You might be thinking, “great, here we go again another protein powder and supplement company”. That thought briefly crossed my mind when I was asked to review a few of Klean Athlete products, then I took a closer look. They sent me samples of their multi-vitamins and Protein powder to test and review. Here are my thoughts…
First off, I am a believer in supplements but I have never taken a multi-vitamin. I tend to follow the studies out there and, from what I have read, we need only spefic supplements to our diets, such as Omega 3’s, folic acid, certain B vitamins and certain minerals like calcuim and magnesuem. Many multi-vitamins out there contain iron, fillers and other unnecessary ingredients for the average person. When I looked at the Klean Athlete multivitamin, it contains vitamins I am already taking with no unnecessary iron or fillers. The tablets are small, so they’re easy to take and they are specifically designed for athletes by athletes to replace a few vital nutrients that are lost during a workout.
It’s hard to say, after only a couple of weeks of testing, exactly how effective these vitamins are, but I can say that I’ve noticed a slight difference in my recovery time since taking them, which makes me think they’re working.
I was also given the Klean Isolate whey protein powder. I use protein powder every day. When this product arrived I thought, “how different can it be from the others?” It was different for a few reasons. The taste was excellent. I mixed it straight up with Almond milk and it is very tastey all on it’s own. I can’t say that about too many other proteins powders I’ve used in the past.
Also, this protein powder contains no yeast, wheat, gluten, corn, starch, artificial coloring or flavoring. This was very important to my family because my husband stays gluten free and since I add protein powder to many of my recipes, my main taste tester needed to be able to try things out.
Another thing I found really interesting is Klean Athlete products smell so good, and yet they contain no artificial flavors. The mulitvitamin and the protein powder have a very mild vanilla smell. You might be thinking “who cares,” but have you smelled your vitamins and powders lately? Almost all of them have a very foul odor and I don’t know about you, but to me smell is very important when you’re downing a recovery drink after a hard workout. If I’ve worked hard enough on my run, my gag reflexes are on high alert and the last thing I want is something to smell off.
According to the package, this protein powder is the “highest quality whey isolate.” I don’t necessarily feel the difference, but I can see the difference. There is a clear contrast in the way this powder mixes. Most proteins I’ve used in the past have been clumpy and gritty, this one is smooth and silky.
I feel confident taking these supplements because they were created by an athlete and designed for performance. These products are certified NSF for sports. What’s that you ask? According to their website “Klean Athlete™ is tested and certified by the NSF Certified for Sport® program, which was created to meet the growing demands of athletes, coaches and healthcare professionals to certify that sports supplements are safe and free from banned substances.”
I will continue to use these products in the future and look forward to trying Klean Athlete’s other 5 products.
Now for the good stuff!
I created over 10 recipes using Klean Isolate and my family voted for the top two to be posted on the blog.
The first is a very simple Gluten Free Sunbutter cookie using only 6 ingredients. Everyone agreed they were fabulous and I ate about three of these before running a twenty two miler and had one of the my best runs in this training cycle… coincidence? maybe, but I don’t think so. Packed with Klean Isolate protein and Omega-3 from the sunflowers, these are more than your average cookie.
Gluten Free Sunbutter Protein Cookies
Makes about 15 cookies
What You Will Need
1 scoop of Klean Isolate or protein powder of your choice
1/4 cup of sugar (you could add a little more, but I like mine less sweet) you could sub w/ stevia
1 cup of Sun Flower Seed butter (can substitute Peanut butter)
1 egg
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
1 t. salt
1/2 cup of Sunflower kernels
How To Make
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat Klean Isolate, sugar, Sunbutter, egg, salt and vanilla until well blended.
3. The dough will be slightly crumbly, using a small scoop form a ball, place on parchment lined baked sheet then use a fork to flatten each cookie using the tines to make a criss cross pattern. Sprinkle with Sunflower kernels.
4. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly brown. Cool on a wire rack.
Frozen Protein Peanut Butter Cups
Makes 4 cups
What You Will Need
4 mini cupcake liners
2 heaping spoonfuls of Peanut butter
1 t. cream cheese or Daiya vegan cream cheese
3 T of Almond Milk
1 t. agave syrup
2 T. Klean Isolate or protein of your choice
1 t. Flax Meal
1 t. chia seeds
3-4 T. of 70% dark chocolate chips ( I use Enjoy Life)
How To Make
1.In a small bowl, mix the peanut butter, cream cheese, 2 T. of milk, agave syrup and 1 T. of Klean Isolate until smooth.
2. In separate microwave safe bowl, mix the chocolate chips and 1 T. of milk.
3. Microwave the chocolate mixture for about 45 seconds or until soft, remove and stir until smooth and creamy. Once its smooth, and while still warm, mix in flax, chia seeds and the last T. of Klean Isolate.
4. Pour the peanut butter mixture into the bottom of the mini cupcake liners, filling to about halfway.
5. Pour the chocolate mixture on top of the peanut butter mixture.
6. Freeze for at least 20 minutes or until firm. Remove the wrapper and enjoy!
FitFluential LLC compensated me for this campaign. All opinions are my own.
For more Clean Eating Recipes follow my “Clean Eating Dreams” board on Pinterest
