really "clash" with the chocolate flavor of the hot chocolate mix).  I also add a scoop of Upcal D calcium citrate powder as one of my three calcium doses.

I bought some SF syrups quite a while ago, but the only ones I really found useful were Caramel, Cherry, and Black Cherry.  It depends on what you like, though, and how you intend to use them.  I mostly used the cherry ones as "snow cone" syrup to help me get extra liquids in. 

Lots of people love the protein ice cream, but as a HUGE fan of real ice cream, it was never acceptable to me in flavor or texture.

Lora

You add water to it and it makes peanut butter..sort of. The difference is 2 tablespoons of peanut butter is 200 calories and 2 table spoons of PB2 is 45. some people use it in recepies that call for peanut butter. I just have it on apple slices.

We have a Sprouts store here which carries Walden Farm products which are amazing!  I haven't tried many yet but they are SF, calorie free, carb free etc.  All natural products etc.  They are also available online.  The salad dressings I have tried are fabulous!  Check them out.  I plan on stocking my shelves with them as they have barbque sauce and chocolate sauce and all kinds of sauces.  Also go look at a website called chocolate covered katy, I think .. she has some low cal amazing recipes.  

good luck

PB2 is pretty good to add into your protein shake or even the protein ice cream.  I do however buy Jiff Natural peanut butter if I want to use peanut butter for anything else.

As for sugar free syrups, I buy the Torani brand.  The flavors that I've purchased so far are: *White Chocolate *Pumpkin Pie *Salted Carmel *French Vanilla *Irish Cream *Hazel Nut.  I mostly use them as flavors for my coffee or protein shake.