Let me start by saying I'm not vegan. Not even close to vegan. I love me some meat (in fact I crave it at times) but I do think everyone can benefit from being a bit healthier. We all could use more vitamins and nutrients. No one eats a perfectly balance meal at every meal – there's always some give to it.

Maybe you're running late for work or rushing out to a kid's sports game and either entirely missed a meal or decided to grab a quick, unhealthy choice. It happens. That's why I love quick meal solutions like Naturade Vegan Smart Nutritional Shakes.

They are perfect for anyone (even non-vegans) to quickly gain some of the nutrients you may be missing otherwise. Naturade Vegan Smart Nutritional Shakes contain a complete protein blend, 22 vitamins & minerals, fiber, probiotics, and even a digestive enzyme blend to make sure you absorb all of its wonderful nutrients properly. It also has nine different fruits and vegetables and 200mg of Omega 3's to support your brain, heart, and circulatory system.

It packs quite a punch in the nutrition department and is really easy to make too. Just mix a packet of Naturade Vegan Smart Nutritional Shake in 9 to 11 ounces of cold water, juice or non-dairy beverage, shake, and enjoy.

I prefer my shakes to be frozen so I changed things up a bit to come up with a recipe for Vegan Frozen Hot Chocolate. I'd seen recipes like the Sugar Hero's Frozen Hot Chocolate and knew there was a way I could turn something like that vegan.

Vegan Frozen Hot Chocolate

Ingredients

• Packet of Naturade Chocolate Vegan Smart Nutritional Shake
• 3 packets of Nectresse
• 2 tsp of vanilla
• 10 ounces of Almond Coconut Milk
• a tray of frozen Almond Coconut Milk (mine had 21 1″ R x 1″ D cubes)

Directions

Pour the almond coconut milk in a blender then add the rest of the ingredients. Blend on low, slowly increasing the spend until the mixture is fully combined into a frozen delight.

You can definitely taste the almond coconut milk in the Vegan Frozen Hot Chocolate. It totally gives it a creamier texture than if you were just using water. As for the Naturade Chocolate Vegan Smart Nutritional Shake mix it does have the normal “I'm packets with vitamins taste” covered in chocolate. I let my oldest son have a sip and he was like “this tastes like coffee”. Really? When have you've been drinking coffee? Ugh, kids.

Overall, I love the convenience and nutritional value of Naturade Vegan Smart Nutritional Shakes. Not a huge fan of the protein shake taste but I've totally had worst tasting protein shakes. The vitamin taste just goes with the territory. And I totally don't mean it tastes like you are sucking on vitamins, just that you can tell there's definitely nutrients in there which is the whole point of these shakes.

Naturade Vegan Smart Nutritional Shakes come in other great flavors besides chocolate including vanilla and chai. Twelve single serving packets costs about $36 (according this Naturade's website) while a 24oz container costs about $35. I'll leave the math there for you to see what the better deal is.

Do you like protein shakes? What is your favorite brand?